I want to talk today about the situation in Europe being called a "refugee crisis" by some and a "migrant crisis" by others.
It is true that we are
facing a crisis of people displacement on a scale our corner of the
world has not seen for a very long time, and it is likely going to
get worse before it gets any better.
This crisis is not new.
It has been going on for a very long time. Certainly on some level I
have been aware of this crisis for most of my life, and in the last
few years this awareness has increased alongside my willingness to do
something about it.
The crisis we are
actually facing is an environmental one.
However, I mean this in
an holistic sense of the word.
Because our environment
has many aspects and if we are to create a better future for our
world and it's diverse denizens then I do not believe we can afford
any longer to approach any of the situations and challenges we face
in isolation to each other.
The problem is holistic
in the sense that it affects every area of our lives, and subverts
every nuance of the meaning of our lives.
Our solutions must
therefore be holistic also.
The crisis we are
facing, and have been facing all of our lives is one of imbalance.
We are suffering from an imbalance of our global, societal and
internal environments.
Because these are all
under attack, and we are in danger on all of these levels of what I
perceive to be an irreversible sea change.
There are three
interdependent realities we need to recognise in this current
paradigm as being under attack.
Number 1) Our
ecological environment. The reality of our bio-sphere, our Mother
Earth, and all the expressions of life that it has given to the
universe, and will continue to sustain for as long as it will be able
to.
Number 2) Our cultural
environment. The reality of the Fraternity of Humanity and all the
creative, altruistic, ingenious and spiritual impulses and ideals
that family has expressed, and has the future potential to explore to
ever greater and more mystifying depths and heights.
Number 3) Our internal
environment. The reality of you, me, every individual. Our internal
psycho-spiritual selves. What it means and feels like to be a human
being. What it means and feels like to be you, here, now.
And we have to examine
and if necessary (as I believe it most urgently is) address the
source of this attack on these three realities. And this will be
difficult. It will require a willingness to self educate, self
examine and where necessary engage in acts of selfless sacrifice. We
may need to leave our comfort zones for a while and face some harsh
truths as we face up to some hard realities.
There is of course
number one, the natural ecological environment of our biosphere. The
air we breathe, the water we drink and the land we live on and grow
our food in. Environmental issues that stem from over-consumption
and anachronistic energy production technology have contributed to
the circumstances many of these people are fleeing from. We have
created a world where some live in luxury and convenience becoming
fat, lazy, greedy and depressed while the rest of Us live in poverty
and desperation, facing increasing environmental collapse through
water shortages, extreme weather events and a desperate lack of
essential life sustaining resources. This has lead to an increase in
conflict world-wide, an increase in corruption by corporate and
governmental institutions and an increase in people seeking a better
life, or even a chance of survival, away from their homelands.
We need to address
these issues of course and we need to do it fast, not just for our
sake, but for the sake of humanity's future and for the sake of this
beautiful repository of life we call Earth.
We all know that at our
current level of energy, food and resource consumption/waste this
planet simply cannot sustain us for much longer. If we do not address
this then the consequences for future generations on this world will
be dire. Not hypothetical future generations. I'm talking about YOUR
kids, and their kids.
Yet there are also
other environmental aspects we need to consider that are equally dire
in their implications.
So number two then is
the cultural environment of our global community. The fraternity of
humanity.
Equally dire is the
effect we are collectively having on the future cultural environment
they will grow into adults within.
A quick look at
wikipedia tells us that “As a defining aspect of what it means to
be
human, culture
is a central concept in
anthropology,
encompassing the range of phenomena that are transmitted through
social
learning
in human
societies.”
So our cultural
environment then is essentially what we teach our children through
example. By our actions and behaviours and responses we establish
within their young and impressionable minds what it means to be a
member of their society, and what is culturally acceptable behaviour.
They are busy right now learning from us how to respond to situations
like this one.
And what are we
teaching them in regard to this current crisis situation of human
desperation, human need and human suffering?
That if people
suffering do not look like you or talk like you then it isn't as
important as the suffering of those that do?
That people from other
cultures, with other ways of living, praying, eating, speaking should
be always treated with suspicion and as potential threats to your own
safety?
That it is enough to
click on a Facebook post or send an emoticon to some abstract virtual
person and consider yourself active and engaged with the reality of
suffering?
That it is okay to do
nothing, and at the same time feel depressed about the nothing being
done? (But that's also okay because your doctor can always give you
pills for that, right? )
Oh what a brave new
world theirs would turn out to be!
Do we really want the
next generation of people in this world to grow up into adults who
think and feel this way?
Do we?
I know I don't, and I
strongly suspect none of you do either, or you wouldn't reading my
blog.
I would rather see our
future generations mature into a truly sustainable cultural
environment that values and encourages things like individual freedom
of expression, sharing of resources and responsibilities, emotional
honesty, generosity, kindness, compassionate courage, and pro-active
solution-focused thinking and doing.
What we are currently
subjected to is a perversion of what it means to be a self-aware,
intelligent and emotional being. We are allowing our cultural
environment to be shaped into one where razor wire fences, armed
military and militarised police are acceptable and necessary parts of
our everyday landscape and existence. An environment where it is
“normal” and acceptable to be asked for “papers” whenever you
want to travel any distance from your home. A cultural environment
where it is acceptable, and indeed “normal” for the suffering and
needs of other human beings to be viewed as “just shit that
happens” at best, or as a potential threat to the self that must be
defended against, or at worst an opportunity for personal gain to be
exploited!
Is this what being
human means?
I do not want any child
being born today or experiencing childhood today in this world to
grow up into a global culture where the regular occurrence of bodies
washing up in their hundreds on beaches is “just shit that
happens”. It isn't. It is a consequence of our actions as a global
community and as individuals. It is a consequence of the unacceptable
levels of inequality that exist in this world today and has existed
for all of our lives and well into the past. It is a consequence of
climate change and the effects our convenient lifestyles are having
on the southern hemisphere. It is a consequence of globalisation and
free markets and the daily relentless feeding of corporate entities
that we all engage in every time we purchase a product. It is a
consequence of our absurd reliance on fossil fuel energy monopolies
and our lack of inventiveness or imagination in breaking free of that
dependence. It is a consequence of the normalisation of war, and the
implicit agreement, unspoken but expressed in so many ways, that it
is perfectly normal, acceptable and indeed necessary for our economic and social stability to not only expect our young men and women to have the
career choice of warfare, but to have a whole industry that relies on
the profits gained through the sale of weapons of war. It is a
consequence. It is not a natural spontaneous occurrence. It could
have been prevented. It should have been prevented. We have all known
for a long time how unfair, unequal and unkind the balance of
resources and opportunities within our world actually is. We could
have done more to redress this. We should have done more.
So what do we do now?
How do we respond to this?
Well that brings me to
number 3. Our internal, or psycho-spiritual environment.
We must not give up
hope.
We must not stop
believing in a better future.
We have to see it,
conceptualise it. Build it in your imagination, just how wondrous an
adventure, what a beautiful expression of joyous freedom, what a
journey of mystery and discovery our lives on this world could be.
Earth could be such a
paradise for humanity. It could be such an amazing place to grow up
and grow old, live and die in. We could be a cosmic university. A
place of profound learning, self exploration, discovery and
realisation. We have the technology and the resources to make it so.
Imagine it how you
would like it to be, and then do everything you can think of to make
that vision a reality.
Fear will put obstacles
in your way.
I do not say you must
not be afraid because that is delusional.
We all get scared. I
get bloody terrified much of the time in the face of what is
happening in our world today, and what is clearly necessary of me to
address within my internal environment!
But we must not allow
that fear to be our dictator, for that would make us cowards and
cowards earn slavery for themselves and for their children.
We must be peaceful and
enlightened warriors, who are prepared and willing to step through
their own fears and into the realisation of their hopes.
I spent a short time
last winter working in the camp at Dunkirk and it did at times seem
hopeless. There was a moment back there when I lost my internal and
my external smile.
But the community got
me through, and one man in particular spelt it out to me very clearly
what we were actually doing.
We were in the business
of injecting hope. He said to me, “this is not a hopeless
situation.”
I personally do not
believe in hopeless situations, and I forgot myself there for a
moment because the magnitude and horror of what is happening in our
world today can be overwhelming, yet I have lots of hope and I see
within this situation an opportunity.
The spontaneous
response of people who have acted out of a pure desire to help
others, without thought of what it may cost or gain themselves, has
been most humbling and most inspiring to me.
And it is happening
across Europe, not just in France but in Greece, in Italy, in
Belgium, in Germany, Hungary,...and not just in Europe but also in
Syria, in Turkey in Iraq.
Everyday people with
the heart and will, standing up and sticking up for everyday people
whose hearts and wills are being broken.
This is creating
communities of diverse peoples who are looking for practical ways of
living together and surviving together with dignity, love and
laughter in the face of their grief, loss and the institutional
abuses they are suffering.
This is not happening
thanks to the Governments and establishment organisations of our
world, it is happening in defiance of them!
People are truly the
most beautiful and mysterious creatures and if you go over the
channel today and see with your eyes the international community of
everyday people, from every walk of life and every social strata,
that have spontaneously come together to assist those who have been
abandoned and abused by our establishment institutions then I assure
you that you too will be humbled and inspired.
We can make a
difference, each and every one of us. Whoever we are.
We can challenge the
popular narrative of the mainstream media moguls who attempt to
pollute our minds and hearts with their lies and half truths every
day.
We can do this through
their own channels, or through the alternative media of this digital
age.
We can do this on the
streets, in our homes, in our pubs and cafes, school class rooms and
work places.
We can educate
ourselves, taking responsibility for our own gathering and analysing
of information instead of relying on the same old liars and
mouthpieces we call the press.
We can find out, speak
out against and boycott those companies and their subsidiaries that
are raking in huge profits as a direct result of these peoples
suffering, and who have no vested interest in there ever being an end
to it. Companies like....
3M
3i-MIND
3VR
3xLOGIC
ABB
Accenture
ACTi Corporation
ADT Security
Services
AeroVironment Inc.
Agent Video
Intelligence
Airbus Defence and
Space
Alcatel-Lucent
(Nokia Group)
ALPHAOPEN
American Science &
Engineering Inc.
Anixter
Aralia Systems
AT&T Inc.
Augusta Systems
Austal
Avigilon
Corporation
Aware
Axis
AxxonSoft
Ayonix
BAE Systems
BioEnable
Technologies Pvt Ltd
BioLink Solutions
Boeing
Bollinger
Shipyards, Inc
Bosch Security
Systems
Bruker Corporation
BT
Camero
Cassidian
CelPlan
China Security &
Surveillance, Inc.
Cisco Systems
Citilog
Cognitec Systems
GmbH
Computer Network
Limited (CNL)
Computer Sciences
Corporation
CrossMatch
Diebold
DRS Technologies
Inc.
DVTel
Elbit Systems Ltd.
Elsag Datamat
Emerson Electric
Ericsson
ESRI
FaceFirst
Finmeccanica SpA
Firetide
Fulcrum Biometrics
LLC
G4S
General Atomics
Aeronautical Systems Inc.
General Dynamics
Corporation
Getac Technology
Corporation
Hanwha Techwin
Harris Corporation
Hewlett Packard
Enterprise
Hexagon AB
Honeywell
International Inc.
Huawei
Technologies Co., Ltd
IBM
IndigoVision
Intel Security
IntuVision Inc
iOmniscient
IPConfigure
IPS Intelligent
Video Analytics
Iris ID Systems,
Inc.
IriTech Inc.
Israel Aerospace
Industries Ltd.
ISS
L-3 Security &
Detection Systems
Leidos, Inc.
Lockheed Martin
Corporation
MACROSCOP
MDS
Mer group
Milestone Systems
A/S
Mirasys
Motorola
Solutions, Inc.
National
Instruments
NEC Corporation
NICE Systems
Northrop Grumman
Corporation
Nuance
Communications, Inc.
ObjectVideo
Panasonic
Corporation
Pelco
Pivot3
Proximex
QinetiQ Limited
Rapiscan Systems,
Inc.
Raytheon
Rockwell Collins,
Inc.
Safran S.A.
Salient Sciences
Schneider Electric
SeeTec
Siemens
Smart China
(Holdings) Limited
Smiths Detection
Inc.
Sony Corp.
Speech Technology
Center
Suprema Inc.
Synectics Plc
Tandu Technologies
& Security Systems Ltd
Texas Instruments
Textron Inc.
Thales Group
Total Recall
Unisys Corporation
Verint
Vialogy LLC
Vigilant
Technology
Zhejiang Dahua Technology
...to name just a few
examples.
These companies, and
others like them, are wringing their hands in anticipation of a rise
in the market size of over 240billion USD over the next few years.
While the UK Government
makes such absurd statements as “All
EU national governments should share the burden [of gatekeeping] and
contribute to disrupting the activities and destroying the boats and
equipment of criminal elements who are the source of much of the
migrant crisis, and who are the only party in this crisis to have
gained from the suffering of vulnerable people,”
- Home
Affairs committee.
Conflict
of interests? Yeah, you bet. The UK Government has huge interests in
the weapons industry as does the UK monarchy. And this so called
“homeland security” industry is simply an extension of that and
includes all the usual players we find in corrupt, illegal and
morally blind arms deals to states that behave without principle and
without accountability to the international community time and time
again. States like Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China and the USA - for example.
We can apply massive
pressure on the elected representatives of our system of governance.
Writing letters,
emails, starting petitions, joining campaigns, going on marches. It
isn't futile. It makes a difference. It is a slow process and a
difficult one and it requires people with the courage of their
convictions to be willing to challenge the state. Even to risk injury
or arrest.
Find out who is active
in your locality and approach them. Ask them what they need, what you
can do.
There is a useful link
here to help you do this.....
We can volunteer our
time, if we have no money, or our money if we have no time.
So yes I am appealing
to you all today because I need your help with this. I have done a
little to help where I could, but I have no resources. I have no
money. Even so I am helping to organise and create a long term
response to this situation in the name of what it means to be a
member of the universal community of sentience. If you want to join
our effort you can find us on Facebook. We are called “
Just People– Refugee Aid”. Or if you want to explore something more local to
you then check the extensive list of organisations on the link above.
Just People need
volunteers and supporters who understand the urgency of protecting
and preserving our environment.
Just People need
volunteers and supporters who are passionate enough and awake enough
to put themselves out for the sake of others and for the sake of our
worlds future.
Our three environments,
ecological, social/cultural, and psycho-spiritual need people willing
to look honestly and courageously within their own hearts and ask
themselves “what am I not doing to make things better?” Our world
needs YOU to do something, right NOW!
We need volunteers to
join us on a long term aid mission to Europe, and we need innovative
minds who care enough about these three interdependent realities to
make the effort to offer that help in as low impact and sustainable a
way as we can possibly manage.
We need people who can
build, create, entertain, comfort, heal, cook, communicate.
We need people who can
fundraise, source resources and effectively upcycle and re-use those
resources.
We need people who can
improvise and adapt in the face of severe challenges and high
pressure situations.
We need voices willing
to speak up and support our work, and the work of all the activists
and volunteers struggling to do the right thing in a very wrong set
of circumstances.
We need people to join
us in Europe and we need people to support us here in the UK.
We need compassionate
people. We need competent people. We need people who care enough to
do something about it.
You may feel like there
is nothing you can do. I am here to tell you that this is not true.
We can all do something, and collectively all those little
“somethings” will add up to a better world, both now and
in the future.
Our group is called
“Just People”, and that is what I know you surely are. And this
is what we need.
you can contact me
directly on starseed161@gmail.com
Thank you.
