Can We Get Off The Merry-Go-Round?

[Bob Ballard]

I have been reading and researching the state of the world. Mostly, I focus on the economic system. I have always been fascinated with how money works, like what is it really and why does it have such a hold on us. Since I was a child, I have been trying to understand it, but until very recently, I never really got it.

I have always had an innate belief that something about the world doesn't work for people. Usually, that unhappiness seemed to center around a lack of money, or a lack of fulfillment about what it is people do to get the money. A lack of freedom seems to be at the core of the unhappiness.

I agree with people who say there is no shortage, no scarcity of resources. However, the experience of most people, especially the 2 billion of us without enough food or water,is that there isn't enough to go around. This led me to a question: What exactly IS going on with our resources?

What I have been discovering is not pretty and is quite disturbing in many ways. However, unless I can learn to really be with what is so in the world, I will not be able to help myself and others create a new world that really does work for everyone.

I urge you to watch the following videos; they are eye-openers. You may not agree with everything, but watch with an open mind. The new world is not about agreeing with what happened in the past or what is wrong that needs to be fixed. There is no fixing to be done. The consumption economy is unsustainable and will soon come to an end of its own accord. Our task is to hasten its end and create a new world that serves all human beings.

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Which brings me to my point (finally), that the best thing we can do is simply get off the merry-go-round. Slow down and stop all human activity. Human activity IS the economy. There is no economy "out there", we are IT. What does this look like? Well, we can immediately stop buying things we don't really need and begin to really distinguish wants from needs. We might "like" a new car, but do we really need it? Do we even need a car? Or if we do, can we use it less (e.g., car pool, walk, bike, etc.). When we do buy things, we need to buy locally from our friends and neighbors as much as we possibly can. We also need to produce our own goods and services to the maximum extent we can.

Another way to hasten the end of the consumption economy is by withdrawing our labor. We can stop going to work, or work less, especially those of us who work for the government or large corporations. Since our democracy is now a Corporatocracy, it depends on our labor and taxes to keep it going. Once we slow our consumption, jobs will disappear anyway, so stopping work will not be an issue for a lot of people. And that has already started.

Many homeless people are on the street because they have opted out of the system; they know it doesn't work. Talk to them, they will tell you. They are leading the way to a new world but are paying a price for not playing the game. Why is this, why is homelessness never "solved?" Because the system needs them to discourage us and make us believe that we will suffer horribly if we don't accept our status and refuse to continue our economic serfdom. We can dissolve this charade simply by connecting with homeless people and each other. That is one of the primary purposes of the Hearts Of Fire Project.

Will these changes entail risk? Will they entail suffering and sacrifice? Yes, they will. But we are already suffering and sacrificing and we can easily see that there is no security, no way to avoid risk. At least when we make conscious choices about our behavior, we reclaim our freedom, we are in charge of our destiny. We are no longer living in an illusion of happiness, believing that our fulfillment lies in buying more things, in achieving greater economic status.

Some people are angry about what has happened to us, about how we have become economic slaves who are willing to die to protect the profits of the elite. But I see no future in anger or in the violence to which it inevitably leads. In fact, the Corporatocracy feeds on conflict, making profits and dissipating its opposition at the same time. The only way to bring this system to an end is to help it die, remove the intravenous feeding tube and bury it. Our challenge is to create a new world and to focus all our energy and strength on that. Just let the past way wither and die. That is the beauty of creation.

[Erin Michelle]

sometimes the truth is hard to see. sometimes it's harder to look at. thank you for witnessing. for giving a voice to creation.