If you care for a better future, if you want your children and grandchildren to live in a world with clean air, drinkable water, and healthy food, everyone needs to face the very large ELEPHANT standing in the living room of human consciousness: OUR PLANET IS IN CRISIS WE MUST ACT NOW.
We must face some uncomfortable truths about ourselves and the way we have been living on the Earth and NOT WITH THE EARTH.
Corporate Psychopathy
Just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions! (1)
In 1959, the father of the atomic bomb, Edward Teller warned the American Petroleum Institute that, “Whenever you burn fossil fuels you create carbon dioxide…which causes a greenhouse effect”. The physicist said that ice will melt, and sea levels will rise. His warnings were ignored. By 1980, the fossil-fuel industry was aware of the climate change threat to the planet and they chose to lie and fund a disinformation campaign to obfuscate and confuse the public. (2 & 3)
A World on Fire
On April 4, 2022, The UN issued the latest finding of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change announcing that governments worldwide must reassess their energy policies and drastically reduce their use of fossil fuels without swift action the world is on a “fast track” to disaster. The UN Chief, Mr. Guterres states, “This is not fiction or exaggeration. It is what science tells us from our current energy policies. We are on a pathway to global warming of more than double the 1.5 degrees (Celsius, or 2.7-degrees Fahrenheit) limit that was agreed in Paris in 2015”. (4)
So, why hasn’t the world moved faster to reduce reliance on fossil fuels? In a Capitalist society that believes greed is good and 1 in 5 business leaders are psychopaths the fate of the planet and humanity is not an important concern for those in power. (5 & 6)
A survey conducted by Pew Research in January 2022 found that 42% of Americans think that dealing with climate change should be a top priority for the President and Congress. In the same survey, 69% of U.S. adults favor becoming carbon neutral by 2050 and want to prioritize developing alternative energy sources. About half of Americans say it is unlikely that the world will avoid the worst impacts of climate change. (7)
American progressives put together a bill called the Green New Deal, the most ambitious climate proposal ever introduced to Congress. The Green New Deal would remake and restructure the American economy, eliminating fossil fuels, adopting renewable energy, and creating jobs. But, two Democratic obstructionist Senators, GOP conservatives, and Fox News attacked the bill and the bill had no chance of passing.
Instead, the Biden Administration offered the Inflation Reduction Act that allows ongoing development of fossil fuel infrastructure and creates “Sacrificial Zones” that disproportionally harm low-income communities and communities of color. The Inflation Reduction Act might at the most reduce carbon emissions by 40% which isn’t enough to avoid climate disasters. (8)
The Inflation Reduction Act does the bare minimum to help address climate change. Why are we unable to do better?
Democracy, not so much
We do not live in a democracy. We live in a capitalist fascist state. “Our democracy” is run by and for multi-national corporations that buy and sell politicians at every level of government. You are only free to consume and make money for corporations. The middle class is shrinking, the gap between poor and rich is obscene and the consolidation of corporate power is almost complete.
But, don’t take my word for it Google it.
- Princeton/Northwestern Study Seems to Conclude U.S. an Oligarchy
- America is now in fascism’s legal phase
- American poverty in three charts
- Why is poverty higher in the U.S. than in other countries?
- Income inequality in the U.S.
- Is there a new extractive capitalism?
American Capitalism is based on an extraction economy and unfettered growth without balancing the needs of the earth or humans. Capitalism is killing the planet. Capitalism kills its children and eats its host. It is a death ideology; consuming all our natural resources. Resulting in global warming, and polluted land, water, and food.
American Capitalism in its pursuit of global resource domination produces wars; diverts enormous amounts of money and resources to maintain imperialistic militarism throughout the world. Billions of dollars are wasted on military expenditures instead those funds could be used to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels and used to build and expand renewable energy and repair the planet. Currently, the United States spends $858 billion dollars on military spending.
Solutions are available
Stanford University researchers estimate that a global effort to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 would cost the world’s governments $73 trillion and the expense would pay for itself in under seven years. The study also found that the shift to a zero-carbon global economy would create 28.6 million full-time jobs. (15)
So what can individuals do to help the planet?
Educate yourself, your friends, and your family, Demand changes from your government and from corporations.
Here is a list of suggestions:
To get a concise and quick overview of how devastating consumerism is to our planet view the excellent video “The Story of Stuff”.
Support Indigenous organizations:
All around the world, indigenous people are fighting to protect the environment and to protect their ancestral treaty rights.
Indigenous people make up less than 5% of the global population, but they protect 80% of our planet’s biodiversity. Indigenous people are at the forefront of trying to save the planet. Many Indigenous people are fighting against oil and natural gas pipelines that will destroy their land and water, cause animals to die, and lead to increased rates of cancer for their people.
In the Amazon Forest Indigenous people are trying to save the world’s largest tropical rainforest. The Amazon Forest is the “lungs of our planet” helping to regulate the Earth’s oxygen, carbon, and water cycles. Indigenous people around the world are trying to stop mining projects that contaminate soil and water with chemicals, creating erosion, loss of biodiversity, and deforestation.
You can support their efforts by making financial contributions to indigenous organizations, writing letters to politicians and newspapers, posting on social media, and learning how to be an ally.
“The answer to organized money is ORGANIZED PEOPLE “. Bill Moyer
Here is a list of 36 Organizations helping to solve the Climate Crisis
RECYCLE & REUSE
The Container Recycling Institute provides education and advocates for the recycling of used beverage containers and other types of packaging. They provide links to other websites that help you recycle computers, batteries, and light bulbs. mobile phones, packing peanuts, ink, and more.
Recycling your electronic items is very important. Please go to find computer recycling centers at:
Donate your books, DVDs, and CDs to Eco Encore (Washington). Before you throw out gently used items contact Eco Encore, a volunteer can come by and pick up your items. Items are sold to support Eco Encore and its nonprofit partners.
New Politics
Now is the time to discuss and begin to organize a new economic structure that is sustainable for both the environment and humanity.
- SolidarityEconomy.net has some ideas.
- Next Left Notes also has some ideas on how we can reinvent our political landscape for a more just and equitable society.
- Mutual Aid Hub
Personal Growth:
In order to make global changes a reality we have to change ourselves. The true revolution is the one you create within yourself. We all need to take responsibility for contributing to the condition our planet finds itself in. America has a very large Carbon Footprint, according to The World Population Review, “the United States released the second-highest amount of carbon emissions at 4.535 GT or roughly 12.6% of the total global emission”. We need to take responsibility for our actions at every level; personally, socially, and politically to reduce our carbon footprint.
“Be the change in the world that you want to see”. Mahatma Gandhi
Some suggestions:
- Break the cycle of The Three (see below). Live authentically!
- Recycle, reuse, reduce.
- Live simple: how many possessions do we really need?
- Participate: make life real!
Participate in creating a new society. We are living at a pivotal time in human history; make the most of it. Human history shows that periods of great change provide humanity with opportunities for evolutionary growth. We can take great leaps towards creating a society focused on harmony and sustainability with the planet. We can create a society that provides equitable economic justice for all people. Ultimately, it is our choices, our visions, and our intentions that will decide the outcome for humanity. If we choose fear and powerlessness we will find ourselves living under the fist of world fascism. If we take a positive, people-powered, pro-active, co-creating stance we can have a future filled with new and nurturing potential. It is always YOUR CHOICE!
The Tale of the Three: The Sheep, The Dreamers, and the Psychopaths
Throughout history, people in almost all societies have struggled with good versus evil. For the most part “evil” the greedy and violent among us seem to win. Just recently the world suffered a catastrophic economic meltdown engineered by a few psychopathic heads of Wall Street. Not a single mastermind of this fraud has been charged. Nor will they. Some people say that’s just the way of the world, nothing can be done. Does might make right? Will we continue to let psychopaths rule the world, extracting all the earth’s wealth and leaving us on a dying and barren planet, while the rich buzz off to space? Are we doomed to repeat a violent history of the “strong” oppressing the powerless? And what does any of this have to do with Astrology?
The dominant culture breeds three types of false personality archetypes:
I am not going to sugarcoat this and I am sure you have all met these archetypes. (Of course, there are variations and nuances.)
- The Psychopath who controls and dominates others.
- Dreamers who are idealistic, creative, and inspirational.
- Sheep who go along to get along.
The Psychopaths lack empathy and seek to acquire perceived “power” through manipulation and deceit. Psychopaths control and intimidate the Sheep. If the Dreamers get out of line by resisting autocratic control or by trying to inspire the masses to demand better lives, and more freedoms, the psychopaths harass, jail, or kill the Dreamers and the Sheep let it happen. History keeps repeating itself.
Psychopaths rise to the top of the capitalist food chain. The Sheep are easy to control and kept amused and docile with products and entertainment. Dreamers’ idealism can be naive and unrealistic.
It takes courage to step out of a false personality. Your higher self loves you and is always trying to assist you in making the best possible choices for your life. If you want to shed false personality your higher self and your spiritual guides will help you to make that journey.
The culture we live in has become very removed from living in a natural way with the earth. The addiction to greed has become the dominant culture’s only “value”. Greed is killing our planet, killing our connection to the natural world. The dominant culture is constantly telling you that your only value as a person comes from being a consumer of products. Corporate marketing tells you that houses, cars, fashion, and plastic surgery will make you happy. Instead, more and more people suffer from addictions, eating disorders, and depression. Clearly, materialism and Capitalism do not make people happy. America, the wealthiest country in the world, ranks 16th for Happiest Country. In the Raising Family ratings “America was ranked 34 out of 35 in a comparison of the world’s biggest economies, scoring three ‘F’ grades for safety, cost of living and work-life balance, a ‘D minus’ for health, and a ‘C+’ for happiness and education”. (16,17, 18)
So what does any of this have to do with Astrology?
Astrology is one of many tools by which an individual can uncover and access their authentic self and step away from false personality. We shed false personalities when we release family projections, reject societal pressures that hinder our growth, and own our uniqueness. There is no one like you, you are special. Becoming your authentic self is an empowering experience. One of the paths to finding and embracing your unique and authentic self is Astrology. But, there are many paths to helping you find your authentic self, enjoy the journey.