10 Years (now 11!)

It has been my hope from then until now, that we as a society begin to live, not out of fear and revenge, but with compassion, knowledge, and empathy of the other in our evermore interconnected world.  Whether we think in terms of world, country, community, or family, we need to reflect on how our actions affect others and how others actions affect us.

This has not happened, and therefore, ten years later, we are involved in four wars (two official) and are deep in a financial crisis.  The environment continues to be destroyed for our short term benefit.  We seek the shelter of religion, yet conveniently forget that compassion and forgiveness are key tenants of all the world's religions.  More people are living in fear and seeking revenge, thus fundamentalism is growing throughout the world.  Military and humanitarian efforts are odds with each other, but need not be.  The differences are stark and both efforts are mired in financial and political obligations, unmovable religious tension, resource degradation and exploitation, and the monstrous imbalance of access to money.

Take heart.  There is some beauty in movements and awareness.  There are more individuals and groups feeling empowered to question, to write, to speak, to demonstrate, and to occupy their space.  The organic, biodynamic farming, farmers markets, community-supported agriculture, and fair trade movements are pushing against big agriculture.  More countries are embracing renewable energy through innovation and incentives.  Builders are encouraged to reach goals of reduced consumption through third party certification programs.  Bike lanes are replacing car lanes in some cities.  High speed rail infrastructure is being built in many western and eastern countries.  Some big movies stars are using their fame to inform people of atrocities in far corners of the world.  A huge trove of secret information was released via the internet shedding light on indecencies perpetrated by governments throughout the world.  The World Social Forum is a counter to the World Economic Forum.  A few countries rejected structural adjustment programs pushed by the IMF.  The Arab Spring overthrew various long reigning dictators, inspiring an Occupy Movement.  Whether it's food, education, media, energy, religion, environment, human rights, conflict resolution, or whatever makes your heart beat faster and keeps you up at night pondering, we each can make a difference.