Month: March 2011

We have just witnessed another cataclysmic event here on our planet earth. The massive earthquake in Japan, followed by a devastating tsunami, and then the nuclear failure. It puts our situation into very clear focus, the utter fragility of our existence here and the futility of our pretense of our thinking that we are in control. This is not the truth. What is self evident is the strength of the human spirit. The Japanese people have shown tremendous fortitude, resilience and true grit in coming to terms with the losses they have suffered. But the biggest threat to that spirit is coming from the ongoing and worsening nuclear situation. We have been deluding ourselves into believing that atomic power was our energy salvation. Not true. A quote from a great human being, ” As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world- that is the myth of the atomic age- as in being able to remake ourselves” Mohanas Gandhi.

What an amazing time we are living in right now. Mass movements of people power, coming together, rising up and overthrowing repressive regimes, despots and dictators. There is a realization that when people recognize that they share the same situation and come together, that they can do something to change their lot in life. This has been spectacularly facilitated by the new forms of communication that now exist, the internet and mobile phones. Witness the success in Egypt, where the police had a stasi like grip on the people and thru fear, torture and imprisonment without trial, they were able to help keep a dictator in power for over 30 years. But when the people were able to stand together they overcame this insidious force and were even able to demonstrate to the army that the “force” was with them, persuading the army to stand back and not interfere. Not so fortunate in Libya as Gadaffi has built up a fanatical support over the years and has a strong grip of most of the military might.
Where does this revolution stop? Are they after our so called freedom as practiced in most western democracies? Now as we have been witnessing over the last few years the west is in the grip of a more subtle but equally enslaving dictatorship. Consumer Capitalism. This has been shown to be a morally bankrupt regime. So as we stand and admire what our brothers and sisters have achieved, so far, in North Africa, we should enliven ourselves, wake up, get in touch, and push on together towards real freedom,.