I believe that my own writing cannot measure up to convey my core believes, thinking and message any better than the people I will feature on my site.
I start the series with a woman I admire from the bottom of my heart: Dr Vandana Shiva (learn more about her here: http://www.vandanashiva.org/
below are excerpts (edited) of her Sydney Peace Prize Talk, in November 2010 – to listen to the entire speech : Vandana Shiva : Sydney Peace Prize Talk from WisdomKeepers Productions on Vimeo.
Dr Vandana Shiva’s Sydney Peace Prize Lecture: Time to End War on Earth
“The blindness of mechanical reductionist thought is constantly projecting as abundance systems that are creating scarcity! And nowhere is this more evident than in agriculture, where agriculture has become, literally, an everyday war against species, against farmers, against the land and even against those who eat by assaulting our bodies.
There are three levels of violence involved in non-sustainable development: 1. the violence against the earth = the ecological crisis; 2. the violence against people = poverty, destitution and displacement; 3. the violence of war and conflict = exploitation of resources (commodities and human) by the powerful.
The elevation of the market and money (man-made capital) to the pole position of the organizing principles for societies and the only measure of sucess and well-being has led to the decay and destruction of the processes that maintain and sustain life in nature and society.
The “richer” we get, the poorer we become ecologically and culturally. The growth of affluence, measured in money, is leading to a exponential growth in poverty at the material, cultural, ecological and spiritual levels.
The real currency of life is life itself and we need to ask ourselves whether we are mere money-making, resource-guzzling machines or the custodians and caretakers of an entire ecological system. Do we have a higher purpose?
I believe that ”earth democracy” enables us to envision and create living democracies based on the intrinsic worth of all species, all peoples, all cultures – a just and equal sharing of this earth’s vital resources, and sharing the decisions about the use of the earth’s resources.
Making peace with the earth was always an ethical and ecological imperative. It has now become a survival imperative for our species.”
I hope that many more of you will start questioning how we conduct our lives – and consciously change the way you do live – and through these actions contribute and hopefully ensure that future generations have a life worth living and enjoying.
