Reply #13: That depends on how you define "diminished" [View All]

[Martin Eden]

If We The People of the United States of America learn how to work together for our common good and for the good of our planet and the people who inhabit Spaceship Earth, our past glories will seem "diminished" by comparison.

All too often we base our values on material wealth. We live in a society and an economy based on mass consumption, which is in the long run unsustainable. Our natural resources are certainly diminished, if defined by mineral deposits and fossil fuels. However, the natural resources of the human intellect and the human spirit are not so finite. The biggest obstacle to our progress as a human society is not a shortage of material resources -- it is a shortage of understanding and compassion and cooperation.

These are tremendous obstacles indeed, but not insurmountable. My parents grew up during the Great Depression and were young adults when the world was at war against the forces of fascism (father served in the Pacific); yet in their recollections I never got the sense they were resigned to doom and gloom. Perhaps we have been pampered by material wealth and never having to make the kinds of sacrifices their generation made but whatever the differences may be, it is clear that some perspective is called for. And some optimism, despite all the disappointments and daily outrage at the current state of affairs.

Things may get worse before they get better. REAL CHANGE often comes about only with real crisis. The Chinese word for "crisis" consists of both "danger" and "opportunity" -- two unavoidable elements we will likely face in the not too distant future. How well we are prepared and how well we respond will determine our fate. One thing is for sure: we will have to do more than muse about it on internet forums.