What Else Can I Do?

Global Peace requires more than just peaceful co-existence between humans; it requires more than just a conscious choice on our part to not engage in war.  Most often, war emerges as a nasty biproduct of our disharmony with our natural environment.  When our culture does not seek to live in proper balance with the natural resources that are available to us, we find that we require far more of the natural resources we demand than our environment is able to provide.  In order to meet this excessive demand, we must seek these resources elsewhere, in other countries.  It is when these resources become more scarce, or we feel the need to ensure our control over these resources, that we engage in the policies and practices that lead to war. 

The root cause of war is the dominator mentality that leads us to live out of harmony with our natural environment, beyond the extent of our natural resources.  War is merely one symptom of this underlying problem.  The dominator mentality lacks regard for the life force that dwells in all living things.  In order for us to tolerate the abhorrent realities of war, we must at some level de-value the humanity of our "enemy", the life force that dwells within them, much like we de-value the life force that dwells within the plant and animal kingdom when we over-utilize them for our own needs and desires.  The end result in both cases is careless, needless destruction.  The truth is, the dominator mentality cannot realistically be sustained on earth forever.  Eventually, the resources will run-out, the delicate balance required for life to exist on our planet will be irreparably disturbed.  We are already seeing evidence of this now:

• Destructive shifts in global weather patterns.
• Entire species of life erradicated from the planet.
• Depletion of our main source of energy, oil.    
• Depletion of our agricultural base, as farm land is increasingly transformed into suburbia and corporate farmers monopolize and strangle nature, using genetic alterations to create sterile (non-reproducing) plants.
• Depletion of our rain forests, which affects numerous plants used for medicinal purposes, produces the greenhouse effect, and as the vegetative nutrients are removed from the soil, leaves a once 
  enormously fertile environment fallow.
• Dramatic melting of glaciers worldwide, which is increasing sea levels and contributing to dramatic shifts in weather patterns.     
• Contaminated water supplies, leading to countless instances of cancers and other illnesses.
• Rising animal diseases, such as Mad Cow Disease and Avian Flu, caused by reckless factory farming practices.
  

These are just a few of the many problems the dominator mentality has created in our environment.  We sit, always, on the brink of nuclear disaster, our desire to dominate each other so comprehensively destructive that we now shrivel beneath the looming shadow that our own creation has cast upon the earth.  We continue to allow the bulk of the earth's bountiful resources to be channeled into the hands of a priveleged few, who purchase exorbitant luxuries at the expense of the basic means of survival for billions who live in extreme poverty across the globe.  Consider this, "about 0.13% of the world's population controlled 25% of the world's assets in 2004" (Associated Press, June 9, 2005).  “Today, across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; 3 billion live on under two dollars a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity" (The Reality of Aid 2000, Earthscan Publications).

The question we must inevitably ask ourselves is, who is it that benefits from this dominator mentality?  If the natural order of our environment, the source of our sustenance, is being dismantled, who is reaping the rewards?  If we are led into war because we have not respected the balance of resources within our own country, who gains from this?  Certainly not the average person, and as we are now seeing, not even the collective global population. 
    
But the dominator mentality is not the only way to survive on our planet; it only seems that way because for so many centuries we have collectively chosen to empower it.  Indigenous tribes lived for many thousands of years with a harmonious regard for nature's delicate balance.  They lived within the means of the resources available to them in their natural environment, respecting all forms of life.  This respect kept them from consuming more than they needed and guided them in making sure their impact on their environment was as little as possible.  Clearly we are far-removed from this harmonious mentality, but this does not mean we can't look to their example for guidance as we endeavor to create a better, more peaceful, more sustainable world for future generations. 

As is always the case, there are steps that you can take as an individual to help shift the global paradigm from the dominator mentality to the harmonious mentality.  The grand movements of mankind never begin at the top; they are always the result of a grass-roots effort that begins with each individual choosing something different, something better, even in the face of incredible odds.  Below we list steps that you can take to help move our global environment back into harmony and balance:

• Recycle, Reuse, and Repair.  Break the cycle of over-consumption by making the most of what you already have.
• Carpool.  It may not be as convenient, but think of it this way, it enables you to develop a sense of community, which is a natural need for humans, and one we unfortunately tend to ignore.
• Ride your bike whenever possible.  It's good exercise and has very limited impact on the environment.
• Purchase organic food whenever possible.  The more we demand organic, chemical-free, non-genetically engineered food, the more the farming community will have to produce it.
• Support local farmers by going to farmer's markets if they are available in your community.
• Buy free-range eggs, produced by chickens who are allowed to feed in a natural environment.
• Purchase natural meats, from animals who have been fed a natural, vegitative diet.
• Investigate the corporations you purchase from regularly.  If their business practices are not environmentally sound and do not support fair labor, find an alternative.  They are out there.  (For example, many clothing stores sell clothing manufactured in other countries under deplorable working conditions in order to provide it to us at inexpensive prices.  One shirt manufactured under fair labor practices is better than five shirts produced by near-slave labor.)
• Investigate and support renewable energy sources.  Ethanol-fueled cars are on the horizon.  If you are planning to purchase a new car, put it off a couple years.  Ethanol is good for the environment and will move us toward energy-independence while revamping our farming community.  Solar energy panels and wind turbines are already available for homes and businesses.
• If you are preparing to build a new home or know someone who is, research the many environmentally gentle and energy efficient (Green) building techniques available.
• Conserve electricity and water.  (This one's very simple, but given mass committment, it can have a profound impact.)
• Support local food banks.
• Volunteer with local environmental clean-up efforts.
• Let your voice be heard.  Write your elected officials, submit letters to the editors of local publications.  The more voices raised in support of harmonious living, the more it will become evident that harmonious living must become a priority.

There are so many ways to adopt a more harmonious way of life we could not possibly enumerate them all here, but as you begin to walk the earth with a recognition of and respect for the natural balance, you will develop an instinctual knowledge of what is healthy and what is unhealthy for our planet.  The key is to maintain hope and the firm resolve that whatever you do to make a difference in your own life will be gathered and amplified in the grass roots effort that is spreading across the globe.  Additionally, by expanding your awareness of peaceful living to encompass your interaction with all forms of life, you will invite a more deeply rooted sense of peace within yourself.