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Much like 9/11 was a wake up call to America that we are all in this together ~ and we cannot ignore our commonality with the world.
The recent Tsunami is a wake up call to the world that we cannot ignore the plight of the poor and oppressed and that we are largely out of sync with a loving plan that demands cooperation and altruism versus indifference and exploitation.
At times like this, I turn to Manuel Valenzuela whose poetic and moving prose bring this epic tragedy into clearer perspective, and reminds me of William Blakes heartfelt quote ~ We are put on Earth a little space to learn to bear the beams of love .
Excerpt: " Earth has once again laid claim her mighty omnipotence, unaltered by humanity’s locust-like population growth or our voracious consumption and unhindered by the ever-reaching presence of human civilization ..... Natural calamities come and go, yet human evil persists. We see it in unending wars, in ethic and religious strife and violence, in new and old crusades, in warlike leadership creating warlike people, in economic genocide and market colonialism, in slavery masked as capitalism, in individual pursuits trumping communal triumph, in division of classes and castes and skin colors and ideologies and opportunities, in the way we treat our fellow man....... The tsunamis of poverty, hunger, exploitation, lost opportunity, disease, marginalization, dehumanization, lack of education, ignorance and oppression are much more debilitating than the natural kind, and must be attacked preemptively, before they unleash their devastating and continued malignancies upon billions throughout the world. It is these tsunamis we must fear most, and those which we should attempt to destroy through our human goodness and willingness to aid our fellow human beings."
Allen L Roland
Of Tsunamis and Wake Up Calls
Manuel Valenzuela , ICH
The tsunami humankind has recently experienced is a wake up call, a tremor trying to clear our minds from the hazy delusion we have for too long been immersed in. Trying to shake the foundations of our thousands year old ego trip, it has manifested our impotence to nature and the grandeur of Earth’s power, of which we are powerless to control or escape from. In every corner of the globe have we migrated to, and in each region do we remain at the mercy of Earth.
Yet it is humankind that has killed more people than all the natural calamities to ever arise from the bowels of the planet. It is perpetual war and violence, ingrained into the human condition since our inception, making us the most violent creature on the face of the globe, the only one to self-destroy both its home and itself, that has killed more humans than anything manifested by Earth. It is man’s exploitation of self and addiction to materialism, our inability to master the gripping control greed has over us, our perpetual reliance on corrupt and immoral leadership that constantly leads to war and misery, our insistence on pursuing the corrosive mechanism of capitalism, our pursuit of exploiting our fellow man and natural lands, our continued use of primitive forms of energy in times of great technological capacities and our blind pursuit and need for both flag and god that continues to devastate our fellow man, slowly but surely sending our species towards the point of no return, where momentum will be such that our destiny becomes sealed in an irreversible vicious cycle of the worst in the human condition.
Earth has once again laid claim her mighty omnipotence, unaltered by humanity’s locust-like population growth or our voracious consumption and unhindered by the ever-reaching presence of human civilization. For billions of years she has moved the pieces of her living puzzle, delivering a plethora of natural phenomenon that refuses to stop, even for the perceived and self-aggrandizing greatness of our species. She has unleashed her energy since the dawn of time, and will undoubtedly continue to shift her underground plates after human existence ceases to exist. For she is Earth, over four billion years of balance and energy, understanding that plagues have come before just as they will surely arise once again. She remains unperturbed by the six billion strong species that is intent on destroying both itself and her, yet she will survive, in a nanosecond of time recycling the wasted landscapes, polluted airs and devastated waterways that humanity has created, washing away all remnants of what man was and did from the face of her surface. Long after we are gone and long after Earth has been made clean from the destruction we wrought, life will once more thrive and evolve, for Earth will continue living, creating life and returning balance to both herself and the universe.
Yet it is man that has and will continue to kill more of our kind than all natural calamities combined. It is man that will lay waste to more ecosystems than all natural calamities combined. It is man, the self-proclaimed ruler of the planet, and perhaps even the universe, that through human wickedness, exploitation, subjugation and oppression of our fellow beings will unearth more suffering and pain onto those of our same kind. Natural calamities come and go, yet human evil persists. We see it in unending wars, in ethic and religious strife and violence, in new and old crusades, in warlike leadership creating warlike people, in economic genocide and market colonialism, in slavery masked as capitalism, in individual pursuits trumping communal triumph, in division of classes and castes and skin colors and ideologies and opportunities, in the way we treat our fellow man.
Natural calamities such as earthquakes may seem evil, unleashing death and destruction onto humanity, yet it humanity itself which must look itself in the mirror, because what a tsunami achieves in mere moments we sustain for entire centuries. The only difference is that the former arrives without warning, suddenly and catastrophically, its damage apparent in an instant, while the latter is slow and progressive, systemic and devastating, clandestine in implementation and without the attention of the world’s cameras focused on the severe damage it unleashes on billions of human beings. Tsunamis may kill two hundred thousand in one fell swoop, but we kill millions upon millions through our actions, our voting, our acquiescence, our indifference and guilty complicity, creating untold levels of suffering with each passing day that the system creates more poverty, more exploitation and oppression.
It is in times of natural calamity when humanity rises to assist those devastated by what Earth has wrought, contributing money, aid and assistance, helping in any way we can. This is the innate goodness ingrained in most of humanity, and helps bring us all a little bit closer together. This is a wonderful manifestation of humanity, yet we must not wait for these natural phenomenon before we assist those who desperately need aid and food and medicine and shelter and opportunity. The tsunamis of poverty, hunger, exploitation, lost opportunity, disease, marginalization, dehumanization, lack of education, ignorance and oppression are much more debilitating than the natural kind, and must be attacked preemptively, before they unleash their devastating and continued malignancies upon billions throughout the world. It is these tsunamis we must fear most, and those which we should attempt to destroy through our human goodness and willingness to aid our fellow human beings.
Millions of humans die prematurely each year not by tsunamis or earthquakes, but by our exploitation of their lands and labor, by our indifference to their plight as industrialized nations commit yearly acts of economic genocide, as their nation’s treasure is gobbled up by banks and lending institutions, as their lands and their resources are pillaged and raped, as their social programs are gutted to suit the needs of America and other northern nations, condemning billions to a life subsisting on two dollars a day, their talents ignored, opportunity made extinct and futures oppressed.
The goodness of humankind should not wait for tsunamis to rise from the ocean floor because every day is a tsunami for billions of fellow human beings who are being swept out into the ocean of lost lives and shattered dreams. It is time we awaken to this reality, knowing that behind every tsunami-like catastrophe lies an even greater man-made tragedy.
Manuel Valenzuela is social critic and commentator, international affairs analyst, Internet columnist and author of Echoes in the Wind, a novel now published by Authorhouse.com. A collection of essays, Beyond the Smoking Mirror: Reflections on America and Humanity, will be published in early 2005. His articles appear regularly in alternative news websites including informationclearinghouse.info . His unique style and powerful writing is read internationally and seeks to expose truths and realities confronting humanity today. Mr. Valenzuela welcomes comments and can be reached at manuel@valenzuelas.net. A collection of his work can be found visiting his archives and by searching the Internet
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