Where is the vision for humanity from our leaders, media and institutions apart from trying to keep the Consumer Society afloat?This lack of leadership is shocking in an era of obviously diminishing resources and exploding populations.The imbalance between limited supply and ever rising demand will continue to worsen, since China and India with their enormous populations, have been persuaded that Free Market consumption is the best way forward.They are only just beginning to emerge as economic powerhouses and already are dramatically impacting world prices and availability, especially in oil and food.

What we are facing is not just a recurring economic cycle, but a series of unusual, perhaps unprecedented, challenges which threaten to rapidly converge into a "perfect storm" for our civilization.In my book, Ageless Wisdom Spirituality: Investing in Human Evolution, published in 2003, I mention three major areas of concern, which are even more urgent now since 5 years have passed with no action:

1. The Health of the Planet.This includes not only Global Warming, but massive pollution of the earth, air and water and the exhaustion of non-renewable resources, especially oil, the foundation of our present civilization.The extinction of species at the rate of thousands each year - the greatest since the disappearance of the dinosaurs - should be ringing alarm bells in our heads, but most of us don’t pay any attention.
2. The Poverty Gap.It is a fact that the present "Free Market" policies, which came to prominence in the 1980s with Reagan and Thatcher, have accelerated the gap between rich and poor, both within individual countries and between the richer and poorer countries.If life for most seems to be getting more of a struggle, it actually is. This obscene poverty gap, which even the poorest can now witness for themselves on TV, increases misery, frustration, volatility and strife. As our technology advances, a small number of people, even with obsolete technology, can kill hundreds or thousands.
3. The (unregulated) Implementation of Science and Technology.The new technologies of the 21st century - robotics, genetics and nanotechnology - are not only frighteningly powerful in their potential as weapons, but will be capable of self-replication and incorporation into human beings.Accidents or unexpected consequences will be correspondingly magnified. This "Sci-fi" scenario is not centuries off in the future, but perhaps just one or two decades.In our present Free Market environment, if some innovation is potentially profitable, it will be implemented despite potential dangers (usually dismissed as "unfounded" or "unreal" until they actually happen).

All of the above are global problems which require global cooperation and long term planning and sacrifice.  Our present world is set up for competition and short term gratification with no prospect for real change in sight. Even Barack Obama, the world’s greatest single hope for change, is operating well within the established boundaries of American politics and economics.Indeed, despite his charisma and speech-making genius, polls show him at present running neck-and-neck with his presidential opponent, John McCain, tied to Bush’s disastrous policies and self-admittedly weak in economic policy! The established powers do not want change because they now have power.Change must arise elsewhere.

What can be done? Are there any positive signs? What part does religion (including Fundamentalism) play in our present and future?Why has the Media, especially in America, lost its soul and its courage?All these questions and more will be explored in upcoming blogs.
 

My purpose in writing these blogs is to bring about new conversations and understandings, which will help shift our collective behaviour out of its present well-grooved and destructive rut. This cannot be done without a shift of individual perspective and consciousness. I welcome feedback and support - we're all in this together! We live on a beautiful planet, populated with beautiful life forms. Let's treasure our good fortune.
Andy James