Dec 19 2008
How would you take care of a wound
For example, can you maintain your life if all electricity and gas to your home were to be permanently cut off right now? In modern life, electricity and gas are not used only for lighting; they are intimately connected to how we eat and drink. If we don’t have gasoline, we can’t drive to the supermarket. Even if we were to somehow make our way to the supermarket, the shelves would be empty of foodstuffs because there would be no way to get the merchandise there. We wouldn’t be able to cook even if we had all the ingredients. Since the water company would be without electricity, they would not be able to deliver water to our homes, depriving us of washing and drinking water. How long do you think you could last under such conditions?
Ilchi Lee things that those prepared or fortunate might last a while on stored foodstuffs and drinks, but what happens when these run out? Eventually, you might have to venture out into nature to look for things to eat. But even if you made it to a forest, would you know which plants are edible and which are poisonous? How would you shelter yourself from the cold? How would you light a fire? How would you take care of a wound?
Our system of living must inevitably change. Our current system of “civilized” living, wasteful and destructive, cannot be maintained at its most basic level. Nevertheless, what we call “civilization” is ceaselessly expanding itself and co-opting more and more of the Earth. To maintain itself, it is using evermore energy and material, making us sink ever deeper into its system. It is obvious that Earth cannot support this for much longer.
The situation is analogous to a nuclear reactor whose core has melted and is in danger of exploding. However, no matter how urgent the situation has become, we cannot change our whole system of living overnight. This would be like attempting to arrest the core meltdown by throwing cold water on it. It wouldn’t work, and it could bring about a disaster. Change is obviously needed, but this calls for a carefully thought-out plan of implementation first. However, what we need most of all is to make the choice to want to change. This choice is not something that we can leave to experts because we don’t “know” enough. It has to be our choice.
If we don’t make a choice now, sooner or later, worsening conditions might force us to adapt to a new system of living, which will necessarily be far worse and difficult to adapt to because we would not be ready or prepared for such a change. This is why it is necessary for us to make the choice to want to change. Now.
