Where are we standing?

A few introspective lines… Various quotes, but united… here we go

(…)

Life goes by. We have –all of us­– our issues, our goals, our karma to resolve, our daily living, our personal inertia… Sometimes we complain, but we should ask ourselves before where are we standing. I started thinking about this when I stumbled upon this image:

And my head spins round and round… pieces of data that turn your life upside down and put everything in perspective. Is it all that wrong? Honestly, I think not. There is a saying in my country that goes like this: mal de muchos, consuelo de tontos – which means that when many others are going through a problem like yours, it is silly to feel better just because you are not the only one. Although this can be true, I feel happy by knowing where I am standing. And I am certainly standing in a place where I can exploit my human potential, be proactive, and, if possible, help others to exercise their right to exploit their potential, fulfill their purposes in this life. What am I doing of my life? I am feeling more and more that those standing on this side of such a human contradiction cannot ignore this situation

However, if this is not enough to awaken, this article revealed to me that “the World Ultra Wealth Report 2011 defines Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (Uhnwi) as people who own assets exceeding 30 million dollars –indeed… U$S 30.000.000- without counting their houses, collection goods (works of art, among others) and durable consumption goods (cars, planes, yachts)

According to the latest report, with data compiled from over 1100 sources in 109 countries, we had 185.795 Uhnwi worldwide by 2011, with a global wealth of 25 billion dollars. From that amount, 57.860 where in de U.S. and 54.325 in Europe. Those 25 billion dollars duplicate 27 countries’ GDP from the European Union, and it also represents the double of the U.S. GDP. That immense fortune is equivalent to almost half of the global GDP and is concentrated in just 185,795 people, 0.002 percent of the world’s population. Brazil is top of the list in Latin America with 4725 Uhnwi, seconded by Mexico with 2900, and then Argentina, my country, with 1050.”

It is sad, such concentration of wealth… and a parallel world… where that money, well invested, would change the energetic web for renewables, give medical insurance worldwide, fill every town with libraries and enhance local development. Another society…

In the end, there is a river with its two shores: on one side we can exploit our human potential, on the other side, people die little by little. And in the middle, a little boat with all the ultra-rich people with carnival masks covering their faces, observing the other 99,998% of world’s population going from one shore, which is getting emptier, where people are dazed and cannot see what is happening around them, to the other shore, which is now crowded…

The underlying theme here is what to do now with this informational bucket of cold water I have just received in my life. Shall I continue with my routine? It seems that the majority of the people cannot get rid of their routine, either because it is a subsistence routine (having to search for water all day long in a desertified area) or an alienated routine, those who are inserted in the system, who live to work, buy, maintain, sell, buy, and die, with life passing by…

Then you find the minority of the people. A minority divided in two polarized groups. One, represented by that 0,002% of the world’s population, who have the money at hand and rule the world as if playing Age of Empires, and the other group, which has the intellectual and material possibility of changing the system, by the fact of KNOWING and acting proactively, exercise the human potential.

“At present, according to several scholars on the generative processes of human perception, it is estimated that a specific percentage of humanity is passing through an evolutionary cycle that will be a significant factor of change in substance and form of future generations. One of these studies, conducted by the American psychotherapist Ken Wilber says that today 2% of our species has an integral consciousness, this is, based on a “whole” understanding (holistic or systemic) of the phenomenon of matter, life, mind and spirit, not only in a global frame, but in a cosmic perspective.

In itself, this figure looks small (as a minority), but considering that the Earth is now populated by 6,500 million people, it amounts to 130 million women and men. The same thinker says that 20% of humanity is in a distinct situation of permeability towards the perceptions of the drivers of that integral psychology. That is, 1,300 million people. Which cannot be considered as a “minority” – Miguel Grinberg. Somos la gente que estábamos esperando. Eco-civilización y espiritualidad. (We are the people we were waiting for. Eco-civilization and spirituality) Ed. Kier. 2006. Page. 71.

So, one starts thinking… how can we change the world being such a few the ones who can start the change? How do we pull it off? Grinberg lets us see that that situation of permeability of those around us is, precisely, the key: talking about these issues, passing information through, talking with our friends, speaking up, that’s how we can begin turning this entire system around.

A professor at university told us recently: He who is free, but does not exercise his freedom proactively, is not doing anything with it. But he who is free and exercises his freedom proactively is a person who takes advantage of his potential. He actually said that the ones who do not live their freedom are mediocre… but I thought it sounded a little bit harsh, although it is not far from the truth at all.

Hence, once again, our opening words… where are we standing?

I feel it is time for us to take sides in this reality, and exercise our freedom, let ourselves be heard. Let us call that other 20%… or even the 30, 40 or 50%!!!  Start incubating ideas. Gather up, seek for a solution. Stand up, be true…

In her book, Dare to connect, Susan Jeffers concludes: “I believe that wanting to connect is in our nature as humans. Starting from our deepest self and expanding it to our family and friends, job, community, and finally to the entire world, I believe this will allow us assume something which is naturally inside us and the world that surrounds us. I believe that although our education is based on competitiveness, our souls are actually hugging each other. The only thing which is stopping us, are all the erroneous teachings we have been receiving from a society which has lost its way.”

Dunno… they are only ideas… introspective ideas…

Cheers,

Brian Longstaff.-

Ploff: it is not environmentalism, it is changing the world.

Comments