“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.”
Nelson Mandela
We refer to and call men like Mandela,
LEADERS... and, as we all know, the rest of us are supposed to
follow our leaders, and yet, a majority of us in today's global
society do not... why?
Here is what The
Spirit of Adventure Foundation has to say about all of this....
- Pollution and degradation of our air, water, land and all life forms
- Over population (humans) and species extinction (non human)
- Climate change – global warming
- Destructive weather (anytime anywhere…)
- Economic . financial and social extremism
- Obesity, drug abuse and disease epidemics
- Fragmented, trivialized and stressed societies
The underlying problem of the man-made world is that it is built on fear and human separateness. In practice, this problem has created false ideals of money, status (egotism) and power, thereby encouraging vices, not virtues.
A tiny minority of humans now largely control what happens in this modern world. Many are ruthless, immoral and extremely clever. Exploitation of consumers and the earth’s resources are the name of the game – regardless of consequences.
For this unscrupulous group to be effective, they require a largely compliant and confused population. They also need a system of propaganda and a mass media that offers a maximum of spectacle and entertainment.
Celebrity cultures have thus emerged, in which personality has replaced character. The virtues basic to good character, have been largely replaced by the vices e.g. rudeness, arrogance and egotism.
The man-made world - collapsing because it is built on these shifting sands - must now be rebuilt on the stable foundations of love and unity. This is the central message and priceless gift from wild Nature - that of belonging.
In 1964, when The Sound of Silence
single was released by Simon & Garfunkel, I was attending high
school in Cairo, Egypt and did not care about anything else other
than what was going on in and around my sphere of influence.
However, two years later when attending College in NC, the lyrics of
the song became a “battle cry” for our newly
discovered social awareness.
And, during this time of social unrest
in America, those of us who gave a damn, tried to convince our older
leaders of what they, their peers, friends, and colleagues were doing
to the rest of this country... but, no one would listen.
And, as we can now look back on 2014
which is ½ century later or 50 years, no one again is listening and
the lyrics (below) to that song are not only just as important but
have become almost desperate pleas in an effort to change the
situation and get someone to listen and hopefully do something.
"The Sound Of Silence"
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence.
"Fools," said I, "You do not know –
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you.
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence.
"Fools," said I, "You do not know –
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you.
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said,
The words of the prophets are written
on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sound of silence.
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sound of silence.
Commentary on Action:
Whether we realize it or not
(conscious/subconscious), everyone who is walking around breathing is
constantly performing (in the blink of an eye) a cost/benefit
analysis regarding the sum total of all that they do from one minute
to the next, one hour to the next, one day to the next, etc. As I
write this article, I have intuitively decided that it is worth it to
me taking the time to put these thoughts down on paper and share
them. There is a cost/benefit analysis performed every morning when
our alarm clock (real or imagined) goes off and we decide whether or
not to get up or sleep in a few more minutes.
I could probably draw on more analogies
to explain this point but aside from being redundant, I simply do not
think it will be necessary; so, let me get straight to the point.
What I have experienced when observing
local governments and their decision to install a traffic light at an
intersection that does not currently have one, these males and
females and without reservation only make that decision along with
the allocation of money only after several people have been KILLED in
automobile accidents as a result of not have a traffic light at that
intersection. And no, just having accidents is not sufficient
justification relative to the financial obligation that is necessary
for that new traffic light to be installed.
While you may think that this is
somewhat farcical, it is in fact, the truth. I have watched this
happen in cities at least 12 times or more, the first of which was
back in 1964 when attending college and after becoming more social
aware after listening to The Sound of Silence song.
If this is a sad commentary on our
society then sobeit... but, not even our local Churches can stop
this from happening in our communities.
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