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Melting Icesheet in Greenland |
Does humanity actually give anything to the world, or do we simply consume and destroy?
- In the past decade alone, over 154 million hectares of tropical rainforest has been destroyed. This is equivalent to 3 times the size of 'France'.
- 70 percent of plants that contain cancer-fighting properties live in the rainforest.
- Every year, we condemn 1,000 species to extinction due to our actions.
Sources: NetAid, United Nations Development Programme, World Resources Institute.
The Reality:
The Earth has provided a balanced ecosystem and environment for all life forms on this planet for millions of years. Yet with the dawning of the industrial age within the last 100 years, we are threatening to destroy what has taken millions of years to nurture.
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Due to our compulsive consumerism and greed, the world and its environment is on a downward trend towards disaster.
While destroying the Earth's environment, we have also been invading the habitats of many species and hunting some to extinction. Due to the interdependence of all species and the 'universal responsibility' that all species share with one another, our actions are unlikely to go unpunished. Life is an incredibly intelligent system with built-in 'cause-effect processes' that are designed to help maintain balance in the world. You cannot destroy all that exists around you, without also suffering the consequences of your ignorant actions.
Does this mean that it is too late to change this path of destruction? Absolutely not, but every day that we stand by and do not take this situation SERIOUSLY, makes it that much harder to reverse the damage that is being done.
It is a common human attitude to wait until conditions are virtually 'catastrophic' before ever taking the appropriate action. That would be VERY UNWISE in this case. Such devastation would only increase the problem of food shortages due to factors like erratic environmental and weather conditions.
If food becomes scarce, countries will likely start blaming one another for not seriously addressing an issue which has been known about for decades. Due to food shortages, countries would 'look after their own interests first' just as they do today. This would further elevate the level of tension in the world, and that would likely lead to even more devestating consequences. It's a domino effect. Ignorance, like upsetting the earth's incredibly intricate and finely balanced ecosystem, can ultimately lead to massive worldwide destruction. The application of wisdom, which requires us to bring the earth's environment back into balance, will protect the future of humanity and the millions of species whose fate rests solely in our hands.
The Psychological issues:
The psychological issues that so often influence environmental decisions are unfortunately once again tied into economic ambitions. The Sioux Indian have a famous saying, "When all the trees are gone and there is no more food, you cannot eat money".
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So what value does humanity actually give to the world'? We consume the Earth's resources at a phenomenal rate. We plague it's atmosphere with ozone depleting chemicals. We pollute its oceans and rivers. We hunt its animals to extinction and invade their habitat's, forcing them to relocate if possible, or die. What value do we add? WHAT ARE WE DOING?
Do we actually have any idea at all?
We need to stop for a moment, step back, and look at what we are doing to the world. It is simple 'insanity' when you start to wipe out all living things on the planet. This attitude of 'self-denial', greed and ignorance simply can not continue. There is far too much at stake.
The Wise approach:
So how do we change it? How do we reverse the destruction that we are causing to the planet and its many life forms?
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The United Nations, environmental organisations and animal protection agencies have provided appropriate plans to address these problems for decades, but governments have simply sidelined them. Their reasoning is nearly always economically motivated. It is simply crazy how often humanity will wait until total destruction is knocking down its door before it finally gets the message. This is why the IRG is so important.
Governments and corporate entities have lost all sense of reality in their pursuit for economic profits 'at all costs'.
Many are in denial as to the reality of what is happening in the world today. And the great danger is this - they are very unlikely to ever change their attitude until it is too late! Their minds are so entraped in an 'economic maze', that they are simply not treating the environmental issues seriously enough. At best, governments and corporates will 'initially' provide propaganda and media spin to make it appear as if they are tackling the problems, but practically speaking, little to nothing will be done. Even when the desperate reality of the situation finally hits home and governments will 'be forced' to act, they will still be convinced by 'corporate interests' to hold back as much as possible.
The arrogance of humanity is such, that it thinks it can abuse its position in the world and get away with it. It naively believes that it is somehow more important than other life forms, and that the planet and its resources can just be consumed with no repercussions whatsoever. This is a big mistake!
All great religious and spiritual teachers throughout the centuries have made it abundantly clear that it is very foolish to put money before all else, yet that is exactly what is happening today. There is a saying - "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". The point is, the Earth or mother nature does not like being abused. It is a living, biological eco-system just like your body. It simply will not tolerate destructive and virulent behaviour. It will 'defend itself' against anything that causes it harm. This is the natural way of things, and how life always maintains its sense of balance. It's not personal. It's just simple science.
If this situation is to ever improve, it will require the 'complete and full cooperation' of all countries. We urgently need to put some balance and perspective back into the world.
