Whatever we consume, use, waste or save has a ‘Price tag’ that we can see but what we do not see is the exploitation of mother earth in supporting the manufacturing or production of it. The ambitious world leaders, countries and economies are striving for higher production and GDP without giving a damn to what it is costing us. I personally don’t understand this model of Economics and Standard of living – I don’t even know what an average human of today’s time would be aspiring for but I would rather be interested in the ‘Quality of life’ for there is hell lot of difference between ‘Standard of living’ and ‘Quality of life!’
Standard of living is definitely about having choices in what we sleep, put, sit, ride, slouch and feed on. Only ambitious get that. The increased standard of living is giving those ambitious people the countless choices but does that improve the quality of life they have? The capacity of an individual to laze in a cold room when it is hot outside and in a warm one when it is cold is labeled a ‘Affluence’ and if we aspire for higher standard of living then this is what we will achieve – the capacity to eat, sleep and reproduce without doing much further.. just lazing around!
Ambitious people have beautifully loaded kitchens… area big enough to accommodate a small family’s ambitious home. All are ambitious.. and why not one should be? We are eating less and wasting more than ever in the human history – this is what we have labeled as Standard of Living. For most of people standard of living and being rich means one’s capacity to live without doing anything, without moving an inch. And when masses want it – businesses create it – This principle of business, may not be ideally desired but i do understand it a little bit nevertheless there is yet another model where businesses create things which people never needed but then they ensure you start desiring them so that they can sell. Only if you look closely you will find out that more than 80% of the things you possess are the ones that you never knew about before the advertising agencies decided to invoke an ambition in you. The ambition to get it before anyone else does.
Aren’t our ambitions growing with each passing day? With this ambition in the background the technology is only assisting us to become lazier by each passing decade. Technology-wise people are (unwisely) innovating products and services that cripple us down rather than making us more active in the body & ignited in minds. Television channels in the name of ‘Earth and Nature’ serve us with their ‘Couch Travel’ shows where we don’t move an inch to undertake a journey around the globe. The fresh Air and Open Sky are no longer available as natural resources to freely enjoy but some Dot Com Sites on the virtual world of internet. All these technological advances that are taking away our vitality, strength and activity are mercilessly and unfairly exploiting the nature’s resources that should have been caringly left for the coming generations. With what technology and economics are doing currently we should completely forget about expressing the symphony of living spirit in us.
An intriguing state of affairs…
Humans stung by their parental instincts were happy to give birth to two otherwise lovely kids – Economics and Technology. The pride of parenthood was rather short lived as these twin sinister-sisters grew on steroids it seems. In no time they are no more sweet innocent damsels – Economics & Technology have gone wild. They are up against their own parents and threaten their existence. The humanity is under threat from them but how did it happen? Ever since these twin-sisters started to fantasize a ‘Live-in’ with this spoilt brat by the name of ‘Ambition‘ that they went totally crazy. Ambition was anyways ever lustful and ready to mingle with these beauties – outwardly so well-groomed and cultured but too flirtatious and adulterous when left to themselves. Ambition was intoxicated enough to run out of control and continued to incessantly reproduce with these two. Their offspring’s in absence of proper parenting from their Mothers and Father were destined to become vulturous and move beyond all the limits of idiocy. These offspring in the form of manufacturing, Earth exploration, nuclear power, chemical Industry, Space Exploration and hundreds of other technological industries are eating up and hollowing the very ground on which we the humans stand; They are sucking the vitality out of air, puking the garbage and industrial waste on earth and water rendering our land infertile and habitat toxic.
The dance of destruction has now reached on to a catastrophic level. In the last 30 years we have successfully deforested more than one third of planet, taken away the rightful habitat of millions of wild animals and as if this wasn’t enough we have ensured extinction of hundreds of beautiful life forms from planet earth. Today the coral reef is dying the day is not far when it will be us.
The Economics and Technology – The brainchildren of humanity are still loved by us, like the blind Dhritarashtra. In our selective blindness we are fond of everything that is ruining us. As Human we don’t ever regret of not having put slightest of resistance to the advances of our own offsprings towards the demonic ‘Ambition‘ and freely allowing them plunder our very existence.
We could have dealt with and controlled this Ambition but then we ourselves were blind-struck… fancying a happy future for us. We fell for him and adopted his ways. Due to this “I want more things than you.. I want more luxury than you.. I want to be richer than you.. I want more GDP than you.. I want more.. the foundation of our existence, this very Earth is at stake.
I don’t offer any solutions.
I prefer to leave you with questions.
You ponder or ignore
Adopt minimalism or
Keep wanting more
You may live with
What you have
More; You can still take
But Stay informed
My beloved brethren!
Fella, You are at stake..
Your efforts & wakefulness
Can make or break!
– Acharya Agyaatadarshan Anand Nath
Its all about you! 