Our Backward Priorities: A Study

05May08

                    

     For some time now I have had a keen interest in observing the nature in which earth’s countries interact with one another. I have enthusiastically taken it upon myself to learn several foreign languages (Hindi, Arabic, Serbian and German), cook their traditional cusines, learn of their customs, history and last but not least, future direction. 

     As a species we are an enigma unto ourselves. We are so interconnected by our biology, desire for love, collective sociology and search for universal meaning yet so disconnected as a result of things that, upon closer inspection, are literally baseless. Of all studies (both personal and academic) that I have undertaken, I have deduced that interpersonal and international harmony has been blocked by two fundamental obsticles. I believe these are possible to overcome. But it must begin with a radical restructuring of our consciousness. This supplies us with the will. We already have the way. The below demonstrates how human consciousness has still technically not evolved from the neanderthal stage, but how it can evolve, and develop onto a compassionate and inspirational level.

1. The misrepresentation of religion; large groups claiming to represent God in such a way as to grant themselves moral authority to commit acts of violence in God’s name against others of opposing creed. In essence, these groups are fighting over something subjective, invisible and of higher wisdom than to encourage a war in the first place.

     Most of the world’s population believe in a deity (God). The problem is, it is not just one God. There are hundreds. Start here, in Australia, founded under Christian principles, then sail through the northern archipelego’s, up into Indonesia, a vastly Muslim population. Go further, up into Thailand and Myanmar, into Laos, Vietnam and China who have an enormous Bhuddist following; heading west to the Indian subcontinent and through to Pakistan, an interesting combination of Catholics, Muslims and Sikhs. Further west is the Middle East, mostly Muslim, then the Jews in Israel. Northward are the Kurds in northern Iraq and Turkey. This melting pot continues country by country, all over the world. Immigration and interconnectedness have blessed us with human integration – but not tolerance.

     Intolerence comes into the equation when you examine the differences between the ways each group examines their God juxtaposed with the others. Originally, there was just man and nature. This pagan naturalist beginning served to open a conduit, an inseperable bond between human beings and the universe. Then came along organized religion. The groups that were not content with this notion, who believed that a specific creator who was undoubtedly male, who had a certain set of rules and who was superior was indeed the Almighty. It stood that He was greater than Nature, for He was the author and architect of the entire universe. Paganism was now to become a taboo, strange and blasphemous way of life. Human connectedness with nature was now dead, replaced by something artificial and fearful.                      

     As new civilizations emerged and claimed to substantiate their Deities through the publishing of ’sacred texts’ and ’holy books’ civilization became more and more divided. In fact, the very religions that claimed to practice compassion, forgiveness and respect were inadvertently doing the exact opposite. In early history this was seen as quite normal as Church and State were not seperated in most countries. The Church controlled what was read, said, manufactured and distributed. But not what was done. Galileo Galilei defied the Church by looking to the stars, into space, for answers. The Church had always insisted that the world was flat. Galileo saw that it was round, and dared to contradict the Church – and he was right. And it went from there. Martin Luther. Einstein. Now the team at the European Centre for Nuclear Research with the Large Hadron Collider, endeavouring to determine once and for all how we got here by literally re-creating the Big Bang on a miniature scale.

     Whatever brought us here brought us here as one species. One species made up of the same molecules, the same stardust, the same biology. There is nothing fundamental that seperates any of us from one another. If there is a God, it is one God. We know that there is one heart in our chest and one brain in our head. We are one unit governed by one central aparatus.    There is, as has been quoted by many artists, one love. It is within us as spiritual beings to concede that there is one God, a faceless and nameless God that is both intangible and omnipresent. Whatever it is blessed us with every natural thing we see, smell, touch, taste and hear. It expects nothing from us. We have been blessed with a superior brain to that of the earth’s other creatures. It should then be expected that we use it to create, cultivate, accumilate knowledge, heal and play. Nothing more.

2. The maldistribution of wealth; First let’s look at the facts and figures, as this is more straight-forward than many think. The figures will illustrate the point with perspective. The following is calculated per year (ie. $9 Billion per year)

-Basic education for all would cost $6 BILLION 

-Installation of water and sanitation for all would cost $9 BILLION                

-Reproductive health services for all women would cost $12 BILLION            

-Basic health care and nutrition would cost $13 BILLION                               

That’s $40 Billion total. To right the world’s wrongs. Now for how we actually spend our money.

-$8 BILLION is spent annually for cosmetics in the United States alone       

 -$11 BILLION is spent annually on ice cream in Europe                                 

-$12 BILLION a year is spent on perfumes in Europe and the U.S                  

 -$17 BILLION a year is spent on pet food in Europe and the U.S                    

 -$35 BILLION is spent on business entertainment in Japan                           

-$50 BILLION on cigarettes in Europe                                                           

-$105 BILLION on alcoholic drinks in Europe                                                

-$400 BILLION on narcotic drugs around the world                                      

 -$780 BILLION on firearms and munitions (explosives)

That’s around $1.5 TRILLION spent unnecessarily. That’s a lot of money to spend unnecessarily.

           If these funds were distributed correctly and sourced directly to those who need it most, we would find ourselves in a radically altered but radically healed global society. What the above figures illustrate is that we are a divided, self-centred and wayward species who have no concept of compassion or direction. A redistribution of these funds could change that, and save our civilization from war and, more worryingly, total collapse.

     I am compelled to consider the above figures proof that we have the funds available to achieve this redistribution. All it takes is the will to do it. We will achieve the will to do this. I fear that it may come at a time of global calamity, perhaps brought on by the December 21 2012 planetary shift during the galactic allignment. I hope that it does not take this and the true will can be accomplished beforehand; Otherwise, it would be a terribly sad and tragic waste of human potential.

     In closing, I personally believe that harmony is possible. We can turn things around. Remember what you’ve read. Share it if you like. After all, you learn something new every day. Sadly, this is not new news, but it demonstrates our capacity to make it a new way, a new beginning.

Thank you for your time.

-BJH

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