THE INTRODUCTION - 

Oh Boy... is life really that bad

What is this existence that we exist in? Are we truly happy with the way we be, and where we are heading? Do we really care enough about tomorrow? Or do we just know that there is nothing we can do about all the growing and reciprocal problems and that it is best to just turn our backs and look in the other direction. The way I see it, is that we cannot go back without extrinsic force, we cannot slow down, we are destined to fail in this consideration as the burden of our desire to dominate is too great. 

If we stop or even slow our population growth, if we limit technology and reduce waste to save our planet, we will still collapse as employment (monetary system) will be lessened and very few people will have the ability to participate in the cycle of debt. Look at the great depression of the 1930s; the flow of money circulating due to lack of work caused the great depression. The society we have created for ourselves is based on trade, and with trade comes competition. Regardless if money is used, or if gold, water or some other commodity is used; it is still an IOU system. Someone will always sit at the top supplying all those who need.

If we keep speeding along into uncertainty like we are; taking, spending, consuming, and destroying everything that gets in our way, it is not hard to see that sooner or later we will come to a tipping point that can only have one ending...failure.

I am only part way through my existence (but I do not really know how far along I am because I could die tomorrow, it’s like asking how long is a piece of string, how deep is a hole), and if I make it past all the percentages that you hear every day about what may kill you, like cancer, strokes, accidents, work, war etc, I suppose I’ll be happy.

I have been up, and I have been down, just like the saying “life is like a roller coaster” I have been though a lot already in my short time of this existence. I have learned many things, and I have searched for many answers to my many worldly questions, questions I raise in quite introverted solitude. I still don’t know if the answers are right to any my questions and I am guessing that there are many other people who will never find the answers either, no matter how hard they search. 

I don’t think we are smart enough to find answers to such simple problems.

I have asked myself many times; is all this thinking and research really worth it? I don’t know, but what I do know is that at least I am a person who thinks about us, the world and its many growing problems, and by writing down my thoughts and putting them out there, regardless if people are interested in reading my thoughts or not, makes me feel content that maybe just one person may get a little bit more understanding by way of understanding ourselves, who we really are, and where we are going.

Everybody will have their own philosophies, ideals and morals about life and living, so remember while reading this book, that these are my beliefs derived from my experiences and exploration of existence so far. I am in no way trying to change or convince anyone of a better philosophy or religion. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to change what 99.9% of the population think is right and moral based on my ideology; I would love to change the world, but who says my way is right? Is your way right?

I do not choose to disapprove or ridicule anyone else’s beliefs or philosophies, everyone to their own, but I do disapprove people trying to preach onto me about their beliefs if they’re not interested in critical thinking and debating, and especially if those put me down for no valid reason. We all learn knowledge from different sources; like from books, TV, parents, friends, schooling etc, no-one is right and no-one is wrong on any subject about life in their own single minded views, despite what society agrees upon. If you believe that what you think is right or wrong is the best way, then follow it, as long as it does not hurt or affect anyone else. That’s all that really matters as a moral person, not hurting or manipulating anyone else. 

You should not try and base your life around making others happy. This will only cause you to not be true to yourself, this will send you down a never-ending spiral and into melancholy, because you will slowly learn that you will never have what other people have. You’ll learn that the grass is never greener on the other side. So open your mind to everything around you, listen, observe, because by doing this, you’ll become a little more educated about everything!

If you are still reading and haven’t yet put this book back onto the cheap sale pile, shows that at least you have an open mind, and that you are willing to take the valuable time out of your life to open your mind to what someone else thinks who has no social reverence. I would like to think of myself as a critical thinker and as a visionary. Sadly, many visionaries and philosophers (like Socrates) were killed because they thought outside of the square other created, and all I can say is that I am glad that I don’t live back in those days where thinking atypically got you killed. It must be said here though, that I am not totally enjoying living in this universal time either, where divergent, critical thinking can still outcast you from the normal social ways of others. I have always been a little different and a bit eccentric, but that’s the difference between what’s ordinary and safe to what is different and risky. The world was not created by closed minds and no no’s.

For corrupting the youth and interfering with the religion of the city, Socrates was sentenced to death in 399 B.C.E. Accepting this outcome with remarkable grace, Socrates drank hemlock and died in the company of his friends and disciples. All because he thought differently.

If you believe that we currently live in a trouble free world and think every-thing is just moving along fine, and that we, the human species will live on for eternity without any major hassles or setbacks that we have created, then this book is not for you. If you have not yet realised the destruction to our world, the diminishing of social respect and order, and or you do not care about the future because you live in the “me now” generation, then I am sorry to say that you are part of the problem and not the solution.

So it’s your free choice to read this book, but ask yourself, what is it that you want to get out of reading a book full of negatives? What aspect of our global crisis grabs you most? Is it the destruction of our rain forests? Using all our finite resources? Overpopulation? Devastation of marine life? Unethical leaders? Fantasy economics? Land ownership? Third World poverty? Giant dams? Pollution? Armaments? Disease? pollution? Social corruption? Greed and or failing morality.

The choice to learn more is obviously broad and no informed person would deny that these and other of the many factors are very real elements which all help to constitute a crisis which now envelops all human affairs. However, there is always a need to ask; what is it that is spiraling us into a world of suffering and self imposed chaos? Is there a common link which relates them all to a single cause?

Let us turn the question around. Would a resolution of any one of these problems we face result in a world free from the crisis we are heading towards? Would third world increase in wealth lessen pollution? Would ethical investment defuse the population bomb? Would organic farming halt environmental damage? Would proper care of rain forests stop the madness of motorway construction, farming land and our need for palm oil? No, I don’t think so, it’s all a means to an end, an end of what we know as free growth.

These sorts of questions may appear naive and might well evoke the response that if all the elements of the crisis were tackled together, the crisis itself would disappear. Perhaps it would, but what then is prompting leading scientists to try and reduce the effects of what we are doing to the earth and earthlings? Is it the fear that we have stuffed up everything so much that it might be too late to reverse any of our wrongdoings! Why is it that it that is so obvious that we cannot keep populating and growing with our capitalist mindsets that government keeps wanting us to push forward into continual growth, is it the greed that has us so wrapped up. 

Most people I would have to say would have no informed opinion or even a casual concern for any of these social or global matters. This is because it has not affected their pockets or stomachs in any way as yet. You see, we humans are reactive in nature and only ever deal with issues after they have occurred. So, the fact that when we are affected, as undoubtedly we will be, people are likely to provoke the emergence of harsh and irrational programs, because we humans always seem to learn only from our mistakes, and unfortunately, most of our mistakes that we do are very big and affect everything. Who is to blame for all our mistakes? I would blame Mother Nature (whatever brought us into being), as she is what gave us greed, and greed is our ultimate pitfall. Think about it for a minute; all our problems, and everything in some way or another can be linked back to greed.