Does “The Secret” and Prosperity Thinking Make You a Climate Change Denier?

The balance between seeking happiness and selfishness.

Prosperity is causing climate change. That is the sad truth. The more growth we have, the more things we own, the more vacations we take, the more the earth heats up.

So, sure, we can all have everything — until we can’t.

I bet you’ve heard of The Secret. It promises us that the world is our oyster as long as we put out vibrations of prosperity.

“There is a truth deep down inside of you that has been waiting for you to discover it, and that truth is this: you deserve all good things life has to offer.”

“Prosperity is your birthright, and you hold the key to more abundance — in every area of your life — than you can possibly imagine.”

“The essence of this law is that you must think abundance; see abundance, feel abundance, believe abundance. Let no thought of limitation enter your mind.” — Rhonda Byrne, The Secret

The world is our oyster. But what happens once we eat the last bite of that seafood? Can everything go up and up and up and up?

We see what happens. The more resources we use, the more environment we destroy.

New Cars, New Phones, New Houses, New Clothes

Everyone wants these things. Even those concerned about forest fires, floods, and impending ecological disasters are going to go out and buy clothes or other goods that they don’t need, and won’t even bring that much joy to their lives.

We are disconnected from what causes climate change. It is the actions of all humans added up. Not just you or me, or big business, or China. All of us.

As we go about being humans, our natural inclinations lead us to use up resources. We have a biological imperative to reproduce, to keep the machine running. And we are very good at it.

Prosperity Isn’t a Bad Thing — Unbalancing Nature is the Problem.

It’s just magical thinking to assume that the universe will create whatever you desire and won’t affect everything else around you.

Let’s talk about clothes, something that most westerners have too many of. When you want new jeans, you get them. To you, that’s the end of the story.

But they were made from cotton, which was farmed with tractors. The tractors were made in a huge factory, with all the supply chains that entails. The cotton was harvested, processed, stored, transported, processed again, sent to a factory, processed more, dyed, packaged, shipped, displayed, and finally sold to you.

This all didn’t happen by magic. Sure, the universe got you your new jeans. But the effect of it has far-reaching consequences.

• Farmers used up a lot of hydrocarbon fuel.
• Natural habitat was disturbed to make fields. This might have required evicting or killing the aboriginal inhabitants of that area of land.
• Humans used all kinds of resources to build factories, storage facilities, trucks, tractors, packaging, and stores.
• Advertising executives, influencers, and models had to get their cut.
• You might have driven to the mall using more hydrocarbons. If you ordered online, hydrocarbons delivered your new jeans.

Humans Are Like The Mold on Leftovers

Look in the average fridge, and you might find a container of forgotten leftovers from supper 2 weeks ago. It’s quietly getting consumed by a carpet of mold. This hungry fungus will fill the container until there’s nothing left, choking itself out and ruining the food.

That mold is us, humans. We will spread to the edge of our container, the earth, and choke it out until we finish ourselves off.

Then the galactic fridge cleaners will show up and clean out the container, dumping our moldy old civilization in the garbage with their galactic coffee grounds and food wrappers. And the cycle will start again with fresh leftovers. In a few hundred thousand years, the earth will produce some new creatures and plants.

So What Can We Do About It?

I suggest we think long and hard about our motivations and grow up already. Each one of us can’t have everything by throwing the system out of balance. It’s all connected. What is the one common denominator that is actually behind climate change?

Selfishness.

We Need to Be More Selfless. Period.

The human race is in a bind, and it’s all on us. There’s no point saying, “but I didn’t do this! It was the Boomers!” or whatever whiny excuse you might come up with.

That’s like telling an atomic explosion that you aren’t in the military while the bomb is dropping toward your city. It doesn’t matter much now, does it? It’s going to explode on you, whether it was your fault or not.

We are at ground zero. We need to become selfless, or we die.

But No One Else Is Changing, So Why Should I?

Everyone else is murdering small animals, so I might as well keep doing it too.

My neighbors are still kicking their dogs in the ass. So I might as well punt puppies too.

I saw a loser throw his used burger wrapper on the ground, so there’s no point in using the garbage can. I’m gonna be a loser, too, and toss this used mask right here on the beach.

Since when does seeing other people making foolish decisions give us the right to be irresponsible, selfish, and stupid? It doesn’t.

Back to “The Secret” — It Tells Us to Avoid Thinking About These Things, and That Can Be Selfish

The Secret tells you to avoid thinking about negative outcomes. Only focus on positive, uplifting, happy thoughts of getting all of your heart’s desires. And if you don’t get all of them, you probably didn’t think happy hard enough.

“The only reason why people do not have what they want is because they are thinking more about what they don’t want than what they do want.” — The Secret

Learning about how badly humanity is screwing up, so we can start fixing our mistakes? That’s some depressing stuff. It will surely ruin your chances of getting a new jet ski, a raise, and going on vacation to 3 foreign countries.

But we need to think about this stuff. Because the Law of Attraction isn’t going to save us when that forest fire, flood, or hurricane is bearing down on us.

Prosperous Results That Don’t Involve Ruining the Earth

You could “attract” plenty of things into your life that won’t despoil the environment or make others sad. Here are just a few of these intangibles that are more likely to bring true happiness than a jet ski ever will:

• Friendships
• Romances, life partners, and love
• Meaningful life’s work (think anything but corporate advancement, which is, ultimately, not very worthwhile)
• Creative works (your own, preferably)
• A healthy body through good diet and prosperous amounts of movement
• Empathy and compassionate understandings
• Inner peace (meditation doesn’t use up anything but a small amount of your own time)
• An abundance of clear conscience from dealing with your own backyard first

So Should We Give Up On all Our Dreams and Go Live In a Dirt Hut?

Obviously not. Most of our society is a sunk cost. Your current housing, car, books, flat-screen TV, and clothing are all factored in already. There’s no point in throwing anything away — that’s even more wasteful.

We are all going to want nice things.

I’m just suggesting that we don’t need a bigger screen when we already have a 36". That we don’t need to go on multiple flights around the world just because we want to. We don’t need a $50000 electric car made from the earth's blood when we have a $5000 junker that still runs.

Many in our society dream of quitting their job and traveling or living abroad full time. Is this really what the world needs from us right now?

There’s no easy solution. Humanity isn’t going to quit selfishness, cold turkey and pull together. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start doing small things that will slowly add to bigger results.

Stand Up And Be Counted — and Take Responsibility For Your Part

We can all do something as long as we aren’t stuck in magical thinking. Focusing on your own prosperity and assuming “the universe” will fix everything without our input will not cut it.

Take responsibility for it. You need to realize that all of these things are, basically, made out of or with oil:

• Starbucks coffee, cups, stores, and aprons — harvested, processed, presented, and produced with hydrocarbons, not electricity.
• Phones, tablets, and consoles — made out of plastic and wires that are 100% reliant on or produced with, out of, and covered in oil-based products. Then shipped to you using oil.
• Streets — made out of, you guessed it, gravel and sand covered in oil.
• All cars, including electric ones — metals and materials mined with oil, smelted with coal, shaped with non-renewable resources, built out of plastic (which is oil)
• Bicycles — made with oil
• Books — made by cutting down trees
• Electronic books — made out of oil
• Food, including organic — tractors run on oil, and farmers use plenty of oil-based resources
• Covid-19 masks, vaccines, and intubation supplies — oil
• Everything else in a hospital — oil
• Human beings — raised with the aid of hydrocarbons at every single stage

Our Prosperity Is Causing The World To Burn

If you’re worried about forest fires, flooding, and all the uncertainty the climate change issue is causing, then don’t point fingers unless you live in a dirt hut with nothing. And I know if you’re reading this, you don’t live like that.

I’m as guilty as the rest of you.

Let’s consider our choices. Everyone needs to vote and push for change. And if there isn’t a leader you want, consider becoming one yourself.

Nothing will change unless humans step up.

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