Great Chain of Being

Life thrives with flexibility and diversity. Our wondrous planet has this in abundance. We are a part of this amazing process of nature.

The great recycling of elements through the Great Chain of Being is something we participate in and profoundly affect. Humans are at the very top of this chain. Therefore we can determine what happens to this chain.

The food chain is a more specific version of this idea, but it gets the point across. A chain is a series of linkages, the integrity of which depends on the strength of every single link. A strong chain is a flexible chain, supported in nature by diversity.

Species extinction and climate change are two phenomenon that are having a dissolving affect on the linkages of this chain. And why is this happening?

The chain metaphor also invokes the idea of interconnectedness. We are not separate from nature. All things which occur are interconnected.

The myth of the fall of Atlantis is instructive. They say the great cataclyism which befell Atlantis was due to the Atlanteans themselves. They had fallen into disrepute, living immoral and excessive lives. Like the biblical myth of the deluge, the invisible hand of God then came down with great fury, ending the civilizations.

The idea here is that humans and Nature/God are not separate. These myths are telling us we have a responsibility not only for our own actions but also for the Great Chain of Being.

This will be hard to swallow for many people. Too often we say, "it is not up to me," or, "but what can I do? I'm just a small human." This seems to us true and false at once. "It" is up to you, and yes you are only just a human.

Here is the balance. Between the reality of being a limited individual in a vast world, and also taking responsibility for your own actions and then extending this responsibility to all beings.

This is not a call to action. It is a call to contemplation.

The Fat Lady Sings

You know what they say:
"It aint over until..."

In this case we are refering to the era of cheap energy. Which has lasted about 100-150 years depending on who is counting. This is the period of great success for capitalism and the world's democracies. The industrial project has matured and gone global because of the special period of peace and cheap energy.

Of course during the past 150 years it has not always been peaceful nor has energy always been cheap. However the general trend has held. The two world wars, particularly WWII, were the last attempts by nation states to establish global hegemony. Of course this conflict yielded the atom bomb which matured into the nuclear bomb, the most awesome single destructive device ever created. The result was the Cold War, a sort of global deadlock. The twin powers of Capitalism and Communism locked into an impossible game of "dare." This so called war was cold in relation to the hot wars of the early part of the twentieth century.

Now America stands victorious, in the eyes of many, we have triumphed and the globe is ours. The eagle has risen. At least this is my approximation of the mentality of the type of nationalism of our current rulers and policy makers. They see the world as free game, any non-nuclear power is ours to dominate. And it could not at a more opportune time. That is our "victory" of course. We have drawn down our resource base so severely that we must pull them from our subject states. In order to maintain our incredible "standard of living." We are a fat lady who has exhausted herself so much in conflict that now she depends on her underlings to hold up her massive bulk.

As they say; "the American lifestyle is non-negotiable."

This is a chilling statement. It reeks of small-minded jingoism and naive contempt for "the foreign." Anything non-American is de facto irrelevant. It is this very type mentality that ignites the jihadistas, they burn with hate. This is essentialy a big "fuck you" to them; a clear statement that we don't give a shit about you. We must be met on our own terms or not at all. This type of hubris is only too typical in the latter stages of any failing imperial project. The rulers are so detached from reality, they are drunk with the perceived power they wield.

Of course, they don't suspect they are on the brink of collapse. They selectively filter out any information which is contrary to their point of view, thereby reinforcing the ignorance of the particular world view.

Anyhow when will it come crashing down? When will the proverbial "fat lady" sing?

She has been singing. Both Chevron and ExxonMobil have publicly acknowledged the impending peak of global oil production.

China has publicly reminded us that they will use nuclear weapons against us if we interfere in their internal affairs.

Saudi Arabia has acknowledged they cannot ramp up oil production.

The end is here, now...