Truth or
Consequences! Humanities three possible future stories.
1. We keep going
the direction we are heading, believing what we do now, and continue experience
the harmful consequences that are now accelerating.
2. Wait until it
all collapses and rebuild...if that will even possible.
3. Be the landlord
of our minds and gravitate back to the old story we never really took
seriously.
TorC
was the name of a popular TV program decades ago. It should now be humanity’s mantra for our sustainable
and civilized future. Unfortunately, partisan
politicians, religious extremists, corporations prioritizing profits, and organized
criminals thrive on untruths, greed, and secrecy. If the rest of us adopted TorC we could engineer
a planetary system maximizing humanities’ most cherished freedoms and desired security
-- for generations to come.
Unfortunately,
truth decay rules our world today. And this
is irreversibly linked to the accelerating of a lack of trust in government,
religion, and other traditional institutions that has bonded humans with our faith
in government and theology. But now our
polarization of beliefs and our actions (or inaction) tied to them are literally
killing us and at the same time destroying our planet’s life support infrastructure
systems. Systems found nowhere else with our current transportation
infrastructure, almost impossible to build new, and the very source of most of our
wealth, health, and capacity to survive as a species.
Every
life form is driven to be free and secure.
To survive and thrive. Of the
hundreds of millions of species that have ever existed on earth only about 8.7
billion has survived. And ours has been the
only one with a brain that evolved with a mind for solving big problems. Problems we have overcome for surviving in
almost any environment from the bottom of our deepest oceans to the surface of
the Moon.
It’s a profound
story over the last 300,000 years that we have mostly influenced with our minds
capability of abstract thought, language, the ability to reason mathematically,
logically, and morally. It has only been
over the last 3 – 5 thousand years we have created cities with millions of inhabitants,
dozens of religions, a couple economic systems, about two hundred nations, and
a growing population of over 8 billion inhabitants – most with opposable thumbs.
The
technology that our unique minds and hands have assemble to date, could take us
to other planets, wipe ourselves of this one, or reduce our world’s vital life
support systems to the point where billions of people will die and most of the
rest will live with nearly unbearable suffering. A rich and powerful few might
escape the suffering but it will be at the expense of their own souls.
Our
reality at this point in the human story is that we are free like any other
life form to do what we want and desire.
But human constraints are mostly mental.
Mental concepts we or others have created in order to live in larger and
larger groups.
So
biologically we are all free to do, or not do, whatever our mind or body
wants, if we can get the resources. But
we will never be free of the inevitable consequences. Consequences that can be good or bad for you.
And likely have an effect on others around you, around the world, or nature.
The hard part is understanding just what those consequences will do, to whom
and what. And to what degree they will do good or harm.
There
is almost always short term intended consequences. These depend primarily on the heart and the
mind of each doer. But given the laws of
nature and nature’s God in this universe, there will always be unintended consequences.
And our brain’s limited capacity to understand reality will never have all the knowledge
and wisdom needed to understand specifically what the long-term consequences
will be. Or if they will be good, bad, or a combination of both.
Our minds might
not agree with this fact but “Everything is connected, everything is interdependent, so everything is
vulnerable.... And that’s why this has to be a more than whole of government, a more than whole of nation [effort]. It
really has to be a global effort....” Jen Easterly. CISA director. Oct. 29, 2021. [the Cyber and Infrastructure
Security Agency is our nation’s newest federal agency established by the Trump
Administration in 2018].
Define “everything”! The word is precicely what it means. Everything! No exceptions!
“When
you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer” Stevie Wonder, ‘Superstition ain't the way’.
Reading
the paper or monitoring the trends in the world it should be a self-evident truth
that both our current Constitution and global governance systems are NOT working.
And our own government with its self-interest
foreign policies are getting further and further away from each of the seven
intentions clearly stated in our Constitution’s preamble.
- To
form a more perfect Union
- To establish Justice
- To insure domestic Tranquility
- To provide for the common defense
- To promote the general Welfare
- To secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves
- and our Posterity
In
2024 most democracies, theocracies, and autocracies around the world are increasingly
troubled by their inability to address growing global economic, environmental,
security, religious, health, immigration, crime, and corruption problems. And each of these costly problems are
connected, interdependent, and nearly impossible to stop with even the most
elaborate border control efforts. And nearly
all these problems are the result of the unintended consequences of using ‘independent’
agencies within each so called “independent” government seeking to relieve the
suffering of voters in democracies or subjects in autocracies or theocracies.
And
it is the competition and fear within. and between. each of these systems of
government that is edging the entire world toward another catastrophic world
war. And such a war won’t be like any
war we have seen before. It will be the consequence
of ignoring multiple universal truths.
Keep
in mind the first fundamental truth. Everything
in the known universe is connected, interdependent and vulnerable. Nothing is truly
independent. Any legislative or dictated solution that ignores this reality is most
likely reactionary and economically unsustainable because it will likely fail to
effectively address root causes that are global. And the ‘solution’ which likely end terribly.
And likely cause a cascade of other disruptive consequences on everything else –
because everything is connected....
Examples:
Fentanyl and its chemical precursors are now killing almost 100,000
Americas a year. Using Cryptocurrency, criminals are funding,
selling, buying, and transporting their chemical products and its chemical variants
globally. Cryptocurrency enables criminals
or violent extremists ship boatloads of money, quickly, across borders, and with
near anonymity. Given the size and availability
of this toxic ‘chemical weapon’ it is nearly impossible to block any supply
chain without a significant amount of government funding and a significant loss
of freedom/privacy within or between nations. Having information is said to be the
key to finding these killer drugs and stopping them. This has national security implications transcending
political parties when “one pill can kill” anyone. With organized crime cartels now linking
with violent extremist groups (both inside and outside the US) that do not recognize
national borders and can profit greatly - by generating more chaos anywhere. These are
all consequences of the domestic demand for both illegal and even legal drugs. With the high costs of legal medicines, crime
cartels are motivated to make cheaper counterfeit pills to boost their profits.
These pills (or just dusting anything edible with the toxic mix) is already
killing innocent people who take prescription drugs they bought off the internet.
Each
year at the US border enough Fentanyl is confiscated by border control
agents to kill the entire US population. A fentanyl volume the size of a sweet-and-low
packet is enough to kill 500 people. In
congressional hearings experts say “We are only putting bandages” on this hemorrhaging
of American lives. If we treat this killer
and its distributers - only as a criminal actively it will kill our communities.
Border controls, domestic incarceration, or foreign restrictions will NOT end
it. We must address the demand side! And
the demand is basically a mental health problem, which is linked to multiple
other health problems. The belief that
wea are always supposed to feel good and be happy. Yet our selfish individualism and seeking happiness
instead of health only drives us toward entertainment. And avoiding the discomforts
of nature or physical exertion. Our praise
for being independent (which we are not) is driving personal loneliness and a
basic mental disconnect from real life and the natural world where our species
spend hundreds of thousands of years evolving.
Our modern culture leads us to believe that we are free to do what we
want and there should be no consequences. Think smoking, over-eating, suicide, divorce
rates, and addiction to social media misinformation that validates our existing
beliefs that are simply not true. We want
to blame Mexico, China, ‘open borders or the drug makers and drugs
themselves. But the real enemy is our
mind’s flawed beliefs that we can do what we want or feel like doing...and
there will be no consequences.
Consider
that the vast majority of our domestic drug demand is linked to various
elements of our sick American culture. Our
addiction to ‘feeling good’ instead of doing and being good. And that the American way of life is normal
and virtuous. We hope and pray. And are optimistic things will get better if
we just win this next election. Yet roughly
half of us vote. And most vote party line or gut feeling, or rarely studying a policy
makers priority - or the flawed system he/she/they will be part of. Then we
rarely make taking care of our own physical or mental health, our neighbors’
health, or the health of our environment a priority. We dismiss the fact that our mental health and
caring attitude is the gateway to a healthy body, spirit, family, community, environment,
economy, and government.
Illegal
Immigration: There are three places to address this problem/opportunity. At the border, within our communities when they
arrive, or at the source where they are coming from. Consider that the most fundamental freedom of
any life form. It is to move itself and kin
to a better place where their chance to survive and thrive are improved. Remember that the US population is shrinking
and there are many US jobs Americans won’t do.
Our nation’s falling birthrate means our current social security system
is unsustainable. What’s the consequences to our nation as people age with increasing
preventable health problems? Preventable
and profoundly expensive medical problems of elder American will predictably take
an even a larger share of tax dollars each year. Our national debt is already one of our
greatest unsustainable national security threats even admitted by many military
leaders. Genuine conservatives such as industrialist Charles Kock appreciate a
more inclusive immigration policy to keep our nation in perpetual economic
health.
The
cost of building walls and staffing security check points that can easily be defeated
by anyone sufficiently motivated -- will not stop the flow of migrants -- if
they are sufficiently motivated. Trying
to round them up within the US would also be expensive and violate basic privacy
rights of many legal Americans. This time
and money could be better spent working to improve the means of immigrants living
sustainably within their own nation of origin. This is where most migrants would
prefer to live.
The
border threat is not a problem. It is a consequence of failed US foreign policy
related to our nation’s focus on short term domestic special interests. Plus, the failing global governance system
that puts the protection of ‘national sovereignty’ above the protection of
human rights and the environment. Remember that our nation’s civil war was caused
by our nation choosing states’ rights over human rights. And that was only reversed after a war that
kill more Americans than all the wars we have fought in since then, combined!!!
Terrorism:
The official “Global War Against Terrorism (GWOT”) has actually created more ‘terrorists’
alive today than there were before Sept. 11.
Know that ‘terrorism’ is a political tactic; A tactic can never be
defeated militarily. This fact was recognized
by many national security experts within 10 years of the GWOT draining our budget
and politically polarizing our nation. These
specialists finally decided “terrorism” or “terrorist” were not useful words. And impossible to define. In fact, the most terrifying
of all human experiences is the loss of a child. And when the CIA did a comprehensive study
after “Blackhawk Down” Mogadishu battle in Ethiopia, they found that the best way
of predicting future nation state failures where US troops might be called in
to risk their lives is a nation’s infant mortality rate.
Those
tasked with addressing the threat created a far more useful phrase “Violent extremism”
and started calling “counterterrorism” measures “Countering Violent Extremism
(CVE)”. The GWOT acronym was abandoned
by the wise. Shockingly most of today’s media
continues using the “T” words driving the world closer to sparking a middle
east fire that could burn the world down with another world war.
Humanity
has two basic paths forward. Continuing with
the strategy of peace through strength – the law of force- with it’s unjust
tactics and budget busting evolution of war and weaponry - leading the word
quickly toward Armageddon. Or the civilized
pathway of the ‘Force of law’. Where ‘liberty
and justice for all’ becomes the global goal.
A pathway committing all people and nations to the “golden rule”. As two Pope’s have said, “No justice, no
peace!
Only
when the world is unanimous in putting the global protection of human rights
and the environment - above the protection of nations (to do whatever they
want, whenever they want, to whomever they want, within their own borders. Or
beyond their borders if they have nuclear weapons and believe they can deter
other nations from using their nukes).
Remember that ‘Terrorism’ as rich nations see it now, is only tactic that poor
nations use because they can’t afford more expensive weapons. Know that with the future evolution of weaponry
and its increasing lethality, lower cost, and global availability - there will
be no end to violence in the absence of justice. Security is an illusion! Because everything is connected, interdependent,
and vulnerable...and nations heavily dependent on technology are far more vulnerable
than those who are not. And the freedom
to abuse anyone, in any nation, or destroying the environment will always have unintended,
uncontrollable, and catastrophic consequences.
Infectious
Diseases:
From Smallpox to Covid19 to HIV/AIDS - and all the new and reemerging
infectious diseases that will come. Remember that we are all bathed in a sea of
microbes. Most of those exist on and inside
our bodies. They are essential to our
health and survival. Occasionally we will
come into contact with a unique pathogen that our body’s immune system (which
includes the trillions of microbes in and on our bodies protecting us against
most others) can’t handle. Viruses,
bacteria, and fungi have always been humanity’s greatest threat. And when we mistreat nature, our bodies, or other
people, this only increases the types of dangerous pathogens we will be exposed
to – including biological weapons. Global
travel and trade expose us all daily to any new bio threat. And now, with advances in biotechnology,
pathogens can be engineered to target one gene, a genetic characteristic, or an
entire species. Our only defense against
these is our immune system, our personal habits, and our government policies. Policies that can go broke economically
attempting to develop counter measures in anticipation a bioweapon that could be
used against us or our agricultural system.
And thus, research on a defense must be done before an attack - which means
developing the specific weapon first!
Now remember the number of lab accidents just in the US around the time
of Covid19. This could happen with any such “gain of function” defensive research
effort. Or we can do our best to inhibit
most pathogen evolution by not exacerbating the wars, sanctions, failed
democracies, or environmental disruptions that exacerbate most pathogen’s
natural creation.
The
greatest of all human achievements was the global eradication of Smallpox. A disease that killed more people in the last
century than all the wars, revolutions, genocides, and homicides combined during
that same century. Eradicating that virus took a global vaccination effort that
cost the US $32 million over a ten-year campaign ending in the 1970s. In 1995 a GAO analysis calculated that US taxpayers
saved over $17 billion with that one-time investment. Unfortunately,
we must now consider the consequences if smallpox is weaponized - with more
than 20 times its normal killing capacity) if it is ever used or modified
further - to target a population once the enemy’s population has received the
special vaccine to protect only them.
DEMOCRACY: Autocrats and dictators can change things quickly.
Democracies usually can’t. And our
government was considered “dysfunctional” by our own national security experts even
before Donald Trump ran for President. The
current US congress now has the dismal record of passing the least amount of legislation
in US history. Time magazine and the
World Economic Forum predict things will be getting worse in 2024. And most interconnected disruptive factors
growing. Having a truly united nation
would be helpful. Divided nations will falter one by one...or crumble as alliances
quickly as fear and corruption continue to undermine truths - and with that - the
trust needed to hold people or nations together.
OVER-POPULATION:
It’s not the number of people consuming resources on earth. It’s the number of people consuming them
irresponsibly and wastefully. And
ignoring solutions that already exist.
Hunger
and starvation have never been the result of too many people and not enough
food. While our global food production
methods are certainly unsustainable, the fact is humanity has always had the
technological and financial capacity to sustainably produce enough healthy food
if there were the political will to do so.
Unfortunately, our global economic system has always resisted this
because it would ‘cost too much’. In other words, ‘profits’ are more important
and valuable than infants and their parent’s lives. The cost of this flawed simple thinking has
been catastrophic to global security.
Myths about overpopulation are much cheaper and easier to sell to the
public than convincing those with cognitive dissonance who would rather die
than use logic and deeper thinking to change their mind.
Here’s the latest advance in technology that makes feeding the world
even cheaper and environmentally sustainable:
https://newatlas.com/science/coal-protein-feed/
Coal-to-protein
livestock feed uses 1/1000th as much land as farming. By Loz Blain
January 09, 2024
Responsibility
is key. And if one is honest and serious
about reducing population growth by civil means they would be very responsible
and use their freedom, time, and money to pursue solving the fundamental causes
of high birthrates. Which are:
- High infant mortality rates.
For some reason parents are very unhappy about their children dying
prematurely from cheaply preventable causes like malnutrition and
infectious disease. And these high IMRs are the greatest cause of nation
state failures and a primary driver of global instability and other
national security problems. (See summary of the 1980 bipartisan
Presidential Commission on World Hunger and the 1996 CIA report on the #1
cause linked to nation state failures)
- Female illiteracy rates.
Even very literate women can be grossly misinformed about issues
unless they consider the underlying causes. Each year of female education results in
postponement of childbearing by about a year.
- Female poverty.
Selfish single-minded men would rather spend money on booze,
hookers, and ghetto blasters. Most women spend their earnings on family
nutrition, education, and protection.
- Lack of female political power. Women simply don’t grasp the power they have
[Watch movie musical- Chi-raq.
There are things that men need besides sleep, food, and fun. And
women are the majority of voters in the US and other democratic nations of
the world.
- Excess availability of family planning services…but insufficient health and
nutrition services to protect infants and children already born - from
easily preventable and affordable malnutrition and infectious
diseases. Plus simple minded people’s
success in lobbying Congress to fund birth control measures resulting in
funding cuts child survival services like ORT, birth charts,
micronutrients, and vaccines.
- Racist beliefs that those poor dark-skinned people don’t deserve the same level of
wasteful development that we rich folk can foolishly afford.
- Ignorance of Americans believing 5-25% of the US budget goes
to foreign aid…when
in reality - it is less than 1%.
- The American illusion that our military and border walls will
protect us against the global problems exacerbated by US foreign policy
that empowers corruption (see Pandora papers), repressive regimes (see
long list of failed states), murderous occupations (see Iraq,
Afghanistan), undeclared wars (see Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan…), covert operations
undermining democracies (see Chile, Iran, El Salvador, Nicaragua…), and a
domestic drug policy connected to all of the above…because our government
and culture fails to address the underlying causes of drug addition,
depression, loneliness, gun violence, poverty, domestic violence, obesity,
and ‘conspiracy theory’ creations.
- In summary…Because
US codifies laws that mostly ignore “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God”
…then law makers swear to protect a fundamentally flawed U.S.
Constitution…instead of fundamental principles (those self-evident Truths
that our Founding Fathers signed off on…in our Declaration of
Independence…) we keep addressing the symptoms instead of the disease. We
are NOT independent from the health status of people around the world. Our “Declaration of Independence”
should have been called our “Declaration of Separation from the
not-so-Great Brittan.
But
most people will keep using their mind to defend their delusional hypothesis
that the world is overpopulated - while it continues to spiral into more chaos
- the consequences they see and refuse to think deeply about the real
unsustainable problems: A lack of
compassion, accountability, global justice, and the personal will to seek root
causes instead limiting one’s thoughts to direct
consequences.
“2% of the people
think; 3% of the people think they think; and 95% of the people would rather
die than think.” George Bernard Shaw,
“There are some
persons who, by habit acquired in youth, or by ill guidance, or foolish desire,
or perverse inclinations, are so strongly attached and bound to an error or
false view that they refuse to relinquish it, and it is grievous to them to
hear any notion to the contrary, and they become unpracticed in hearing the
truth.” Aristotle, Metaphysics.
“A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree,
and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources.
Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.
We have all experienced the futility of trying to change a strong conviction,
especially if the convinced person has some investment in his belief. We are
familiar with the variety of ingenious defenses with which people protect their
convictions, managing to keep them unscathed through the most devastating
attacks.
But man’s resourcefulness goes beyond simply protecting a belief. Suppose an
individual believes something with his whole heart; suppose further that he has
a commitment to this belief, that he has taken irrevocable actions because of
it; finally, suppose that he is presented with evidence, unequivocal and
undeniable evidence, that his belief is wrong: what will happen? The individual
will frequently emerge, not only unshaken, but even more convinced of the truth
of his beliefs than ever before. Indeed, he may even show a new fervor about
convincing and converting other people to his view.” ― Leon Festinger, When Prophecy Fails: A Social & Psychological Study of a
Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World
2024
& Beyond:
Disruptive
consequences are predictably ahead in 2024 with both major wars (Ukraine/Russia. Israel/Hamas expanding in Middle East) and
many of over two dozen smaller conflicts happening now. Not to mention the continued evolution of Covid19
stains and increasing extreme weather events with the expected El-Nino factor coming
this season. Without making transformational
changes in both these governing systems ASAP don’t expect much good news.
Curing
Truth decay: The greatest challenge
humanity faces.
“The
vulnerabilty of a nation divided by the very meaning of the truth can’t be
overstated.” Kathleen Parker, In politics, there’s liars and then there’s
better liars Washington Post op-ed, Jan.
1, 2024
Neil deGrasse Tyson offers a significant possibility
of bringing people, religions, polarized tribes, and nations together. He offers the classification lens of 3 types
of Truth. In reality there is only one
functional truth. And reality would be
the most useful approach for engineering a sustainable world where faith in governing
systems could build trust.
Its factual that nearly everyone
has a personal truth. What God do they
believe in, or not? But nearly everyone’s
personal truth is different. Most people
also have a political truth that bonds them into a political party or movement. Truths that they’ve grown up with and heard
from others they love and respect, and view these truths as a means of
achieving their groups goals (prosperity, survival, and happiness?) Last are
objective truths backed by dependable empirical evidence. Evidence acquired by direct observation,
experimentation, or experiences based on real world data (observed, measured,
and verified by everyone’s senses or scientific tools/methods). If two clearly
objective minds disagree – there can be only three possible outcomes. 1. I’m right. You’re wrong. 2.
Your right. I’m wrong. 3. We’re
both wrong! Let’s find an answer! Later Tyson
added “if an argument lasts more than 5 minutes... both people are wrong.” Thus, it should follow that if two groups are
warring for over 1000 years...both are wrong.
Objective truths do NOT come
from government or a majority opinion. Governments
and majorities must adopt them. Objective
truth exists regardless of who or how many believe it. And like a blueprint, it uses words and concepts
that engineers worldwide could use to create any system or structure that has
worked so far.
So, what is it that allows any mechanical
human engineered system to work consistently and globally regardless of any religious,
political, or economic beliefs? It is a system constructed using precise words
and phrases understood globally. Unfortunately,
people have been using words like; peace, sanctions, rights, democracy,
terrorist, conservative, equality, or development – which each can having multiple
meanings. This has not worked well when
engineering systems of government, religion, or economics. Such systems are usually inherently flawed and
unsustainable. Nearly six decades ago R. Buckminster Fuller emphasized our
need to use precise words if we were seriously committed “to be the architects
of tomorrow. Not its victims.”
Intellecuals of claim “we
need a new story”. But we already have one
that could work! A simple, inspiring,
and true story based on fundamental
principles instead of the ideas of one or more people with power. This old sensible story still has the
potential to maximize humanities freedoms and security for generations to come
- thus avoiding most of the lethal and destructive conseqeunces we see today. Most that are irreveraabbly linked to
stories not founded on self-evident truths.
What is so complicated about
the obvious need to take care of nature and each other? This was advised in pre
biblical times and reference again less than 300 years ago in the American
Declaration of Independence. The logical
wisdom of abiding by “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” was simple and true.
Yet our nation’s founders agreed to a compromise
and engineered a US Constitution that ignored the Golden Rule by codifyed
slavery into the law of the land. That
error led to a war and a waste of over 600,000 US lives. We’ve not lost than many lives beyond our own
borders since then.
The Declartion of Independce was
and remains an appeal to humanity. For
the first time in human history It was a calling to bring forth a nation established
on the universal ideal that all people are created equal and endowed at birth with
certain inalianble rights. Rights that
no king, emporor, dictator, or majority vote could take away. Abraham Lincoln wrote that the Declaration
of Independence was our “Apple of Gold” and the US Constitution its “Frame of
Silver” (a biblical reference). Yet the
US voters continue to elect policy makers that swear an oath to protect the
Consittuion. A systemically flawed
document that is incapable of achieving any of the seven intentions in its
preamble – without major amendments that are unlikely to happen without a
change in American minds.
What is urgently needed in
the US is a Consitutional Convention intended to create a more perfect union globally. Not just a collection of a majority of US
states within one nation which is a plan the Heritage Foundation is now championing
with an impressive list of wealthy and powerful traditionalist entities. [Find and Insert list of supporters and
weblink to their plans]. This cabal is
proposing amendments that will only
strengthen the Constitution’s regressive ideas.
What ‘we the people’ must urgently
do is clearly understand and champion the words and phrases within the
Declaration of Independence. Then use these
to engineer a sustainable future for all humanity and our posterity.
Remember that even before Thomas
Jefferson drafted the Declaration, Thomas Paine published his pamphlet “Common
Sense”. Within its first few pages he offers seven
self-evident truths.
First, beliving something for “a long time” only gives it the “appearance of
being right.”
Second, “suffering” spurs questions.
Third, “The cause of America is...a great...cause of all mankind.” It is “not local, but universal...principles
of all Lovers of Mankind...” and should “Concern...every Man to whom Nature”
has “given the Power of feeling...”.
Forth, the “Doctrine itself” is “but the influence of reason and principle.” Philadephia,
February 14, 1776.
Fifth, no individual can survive and thrive alone. The perptuation of the human
family requires cooperation of others.
Sixth, people are not angels. “Society
is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness”. And “government even in its best state is but
a necessary evil”.
Seventh, some fundamental rules are required to sustain harmony in any
group/government. With “security being
the true design and end of government”...”to ensure” ... “the least expense and
greatest benfit..preferable to all
others.” And “freedom” being that greatest
benefit.
Our species urgently requires
a governing body that benefits most of humanity that only a dimwit would
resist. The governing body’s only purpose would be the
global protection human freedoms and security via “Liberty and justice for all”
- a phrase every American has already
repeatedly pledged to do before the US flag – dozens if not hundreds of times.
What is needed now is the mental
matururity of our species to grasp this fundamental realty of the urgency of
our era. Then move beyond other believable
but flawed stories and use our minds’ logic, our spiritual faith in justice,
the golden rule, and our heart felt compassion to take care of each other and
the nature that sustains us, our prosperity, and our posterity.
This old story has been
confirmed by the wisest spiratual leaders of our species over the last few
thousand years. Check out the primary principlle
of every major religion. [Insert my list
if needed!] We must adopt it if we truly
intend to “secure the Blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” as stated
in last intention in the US Constitution’s preamble.
Until then, the best “we the
people” can do is advocate for those with unprecedented wealth to invest in
achieving the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Indepted governments and over streched
charities cannot do it. If those in
power want capitalism and profit making to be sustainable, then those with
excessive economic wealth must invest in the health of people, their
communities, protecting/restoring nature, and functional non-corrupt political
systems.
Here's a false fishy story
hopefully open minds and prioritize budgets.
As two young fish swim by an older fish, the elder
asks “How’s the water boys?” They answer
“fine!” They swim past, then one askes the other “What’s water?”.
Humanity (and each of our 8
billion minds with opposing thumbs and profit seeking entities) are now
swimming through this modern era in an ocean of imperfect words, misinformation,
untruths, hundreds of langauges, ununited
populations/nations. With growing polarized
natonal democratic alliance vs an autocractic Axis - both with an unprecidented quantity and quality of
killing capacity.
There are now more wars and conflicts
on earth than in 20 years, the hightest global temperarues, growing hunger/food
insecurity, and authoritarian governments all merging into an Axis...creating the
spirit numbing possilibty of humanities current trajectory toward inceasing
chaos, mass species exctinctons, or even our own.
Engineering a sustainable
future with least amount of bloodshed, economic, and environmental costs requires
we begin communicating with words with specific meaning or appliation. And with the intention of systaining our
planet’s natural systems- in coordination with reengineering our human infrastrucure systems and structures - to
protect both nature and our immune systems.
Reading the news is depressing
when everything appears as a problem. In
reality most problems are conseqeunces.
Once a mind understands the root causes of a problem there is nothing
but opportuity to address it. Missing
that, there isn’t enough money or material on this planet to sustain such
stupidity.
“Ignorance can be cured but stupid is forever.” - Miriam
Defensor-Santiago
Our collective failure in
clearly seeing that both our national and global governing systems are
irreversably dysfuntional will not end well. In the reality they can never work because
they are founded on the illusion of independence in our irreversably
interdepend reality. There is a
clinical medical and mental health term for a mind unable to grasp
reality. Anosognosia. It normally applies to people with Alzheimer’s
or dementia. In this case the mind is so committed to an illlusion it’s delusional. If someone keeps doing the same thing over and over again
expecting a different result they are either crazy, addicted to their insanity,
or perhaps determined to keep their government paycheck.
We are living in our
delusional story that the things are independent of one another. And we are
free to do what we want as people or nations and not suffer any
conequncees. This continues to be a
monstrously destructive and unsustainable.
Covid19
exposed our profound mental disconnect from everything and everybody. The cost of that blindness in lives and treasure
is still accumulating. As of January
2024 the new subvariant JN.1 is killing over 2000 Americans a day while we continue
to think the pandemic is over while it is still raging. There are many things we can learn from it. Like it will continue to mutate and
and
at some point a more lethal varient may emerged. Covid changes!
Can we? Most shocking and
dangerous however is our mind’s capacity to believe anything. Literally almost anything about everything. Even when our lives and the lives of those we
love are endangered and negative conseqeunces are clearly predictable. One antivaxer called all vaccines the “antichrist
of all products”.
More
pandemics will come. And other
disrupting consquences like war, genocides, hunger, mass murder attacks by
violent extremists, enviornmental losses
simply because we will keep ingoring, denying, debating, and trying to
avoid the global need to address root causes.
Again, these costly conseqeunce are simply unsustainable.
We
must find a way to break down the truth decay and begin investing in modes of
prevention. Prevention is the foundation
of health. And who is opposed to healthy
mind, body, spirit, family, community, nation, economomic system, environment,
and global governance system.
If we make health, instead of happiness, wealth, or power, our highest priotity
we have the best chance of sustaining
human progress.
Perhaps the most important thing
to keep in mind is ”There can be no health without mental
health!” Rawle Andrews Jr., Esq.,
Executive Director, American Psychiatric Association Foundation.
That may be our final era and arena
for curing truth decay. And only by grasping
the insanity of the flawed truths that our mind possesses. The greatest power is our mind’s capacity for
solving the vast number of unsustainable consequences we are now experiencing. In essence our mind, thoughts, and feelings are
NOT who we are. You may have a religion!
And any political ideas. But those are not your true nature or your true
self. Our mind is a tool we were blessed
with for solving problems and preventing consequences. As a personal identity it threatens our very
survival. Its true purpose must now be focused
on solving the unintended consequences we have collectively created. Our species’
health, wealth and future depend on us being the landlord of our mind. And training it away from defending the untruths
it has been addicted to that creates the harmful and too often lethal feelings that
drive so much of the violence and human suffering we see today.
As tragic and lethal consequences continue to accelerate all around
us and abroad, we can no longer double down on personal and political stories
and truths. We must become connected to reality and the fundamental truth
that “United We Stand” and divided – what civilization we have now is simply
unsustainable.
§ Trump is not the problem.
He’s a consequence. …
§ Climate change isn’t the
problem. It’s a consequence.
§ Unprecedented obesity
rates, opioid deaths, mass shootings, and suicides rates are not health
emergencies. They are consequences.
§ The continuing violence
and expansion of war in Ukraine/Russia, the Middle East, China Sea, Haiti,
Mexico, India, the rise of ISIS in Niger, the Sahel, Myanmar.... are
consequences.
§ The rise of superpower
tensions between the West (US, UK, EU, Australia...) and the East (China,
Russia, N. Korea, Iran...) likely to spark World War III -- are a consequence.
§ Radical extremism in the
US and abroad coming together with crime cartels in trafficking of people,
weapons, and WMD or launching cyber hacks to undermine democracies creating
more opportunity for illegal profits and extremist takeovers... are
consequences.
§ Growing economic
inequality, fake news, misinformation pushed by advances in AI are ultimately
consequences.
§ Our US $34 trillion-dollar debt is an inevitable national security
threat. But also another obvious
consequence related to the chain of other consequences. The possible re-election of Trump or Biden as
a threat to our democracy. That is a consequence
of flaws in our democracy and culture that would yield either Trump of Biden as
President again! We may experience a
civil war if either is elected. Again, these would be consequences. And we fail to understand that our most important natural resource is a well-informed public then we
have lost our minds. With most citizens
consistently making judgments based on objective truths instead of fearful
feelings, things can change! We need
wise souls aware of the consequences of groups with varying personal or
political truths sparking political violence.
Sparked by hateful rhetoric and their fear of losing their county to the
communists or to the capitalists. We
must turn this problematic era to one of transformational change of
systems.
Like most other problems we are creating
at a breakneck pace due to our flawed beliefs, some are not inevitable. We must stop believing everything we think! And stop choosing the wrong thing. This would mean overcoming
our strong desires for comfort, wealth, distractions, popularity,
and freedom from consequences of our actions...that will happen. Especially if our higher priority isn’t
surviving and thriving.
Advances in technology are accelerating exponentially while our linear
paced minds simply can’t keep up. Worse
yet, our government is not just flatlined.
It’s moving backward in some ways.
This will not end well.
The illusion of Independence
underlies most of our short-term thinking which undermines long-term planning -
leading to slow policymaking, and mostly reactionary activities. The climate holocaust isn’t coming. It’s already here. And its consequences are only going to get
worse as violent weather patterns exacerbate political instability in nations, forcing
refugees to migrate where they won’t be welcomed.
In the view of this author the most practical action would be
creating a ‘justice for all’ global governance system. This would not be welcomed by most
policymakers or main political parties because it would require legal
protection for all inalienable human rights for all people and our environment.
We need the force of money. To flat out fund of human rights without the
force of government decree. President Roosevelt offered the basics in his four
freedoms speech; freedom of speech and worship, and freedom from want and …
fear.” Eleanor Roosevelt led the passage of a detailed list known as the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. Like our nation’s Bill of Rights on steroids- but without any means
of government enforcement. Seven decades ago (December 10, 1948)
this Declaration was offered in the context of world security. Those who had
experienced World War II, the holocaust, and a new weapon that could vaporize
100,000 people in a second understood the essentials of ‘justice for all’ and
these fundamental human rights. But the UN’s lack of democratic power
left it useless in preserving states’ rights over human rights. This
structural flaw in the UN resembles the original flaw in the US Constitution
that led to our catastrophic Civil War.
Some of the UDHRs were intended as a foundation for peace.
Universal access to clean water, safe sanitation, adequate food, access to
basic health services, basic education, and an equal opportunity to earn a
living wage are good starters.
Fortuitously, the fastest, most affordable, practical, and
effective means of maximizing this movement of ‘Liberty and Justice for all”
(both here and abroad) thus laying the foundation for maximizing humanity’s
freedom and security globally is the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). These have already been approved in 2015 by every nation. Targeting 2030 for achievement.
“Today the most important
thing, in my view, is to study the reasons why humankind does nothing to avert
the threats about which it knows so much, and why it allows itself to be
carried onward by some kind of perpetual motion. It cannot suffice to invent new machines, new
regulations, new institutions. It is
necessary to change and improve our understanding of the true purpose of what
we are and what we do in the world. Only
such an understanding will allow us to develop new models of behavior, new
scales of values and goals, and thereby invest the global regulations,
treaties, and institutions with a new spirit and meaning.” President
Vaclav Havel, Czech Republic.
Here’s a video of optimism if you
dare watch it https://www.rethinkx.com/videos
"A human being is part of the
whole, called by us 'Universe'; a part limited in time and space. He
experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the
rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind
of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a
few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by
widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole
nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but striving
for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation, and a foundation
for inner security." -Albert Einstein. As quoted in Quantum Reality, Beyond the New
Physics, p. 250.
“The sad
truth...is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be
or do either evil or good.” Hannah Arendt quoted in The Bulwork.
What are you doing to ensure the funding and
achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by or before the year
2030? Connect the dots! See the web of life! Achieve ‘justice for all’. Or, prepare for the catastrophic
consequences.
