Cultural Shift

I arrived back in Canada from Guatemala, after having driven from Dallas with Heather. I came to a rather abrupt conclusion concerning the state of our collective western civilization. When Mahatma Gandhi was asked what he thought about Western civilization, his reply was simple, “ I think it would be a good idea.” Is it too late to make the shift to a true civilization? I wonder?

In our road trip back to Vancouver, we stopped in a variety of large US cities, including Dallas, El Paso, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle. There was a common urban landscape theme in all of them – commerce and consumerism. Strip mall after strip mall clogged the city streets only punctuated by multistory temples to business at the central core. Cars and buildings primary, people and homes secondary. A stark and sterile landscape.

What has happened to homo sapiens? Where have we been led in our quest for human fulfillment and happiness? I believe the GNP (gross national product) is measured in happiness by only one country, and that is Bhutan. Are the multimillionaire CEO’s of the big corps reaping all the personal and inner happiness while the rest of us are left out in the economic unhappy fringes? I don’t think so. We have been badly misled by our leaders to chase illusions.

I grew up in the US with a generation that began to reject the established “values” of a culture that made its national wealth by globally selling weapons of destruction and waging war to bolster its economy. Unfortunately, since those idealistic and hopeful days of the 1960’s the arms business continues to be a global growth industry. It seems the GNP reigns supreme over real human values of compassion, community and love of neighbor.

It is unfortunate that such a dead-end culture also exported its superficial consumerist values to the rest of the world, selling them on the belief that their quality of life would improve with more stuff. Stuff = Happiness, never been true, never will be true. Check out our monumental landfills that testify to indulgence, obsolescence, ignorance and arrogance. Can we change this destructive and wasteful course? (watch the video - Story of Stuff, )

I believe there is a chance for a global course correction, but radical inner and outer steps have to be taken now. There is no quick fix for the ecological, social, economic and political challenges that humanity currently faces. It begins and ends with our own inner and outer response and activism. Each of us must stand up and step forward wherever we are and face the reality of life as it is.

Leap forward to whatever the need is in front of you, coupled with your interest and passion. We are engulfed in a sea of human need and we all have an opportunity to make a difference to the outcome of our global story. We are all the authors, active or inactive. Let us chose to be active and build a harmonious civilization as Mahatma Gandhi envisioned. I believe our first step to a earth redeeming paradigm is what he also said, “Become the change, you want to see in the world.” Let it be so.

Peace, Greg