Summary

The article reflects on humanity's failure to maintain ecological balance and the consequences of greed and overconsumption, advocating for a shift towards a more harmonious and equitable coexistence with the planet.

Abstract

The author of the article, Elizabeth Hill, contemplates the current state of the world, which is teetering on the brink of irreversible environmental damage due to human actions. Despite warnings and efforts by organizations like Greenpeace, the balance between human needs and the planet's well-being has not been achieved. The article suggests that the root of the problem lies in societal structures that prioritize wealth accumulation and consumerism over sustainability and communal well-being. It points out that the Earth has sufficient resources to feed its population, yet distribution is skewed by greed and apathy. The piece calls for a transformation in human consciousness, moving away from destructive patterns and towards a life that benefits all, emphasizing the importance of gratitude, balance, and respect for all living beings as taught by Indigenous wisdom.

Opinions

The author believes that humanity's focus on saving Earth's creatures has overlooked the need to save ourselves from our own destructive behaviors.
There is a criticism of the capitalist economy, which is seen as a tool for a small percentage of individuals to hoard wealth and control resources, perpetuating poverty and inequality.
The article suggests that the global economy benefits only a few and that the rest of the world is trapped in a cycle of toil for minimal reward.
It is argued that wars are fundamentally about control of natural resources, and that neither side in a conflict is without blame.
The author expresses that society has been conditioned to desire endless consumption, which is fueled by subliminal messaging in advertising.
The piece conveys that overpopulation is not the core issue, but rather overconsumption, waste, and a lack of care for the planet.
The author emphasizes that every human being deserves a good life and happiness, but this should not come at the expense of the environment or the needs of others.
The article calls for a collective effort to stop the cycle of judgment, enslavement, and killing, and to instead find a balance point where constructive change can be made.
It is proposed that the teachings of Indigenous cultures, such as the Iroquoian Thanksgiving Address, offer valuable lessons on living sustainably and with gratitude.
The author advocates for the power of peace, respect, and unconditional love as foundational principles for creating a prosperous and abundant future for all.

As The World Teeters

Where Is The Balance Point

For as long as I can remember someone somewhere has been trying to save something. Usually, the commercials that appeared on the television showed starving children or dying animals to appeal to our human emotional response.

“Eat everything on your plate. There are starving children out there, you know.” It was always a country in Africa on the TV. For those of us who were raised by depression era parents this was the litany at every meal because the measurement for poverty was whether you had any food to eat at all.

They spoke in memory of a time when they had nothing

Now, decades later we stand on a planet that hovers on the cusp of irreversible change that we humans have created. Even though we received warnings thirty perhaps forty years ago we continue today as though nothing is at all out of balance.

Greed prevails.

Greenpeace, and other save the world organizations although well-intentioned, missed a point. It wasn’t Earth’s creatures that needed saving. It was us. How arrogant we are as human beings to think that we can live to benefit ourselves while destroying the very host that allows us to live.

Granted there are many programs, organizations and people who have worked there entire lives to ensure that species survive potential extinction. Were I a marine biologist I would be right there with them. Despite lifetimes of hard work by so many, here we are now still hovering. Why?

I think it may be safe to say that as a collective species our minds are not in a good place. Our minds are narrowed and starving for balance, for perspective, for understanding, for knowledge while we toil away for whatever master we happen to serve.

In our helplessness we now turn on each other with intolerance not only cancelling each other out but entire countries and populations.

Imprisoned by a social structure that requires us to work a lifetime paying for basic needs has been so normalized no one questions it. What was freely grown and given by the planet has been hoarded and monopolized to the extent that we now allow people to suffer, and die if they cannot pay us for what has been stolen in the first place.

In the Iroquoian Thanksgiving Address we are reminded that every living thing on this planet has a place, purpose and relationship with us as human beings. In our acknowledgement of gratitude we learn that we are not to take more than we need because we then deplete the resources meant to be shared with others.

Like everyone else who has been cornered into extreme poverty through war and deprivation we now seek to find our place in an economy that exists to keep most of the world poor anyway. The wealth of this planet is controlled by a very small percentage of individuals who do not like to share. That is so very un-Indigenous.

It was once thought that countries who based their economies on capitalism were the greatest. Are we sure about that?

Greed has become an acceptable trait. We are observing global conflict by those in search of “more” so that it can be “mine” in the name of “ours” and it is terrifying. Slavery was never eliminated it was only hidden more deeply from the public eye.

What is the answer? There has to be a way of living that everyone, everywhere will benefit from. If this were a conversation someone would now say “Ok, you go first. Fix it.”

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

It’s not simple but anything is possible. The collective challenge for us all right now is to stop criticizing, judging, cancelling, enslaving and killing one another. Where is the balance point?

In our pain and grief we watch all world leaders scramble to hold up an old global economy that benefits only a few. The rest of the world toils to support it for scraps doled out on an illusionary ladder that we have all been convinced we must climb.

Every war has been a fight over natural resources. That they have included maniacal leaders, despots and criminals is a good point but not the main one. When it comes to war neither side is guiltless.

Considering all of that I’ve come to believe that I can no longer observe the world as good or bad, dark or light, positive or negative. I see life and everything in it as constructive or destructive, including my own thoughts. Balance is the key. Obviously, we’ve lost it.

Perhaps it can be found by taking a step back from the world and observing it without judgement. What exactly are we trying to achieve here?

Everyone human being on this planet has the right to live a good life, to be happy. Society has been conditioned to believe it is through getting everything you want regardless of the environment or the needs of other people. In fact, the conditioning goes deeper to teach us that nature and human beings are expendable.

Millions of dollars are spent in creating advertisements of suggestion and subliminal messaging through words, imagery and sound that is meant to trigger our desire to consume at any expense. Kind of scary isn’t it?

For years scientists have studied overpopulation of the Earth and world hunger. According to the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere, an initiative of Stanford University, enough food is grown around the world to feed Earth’s current population. Yet over 800 million people are starving. Why is that?

It isn’t that the Earth can’t feed all the people. It’s that people in general no longer know or care how to live upon the Earth. It’s that we have come to believe in the power of “more” and therefore spend everything we have in search of it. It is that industry and commerce have created a self-destructive pattern upon the planet and we are stuck in it.

Overconsumption, greed, waste, and apathy are our worst enemies. North America has one of the biggest shares of this destructive existence.

If you place a creature in a pot of water and set it over a flame slowly bringing it to a boil the creature will allow itself to be boiled to death. We too have equally become slowly acclimatized to the unacceptable, the unthinkable, the irreparable and the unforgivable.

As said by Eileen Caddy, one of the founders of Findhorn Community and Gardens it is easier to remove the poisons from the waters than it is from the minds of men. From humans.

The political leaders of the world will come and go and we are only left with ourselves. As sovereign spiritual beings upon the planet we have the ability to bring our good minds, our open minds together as one and make constructive change toward maintaining peace and abundance on this planet. That is more powerful than any weapon these creatures of destruction, these political machinists can come up with.

Peace, respect, and unconditional love are something that we hold in our minds. In turn it generates the desire to live in an existence of prosperity and abundance for everyone. That may sound impossibly naive but really it’s just physics. What you put out there is what you get back.

As we learn to generate peace it is anchored in our lives as we move through the dark chaos of destruction around us. Maintaining peace creates a foundation of respect for all things, all people. When we can live by a universal law of peace, we become the hope that we are looking for.

Imagine.

Elizabeth Hill is Kanienkeha:ka (Mohawk) and writes from experience and a passion for storytelling. She is a songwriter, multi-disciplinary artist, and writer whose work has taken her to exploring Indigenous lands and voices around the world. Exchanging songs, ideas, the power of sound and stories to celebrate the beauty of the good mind upon the earth she is an extremely dedicated artist.