Everything is connected. We live on a globe. A globe, by definition, is a 3-D circle, and what is a circle if not a closed circuit. Something that happens on the other side of town or the other side of the planet may exist in isolation in certain regards, but in the bigger picture, they are directly correlated.
The chaos that human society faces today is a direct result of choices that our forefathers and mothers have made, putting modern humans in the difficult situation of having to reevaluate things that have been taken for granted for generations in the United States as 'good' or at least as not harmful to humans and our local communities.
This blog post is just about sharing information about a few things going on in the world locally from Los Angeles to the global level. We ask that you reflect on these connections, who is benefitting in the short or long term, and who is being harmed. We argue that in the long run, no one benefits from selfish investments, not even the profit seekers. As mentioned above, we live on a closed circuit. Everything cycles back around, at some point.
Occupy LA (see Tony Velloza video above), building Los Angeles factories in low income/people of color neighborhoods (see opening video to this blog post), selling and increasingly planting genetically modified foods regardless of human/environmental health risks, food costs, and government investment into shady energy deals are all fundamentally related issues.
So what can you do?
The first thing is to educate yourself. Let what you learn (and the likely resulting repulsion) inspire you to get creative -- yes, that's right, use the problems in the world to help you find your own creative ways to step out of the cycle of destruction that has been created for us by powers outside of our control. 'Our' refers to ALL people alive today, since one person is just part of a bigger picture, even if one person can make a huge impact on the world. Try to work on thinking of the plants, animals, peoples and elements around you as intrinsically connected to yourself. Work on healing your personal pains and finding peace within. The Dalai Lama says that there will not be peace on Earth until everyone can find peace within themselves. Remember that YOU MATTER! And that the world is still filled with beautiful things and places, and that small steps now lead to big movement in the future.
Lastly, make sure to contact your elected representatives to voice your opinions on things as frequently as possible. If you give up on your government, it will give up on you.
Peace and peas!
Local to Global Life Works
This is a beautiful post and more evidence of your awesomeness. Never stop fighting the good fight, and doing your part to create a world you see fit to live in.
ReplyDeleteWhether we ever get it as a whole, or kill ourselves off in the process of 'living', moments of romanticizing the perfect earth will never get old...
Thank you!
T
I don't think we have to romanticize the perfection of the Earth as some kind of fairy future vision. Many people live right now with plentitude in their lives. Some were lucky enough to be born into such situations, others have gone through various journeys that brought them to that place, and many of these people value sharing plentitude with others and working hard to show others that there IS plentitude, perfection and beauty NOW on Earth. Our Earth is the gift that keeps on giving. It is when we forget that we come from the Earth and depend on the Earth to survive, and support and invest in individuals, companies and industries (through our consumer dollars and other means) that are disconnected from the Earth, or use extractive, exploitative methods (like oil drilling or industrial chemical creation) that damage happens. This blog is dedicated to showing local actions with global impacts, to help people understand some of the nuances of how we contribute to this process. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteAlso, this blog is dedicated to peace. We are not fighting against anything. The Dalai Lama says that he is not anti-war, he is pro-peace. Similarly, we are not fighting against anything, we are showing alternative ways of living and thinking to promote evolution to a healthier way of living and being. This starts at the local level (with YOU!) and will impact the entire world, since we are living on a closed circuit. :)