Please excuse the necessary negativity at the start of this message.
I think we can all agree the world is, in many ways, going mad.
Australia is a microcosmic example of a society that is losing its bearings.
The wheels are very definitely falling off the truck…..
We seem to be incapable of simply removing refugee children and their parents from prison-like situations we have paid for and established in other countries.
We seem to be incapable of punishing banks and insurance companies for their contempt and brazen fraud (on a massive scale of many years) for fear
it might affect our financial security.
We seem to be incapable of holding the priests of many churches to account for their heinous criminality over many years toward the young and helpless.
We seem to be incapable of looking after our homeless by providing even rudimentary shelter; and incapable of helping our disadvantaged First Peoples with culture-appropriate health, school, work and self-worth programs.
Big business rules.
The medical system trials endless pills and vaccines on a seemingly helpless public.
The agricultural sector soaks the ground and its produce in chemicals and poisons.
The energy sector squabbles over who gets to gouge the bigger profits.
The food industry produces more and more nutrient-deficient foods whilst the farming sector squeezes more chickens, pigs, cows, sheep and even fish into ever more confined feedlots, without the slightest qualm.
The political quarter recklessly promises any and everything just to keep their jobs.
Very few organisations (government or business) really care for their customers/clients.
They just strive to make the most money or save the most money – for the least cost.
Meanwhile huge dead areas of ocean rapidly grows as untreated rubbish congregates.
Plastic takes the place of fish in the waters of our planet and is now common in the food on our plate.
Wildlife is being decimated with thousands of species made extinct in the past 50 years.
Lions, tigers, elephants, koalas – hundreds of species face their final day on Planet Earth.
Here in Oz, the only country that covers an entire continent, we’re managing to reduce house sites down so the eaves can touch their neighbours. Less work around the yard!
We open pubs til 5am as a public service.
We encourage betting even though we know many people don’t have enough to survive.
We open shops every day, all day………
BUT THERE IS ANOTHER WAY, AN ANSWER.
First, we must WAKE UP and face what’s happening.
That’s why I wrote the above (no, not just to dishearten you!!).
Secondly, we must TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
(Yes, that means taking responsibility for our own shopping, drinking, betting, working, living, co-habiting and social behaviours).
And thirdly, we must lovingly ENCOURAGE OTHERS before it’s too late.
One correspondent (from Cairns) wrote to me:
Dearest Les,
I just thought i would give you an update since I wrote to you in despair.
I was feeling very overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness for mother earth.
I have decided since then to remain uplifted no matter what, for the benefit of all.. and also to work where i can, by actions in terms of growing food, as well as petitioning with letters Governments etc around issues that are important to me.
I thank you very much for your on-going support for us all.
President Truman had a sign on his desk that said “The buck stops here”.
It meant that the President took responsibility for life’s outcomes.
These days we know we can’t trust anyone – president, prime minister or neighbour.
We all need our own sign in 2019…..”The buck stops here”….
The repair of our world and its societies are up to each of us, each in our own small way…..a huge snowball starts with just a few snowflakes…….
Please become a snowflake in 2019!
Let me know how you are helping the world heal in your own small way – and I’ll share your suggestions on these pages.
Together we can be part of the planet’s urgently needed solution!
Let’s make it a happier 2019 for everyone!!
Much love,
Les