There are two looming crises which threaten to destroy civilisation and which needs to be given attention if we are to survive as human beings and if life is to continue on earth. If we continue to bury our heads as the proverbial ostrich in the sand, and ignore the writing on the wall, then we are preparing for imminent annihilation. I am referring here to the diminishing life-sustaining environment and the attacks by terrorists.
The environment should be given top priority. We are living in a small planet, a literal grain of sand in the immensity of the cosmos, the only planet discovered by scientists, so far, which supports life. If the source is cut from which all life comes, every animate being will cease to exist.
Nature , with its inexorable laws provide the environment to preserve and sustain life. Man is a component of Nature and needs , like the other components to work in harmony for survival. He is the only being that is endowed with a consciousness superior to other beings. He also has a free will and intuition to see beyond the comprehensible and realize his source of being.
Because of these endowments, man can create, invent and discover the unlimited potential of Nature and Spirit. He can use his talents for making the world a better place, or he, because of his greed, selfishness and lust for power unbalance Nature and create disharmony.
If the environment is not healthy, regardless of how good the economy and the standard of living for all, the quality of life is at stake. If millions of gallons of oil and billions of gallons of water are pumped out of the earth every day, would not there be as a consequence more frequent earthquakes, landslides and other natural disasters? And if the emissions of carbon dioxide is continuously spewed into the atmosphere,would there not be pollution to this vital life support? If we continue to cut down our forests, the lungs of the earth, and dump harmful chemicals in our seas, rivers and lakes, endangering aquatic life and the food chain, no matter how good the economy, life is endangered.
These are only a few of the dangers I have mentioned. What about the widening ozone layer, the melting Arctic snow, acid rain and the danger of radiation. With the diminishing and deteriorating environment, what if the economy is booming?
Where there is no vision, the people perish. Where there is no wise leadership, the many must suffer because of the mistakes of the few. But it is said: “The people get the government they deserve.’ and so long as the people are not properly educated and are stuffed with information which hinders their thinking and originality, their survival and that of the environment are at stake.
Coming events cast their shadows before them. Humanity is at the brink of a precipice. Man has the capacity to reverse the trend, but will he heed the writing on the wall.
By: Randall Butisingh
