Healing Our World: Time for Some Shelf Clearing?

By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

Time for Some Shelf Clearing?

"The problems that we have created cannot be solved at the level of thinking that created them."
-- Albert Einstein

As I try to catch up on the world’s environmental news after being out of electronic communication while moving during the last week, I became confused again. What should I focus my attention on? What should our environmental priorities be? Should we choose clean air or clean water? Why do we have to choose?

As my head began swimming thinking of all this, I was reminded the work of Joanna Macy that I wrote about a few years ago. Her "Ten Basic Human Needs" were from a publication Macy had seen from a Buddhist inspired community known as Sarvodaya. I think we can all benefit from reviewing these basic human needs periodically to help set priorities in our lives.

Environment
Do we not all have a right to a clean, healthful, beautiful place in which to grow? The answer must be yes, but some people seem to think that this is not so necessary. After all, people are living in areas where the environmentalists say that the air and water are poisonous. As long as a toxic environment is considered an acceptable consequence of progress and economic health, then all the technology in the world will not help.

Every day, approximately four billion dollars is spent on gambling in the United States alone. The World Game Institute estimates that it would take eight billion dollars to prevent global warming - the cost of gambling for two days?

Water
This is a very basic human need. Our planet is made up mostly of water, as are our bodies. But have become so distant from the beauty of a cool, clear glass of water. We crave diet sodas, sparkling flavored mineral waters, and fruit juices. In our drinking water, we accept chlorine, a known carcinogen, as well as fluoridation, although fluoride is a powerful pesticide.

Yet we place little value on water. Look at the label from any bottle of water. It claims that the nutritional value of this life giving substance is zero.

It is estimated that it would cost 50 billion dollars to provide safe, clean drinking water for everyone on Earth. A number of individuals have that much in their bank accounts right now.

Clothing
The Sarvodaya community believes that every individual should have six sets of clothing: two for daily home wear, two for school or the workplace, one for nightwear, and the other for ceremonial wear. They say also to keep them clean. If you have no money for soap, then water mixed with the ash of coconut branches removes dirt. I think of this as I unpack my boxes in our new home. I have at least 20 t-shirts, a dozen shirts for work, and much more. Where did the prohibition come from in our western culture from wearing the same thing each day?

Food
There is so much food in our world, yet so many are hungry. Last night, we had Thai food. I ate more calories in this one meal than many people in our world eat in a week. How can I be so rich and they so poor, yet I complain that I don’t make "enough"?

It is estimated that it would take 19 billion dollars to end starvation and hunger on this entire planet. I see advertisements all over the Internet from major companies who could write a check today and end starvation and hunger. But we would never think to ask them to do such a thing ... Why?

Housing
Protection against the sun, rain, heat, cold, and mosquitoes is a basic human need. If you cannot afford bricks, then you could fashion walls out of packed earth or even old tires. Roofs can be made of palm leaf thatching.

As we were shopping for our home, I saw huge buildings everywhere, mostly empty. Yet people are sleeping outside these magnificent structures every day, huddled in their entryways.

It could cost about 21 billion dollars to provide shelter for everyone on Earth. One of the ten richest people in the world could fund this. Will they? Sadly, I think not.

Fuel
We need energy for many of our pursuits. Energy can come from the sun, wind, water, or heat from the Earth or burned animal dung.

Each day in the U.S. alone, we use over 313 million gallons of fuel - enough to empty over 26 tractor trailer trucks every minute. To provide clean, renewable energy sources worldwide could cost 17 billion dollars.

Health Care
It is a basic need to lead a healthy life. Yet advertisements urge us to eat fast meals, drink coffee and alcohol and take pills to "lose weight while you sleep." We surround ourselves with labor saving devices so we can move less in order to be more efficient while neglecting to exercise.

Few people in the world have access to health care services. It is estimated that it would take 15 billion dollars to provide health care for every child, woman, and man on this planet. The box office receipts and merchandising profits from one weekend at the movies could take care of this quite easily. But that is not done - or even suggested. Why?

Communication
The Sarvodaya community lists communication as a basic human need. Media of communication for that community can be the temple bell, the conch, bonfires, birds and letters, as well as telephone, radio, and television. Bulletin boards are also important, as is the dissemination of news through the village tom-tom beater.

If we communicated with each other in our cities, really listened to each other, we might hear the sound of the Earth crying and the pleas for help from our neighbors.

Education
Joanna Macy says that lifelong education is a basic human need. This is so true. I have seen the light come on in the eyes of so many people when they learned something important to them. And I have seen that light glow even brighter when they realize that the power to change our behavior is something that we all have.

It is estimated that it would cost five billion dollars to eliminate illiteracy worldwide. Will we ever do that? Is it because educated people more difficult to control?

Cultural and Spiritual Development
What are all the other basic human needs without a cultural and spiritual base to bind them and provide them meaning and context? But how is this done?

The Sarvodayas strive for culture and spirit by having the elders perpetuate folklore, folksongs, and proverbs to the younger generations. They keep traditions alive with festivals, pageants, drama, and dance. They arrange facilities for learning ways of meditation and also the essence of other religions as well, giving respect to the many ways that exist to practice being connected to the universe and each other.

Examining our concepts of what are our basic needs is a powerful experience. It may start with looking at your belongings and wondering what to keep and what to throw away. But this simple exercise may lead to a powerful self-examination of values, the beginning of a deep inner house cleaning.

You cannot put anything new on the shelf until you clean out what is already there. And we desperately need some new things on the shelf.

RESOURCES

1. "World as Lover, World as Self," by Joanna Macy (Parallax Press) can be obtained from the Parallax Press web site at http://www.parallax.org/scripts/parallax/index.pl?funct=title&id=&query=World+As+Lover%2C+World+As+Self

2. Of course the Sarvodaya movement has a web page! Check it out at http://www.sarvodaya.org/

3. The information presented on the costs of fixing our environmental and social problems are from World Game Institute's What the World Wants Project at http://www.worldgame.org/wwwproject/index.html.

4. For information on multi-faith social activism and community building, check out http://home.earthlink.net/~rflyer/index.html.

5. Learn about building Earth friendly shelters at the Earthship web site at http://www.earthship.org/index.html.

6. Read some interesting perspectives about overcoming consumerism at http://www.hooked.net:80/users/verdant/index.htm

7. Visit Macrocosm USA, an excellent clearing house for all manner of environmental, social justice, and peace organizations and events at http://www.macronet.org/macronet/.

{Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. is a writer and the manager of Discovery Park for the City of Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation. He can be found in his new home in Seattle, moving into a new house and trying to understand what he really needs. Please send your thoughts, comments, and visions to him at jackie@healingourworld.com and visit his web site at www.healingourworld.com}