I am thinking about the elections and choosing a candidate to lead the nation. I am wondering how a poor functioning group could elect someone who is capable of functioning at a better level. We all seem to be looking for someone who will save us from this steady decline without upsetting our comfortable existence and calming our fears. A lot of people focus on economics and give the president credit for creating jobs and putting more money in our pockets. Few talk of the impact of those jobs on the environment and the price we will pay in the future. Actually, in a wealthy country a no-growth economy would be ideal for the environment and a growth economy would enhance the functioning of the underdeveloped world. That would create a balance and serve to stabilize the future for all. That could be done if sustainability and long term planning and regulation of self were the focus. That would require that a lot of us change our lifestyle in remarkable ways. Even our diet would have to change. It brings a smile to my face to think of Bernie Sanders including diet in his revolution. And Trump would market the world’s largest all beef burger with fries cooked to perfection in good old fashion bacon fat. And of course there would be endless debate over the constitutional rights of the citizenry to eat what they want.
It seems to me we can no longer rely on a president, congress or supreme court to do what we are not willing to do. How do we pull up our own functioning to be more responsible residents on this planet? How do we influence others in our families and communities to join in this effort. Bowen would say you don’t do it by hitting them over the head. Knowledge alone does not do it as the emotional system can override that. So how do we access thinking at times of rising threat?
Climate change could be an opportunity to improve our functioning. At the very least, it is the best wake up call that we will ever have. A family will try everything to fix the problem in the symptomatic individual without realizing they are part of the problem. How does the family influence the symptomatic individual and how does he/she influence the family? We all rely to some degree on fossil fuel and some to a great degree. We want the fossil fuel companies to pay for their part and yet we have utilized the same fuel to enhance our own lifestyles. What makes a Trump attractive to many? He focuses on maintaining your comfortable life style and making it even better. A Bernie Sanders focuses on getting all those bad guys to pay for their addictions ( exploiting resources ) and to level the playing field. I think we will have universal health care in this country eventually. Medicare is a good example of socialized medicine. There are many ways to develop more equity and fairness in the allocation of resources. The most sustainable way is to increase your level of maturity. Maturity eliminates a lot of problems. Why is it so difficult to attain ….. To put it simply, one is working against what comes natural ….to respond to the instinctive urge to maintain comfort in the short run in spite of the future costs. .
Climate change is going to change us. We will continue to rebuild and revitalize ourselves and communities and take it as far as we can. When we realize the old way isn’t working and we are backed against the wall, we will live differently. Climate change will force us to travel differently on this planet. Our survival as a species will force us to change. On that day we will see what we could not see decades before. On that day we will have a tad more emotional control of our instinctive urges. Then we will be able to utilize the knowledge at hand to solve difficult problems.
nicely stated Anne. Thank you.