The Revolution Will Not Be Packaged

Problems cannot be solved upon the same plane of existence which created them. Destruction of self and nature cannot be separated. The idea of the natural world as a resource at our disposal stems from the hubris that exists when man thinks he can out-science that of which he is a part. His connection has been lost. What a sad irony that the very people that understand the necessity of our communion with the land are being forced away from their own at gunpoint.

The systemic problems which exist in the United States can all be connected to this belief that human beings are separate from everything else that lives and that the world is here to serve us. Until we as a nation can see that the opposite of this is true, nothing will change. Life for homo sapiens will continue to devolve. This line of reasoning is difficult to accept in a society where success is equated with achievement at all costs, and making money is considered to be an honorable endeavor with little regard as to how that money is made.

     There are nations throughout the world that are leading the way in attempts to improve the health and livelihood of all of their citizens. Consider Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and others. This isn’t happening in the United States. What I do see happening within myself and others is a desire to understand how some of us can accept this, and furthermore, how a great many support ideas and orders that contribute to this destruction of our environment. I use that word loosely, to encompass all that is around us and all that we experience. Again, we are not separate from other living things, despite what the human ego tries to argue. Therefore, it is in the best interests of all of us to examine something I was taught long ago: to understand why a problem that holds so many in bondage continues to exist, when other options are available, we must look at who profits from the problem.

I am going to concentrate on three areas of concern and try to examine how these are tied together. That is not to say that I am unaware of all the other problems stemming from these three. (Think racism, sexism, police brutality, the industrial prison system, hate crimes, pollution, global warming, protests, religion used as an excuse for "progress", obesity, addiction--the list could go on and on.

     All of it begins, of course, with our being disconnected from the very ground on which we walk. Many of us, especially those of us residing in big cities, do not even consider that there is a harmony between all that lives. Many of us go through our days without even noticing these living creatures. Sometimes we do not notice because there is only concrete; sometimes because we are rushing from one thing to the next in an attempt to outrun our true connection; sometimes we only notice when the weather affects us, as if the world is here to serve us.

     When Earl Butz and Tricky Dick demanded that farmers "get big or get out," they took the holiest of professions and turned the American farmer into a button pusher dependent on big loans and chemicals. The moved the stewards even further away from the vision held by Native Americans, from the respect and honor they gave to Mother Earth. They kept farmers in bondage while flipping the bird of America at the all knowing Mother. And when she said, "I'll show you," they flew planes over her and sprayed chemicals that killed everything. What they did not know is that the old Mother is resilient. She sent stronger bugs and more armies that could outwit the noxious toxins and win the next round.

     So they got more planes to fly through America's spacious skies, reigning down more chemicals onto amber waves of grain. Stronger chemicals. Companies created seeds, immune to these poisons. These Frankencrops grew at a rate never seen. Progress! The American public relished in what had been sprayed and reduced to food-like substances, and as long as they contained enough sugar, fat, and/or salt, we did not care.

    Meanwhile, the earth lost more topsoil. Birds, bees, butterflies, and all forms of life began to disappear at alarming rates. The Agricultural Centers across the United States encouraged these practices. They encouraged the use of pesticides and sprays for the home gardener.  How did we get so disconnected from what the Native Americans knew, from what each of us knows deep within the soul? It is almost hard to fathom. And though a word like hubris should not be used twice in an essay this short, I can think of no better alternative.

     As a nation, we have become a conglomeration of sick, overweight zombies. We are sold the notion that this is a problem of willpower. We are sold the notion that diet and exercise will save us. The truth is that there is little upon which to dine and our lives seem to be centered around being sedentary. So we go to doctors with the hope that they will save us.

     It is my understanding that these doctors take the Hippocratic oath. Yet the very notion of what is today called "doctor" breaks this oath. The majority doles out drugs after the fact rather than trying to understand what led up to the problem. One cannot, let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food, when there is no food.

     Bring on Big Pharmacy, where every symptom is treated rather than examined. For every ache and every condition "outside of the ordinary" there is a corresponding pill. The benefits of keeping people sick is of the utmost necessity to those invested in pharmaceutical drugs. And chances are that these same people have some of their money invested in what is called Healthcare, but is more appropriately understood as sick care.

It will give cause to examine those with interest in pesticides, food-like creations, and pharmaceutical drugs, yet this will do nothing to solve this overwhelming and tragic comedy where those in industries like the FDA and EPA, and any other governmental institutions revolving around these issues say things that are laughable, and yet people get behind them because they align with a word. For them, apparently, our lives are not as important as being right. You laugh, maybe even scoff, but the human ego is a beast. Have I not just explained how it thinks it has more power than nature? How it is of the belief that you are separate from every other living being?

     What does it take to heal the land and thereby heal ourselves? It will not come from the top down. It will not come from organic labels or non-gmo packaging. That has already become a ruse designed to confuse those that just want to live without being fat and sick. A problem of this magnitude cannot be solved in the same manner of thinking that caused it.

     “But we need to feed the world!”

Yes, we do. We need to feed them food. To grow food, we need to grow soil. We need to fix what years of agriculture have done. And we need to start right outside our doors. We will be apt to try what we have seen go from seed to fruit. We need to heal together by sharing what we have grown, by increasing biodiversity in our neighborhoods, by reducing our dependency on big government and fancy packages. Our addiction to fat, salt, and sugar will decrease when we see what we eat growing all around us. It will decrease even further with the feeling that comes from eating nutrient-dense food. We will grow in spirit as we heal the soil around us and thereby heal our relationships with each other.

     How is this to come about? It cannot be accomplished through a top down model. That notion has proven not to work. That notion does not take into account the individual differences of land, of people, of flora and fauna and cultural practices. If you really want to get down to it, a universal plan to serve all is impossible.

      The United States is a puzzle with millions of pieces. You and I, we are only part of one piece. Some of us have expected to be presented with a puzzle, all put together, that we might then see and understand our own part, that we might feel whole. I would counter that the way out starts with your own piece, by establishing connection to those closest to you. Each of us has something to offer our neighbor.
My commitment is to finding out what will grow without much input or effort in in my piece of the puzzle. To look at longitudes and latitudes and similar weather in the rest of the world and try growing what they grow along with what has always been grown. (If you live in Minnesota, you don't need to eat oranges. Capiche?) I commit to keep searching for healthy, life-affirming options, to give of these freely, and to do whatever I can to encourage others to do the same. My notion is to help others understand that nature knows no waste. When you say you are going to throw something away, I ask you this, "Where is away?"

     The piece of land where I am included extends from Japonica to Press Street (railroad track to railroad track) and Florida Avenue to St. Claude in the city of New Orleans. I vow to give all of myself, to thank every living creature, to pick up what people call trash and see how it might be reused. I vow to do whatever I can to help increase the diversity of all that lives and to help others whenever I am asked. I vow to use the hair of the barbers, the eggshells of breakfast cooks, the vegetable ends left after chopping, and the fish heads and guts that never made it to the plate.

This is my piece. Our piece. I hope you find yours. And I hope that someday we all connect.