Below is a video of children in Burundi, a region located in East Africa. It is a place (out of many in Africa) that has been plagued by conflict, genocide, and poverty. It made me think about the contrast we see between ‘developing’ nations and ‘developed nations.’ It also made me think on how most of us don’t realize that all of our material wants we enjoy here are at the expense of countries like this, many of which have been exploited and ruined for their material and human resources. It also made me think of poverty in general, and how developed nations are throwing away and wasting food that could feed the entire planet seven times over. Furthermore, it made me think of the fact that the money the United States spends on war every year could completely erase poverty worldwide. Instead of creating GMOs (which aren’t working and proving to be harmful), why don’t we just put an end to war? After all, we have people in power that are seem to be purposefully perpetuating war under false premises.
Something that I’ve always thought about is the fact that our planet doesn’t have to be this way. We have more than enough resources and solutions to combat issues like poverty, hunger, lack of energy and more. What’s frustrating is the fact that there is so much red tape to sift through, that major developments and solutions to most of our problems never really see the light of day.
Another thing that popped into my head with regards to this video is the grip that a select few major multinational corporations have on our world. They basically control all the world’s wealth as well as its resources, and the ties/influence that these corporations have on government agencies with regards to influencing governmental policy is to me ridiculous. We’ve seen it with Monsanto and the FDA, and that’s just one example out of many. Corporate greed is based on profit, not sharing, if our economic model was based on sharing and the well being of the whole, the world would look a lot different These corporations continue to exploit other countries and destroy our planet all for the purpose of profit.
This is exactly why our planet needs a shift in consciousness. If our thinking about what we are doing here, and how we are doing it shifted, we would be able to start taking the necessary action steps to create change.
In all of this mess, we’ve become completely disconnected from each other. We’ve become so caught up in our lives, trying to survive or focusing on our careers, family and more that we’ve forgotten about our planet, and other people on it who are experiencing a reality that nobody else would want to. This made me think about how ungrateful we’ve become, and how much we take things for granted, and how much we only care about our own lives and not the lives of our fellow human beings.
There are so many aspects of this human experience that are not resonating with so many people, and it seems our hearts are desiring a new experience, one in which we do not destroy our planet and the needs of everyone can be met. The frustrating thing to me is the fact that the solutions are so simple, and we have the potential to create this type of world, but most people don’t even know that and will tell you to “keep dreaming.”
I hope the video below gives you something to think about in your own life. Thanks for reading.
[youtube id=”IhTSL8FA8aI”]
I agree, war will not solve the world’s issues. It doesn’t promote farming, it doesn’t feed the poor nor help the need.
Arjun,
I love your work, especially this article! You summed up life on earth, perfectly. You stated that we are so busy ‘surviving’ that we have forgotten the planet and people on it and the results is ingratitude. When you are young it’s about survival, when you get older, like us baby-boomers, it’s about getting out from under ALL of the prescriptions drugs to even be able to think, much less be grateful. But, young or old, we have to realize we are in a box before we can even have a thought about getting out. Then we can have the thought of what the heck am I doing, Or, even better, why the heck am I doing this?
I believe we have lost the connections to ourselves and therefore cannot connect to others or the planet. The young have less years of brainwashing (but more vaccines), but I must remember that us baby-boomers were the original ‘flower children’ who preached Peace, and ‘Make Love not War’!! Somewhere inside us all is the rebel we need to resurrect!
How do we find this rebel? Just keep screaming from the rooftops! People are coming to this website, and others, for the first time, daily. Second thing, is to try and keep the frustration level to a dull roar so we can move on. You can lead a horse to water but they don’t have to drink, and even worse is when they turn around and shit in the trough. You just have to walk away to keep your sanity and balance. If they are an ‘outside/in’ person then there is not enough ‘stuff’ out there to fill the inside. But if they are an ‘inside/out’ person, you will eventually be able to reach them.
I think that Rebel is our heart’s desire to color outside the lines!
Here’s my new motto, “I will not stay silent so that you can stay comfortable.”
Thanks,
Lalita
Ps: Why didn’t you show the whole video so we could see what the shoeboxes were all about?
Thanks for the comment Lalita!