Painful Ecological & Socio-Economic Realities
We are living in a broken world. This painful truism came to my realization in my 5th month stay in New York USA visiting my CEO son and touching base with my PhD & lawyer siblings. My exposure to the outpourings of knowledge and wisdom by reading books and listening to speeches of intellectuals and my inter-action with passionate environmentalists have amazingly provided clear insights and concrete answers on why are we living in a crazy world? Amidst considerable achievements, the beautiful blue planet whose life is our life and a mother to us all, is now not only dying but being killed by the Homo sapiens. In reality, as explained by intellectuals/environmentalists, “climate change is a symptom of a distorted, imperialist worldview, the continued exploitation of the earth is justifiable because humans exist separate from and can claim dominion over the environment. This worldview, championed by Christians and captains of industries alike promotes and preserves business as usual and has led us to the brink of ecological collapse.” Don’t you know that environmental catastrophes are the reflection of our combative and destructive ways of living based on selfish desire for wealth, fame and power. Don’t you know that diseases like cancer can easily afflict one who is immersed in negative thinking such as anger and fear? The cure therefore is to have positive thinking and attitude through the power of the heart filled with love, kindness, compassion, service and good will. Many here in the USA can attest to that!
As explained by world renown environmentalists, “It behooves upon us now to make ourselves feel more disturbed, spending some time each day to reflect on the pain being inflicted on both our fellow human beings and the environment, considering the broken lives in war-torn Yemen, Somalia, Ukraine and worse, Gaza, Palestine where hundreds of thousands mostly children victims of Israel-American Imperialism. Reflect on the widespread poverty in Africa and the desperate plight of the Rohingya Muslims and people in Ukraine. Nearly every day, migrants risked death by crossing the English Channel in inadequate boats, hoping to find refuge in the United Kingdom, and some are drowning in the attempt. Why are we not distressed by the shameful inequality of some of our rich cities. London is one of the richest in the world, yet it is estimated that a quarter of its population live in poverty. In the United States, there is a wider disparity between rich and poor than in any developed nation, and over the last few decades, this wealth gap has more than doubled.”
Being an environmental activist who have for three decades initiated direct actions against illegal logging and illegal mining through human barricades and as an advocate for social justice to liberate the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) from horrible social injustices, I am so puzzled why there is no rule of law with regards to the environment in the Philippines, the reason why we have lost our ecological integrity and security. What Is so puzzling is how the 17 million Indigenous Peoples are treated like “disposable wastes” especially the 5 million tribal members in Mindanao. Their millions of hectares of ancestral domain which they have developed through the years in the spirit of sharing and service, following sustenance and nature’s economy, treating nature as like a home where their basic needs are provided for, are being land-grabbed through corporate globalization. Every time they would resist, they are being killed as some 101 Chieftains/Lady Chieftains have been the victims of Extra Judicial Killings (EJKs) since 2016. How powerful are the oligarchs in cahoots with trans-national corporations (TNCs), their enrichment means the displacement and the impoverishment of the poor IPs. I thought that such is only happening in our country. Now it has dawned upon me that the oppression of the poor is being done globally by these “Masters of Mankind.”
The power of these TNCs was categorically and shamelessly manifested recently in Amai Manabilang, Lanao del Norte where thousands of Ilocano Settlers who already have acquired prior right over their thousands of hectares of their farmlands were forcibly evicted by two TNCs (the Asia Pacific Precision Agricultural Group and the Kennemer Food, Inc.) to transform their farmland into massive plantation, in collusion with government agencies, the LGU and the AFP. But such painful truism which is in clear violation of the rule of law is just a “tip of the iceberg,” so to speak. Thousands of families of the Manobo Pulangiyon Tribe in Butong, Quezon have been living under shattered tents along the hi-way for seven years now, eating only once a day because a powerful corporation has land-grabbed their 1,111 ha. ancestral domain, transforming it into massive plantation to earn millions of dollars. This is also true all over the province of Bukidnon as 46,000 hectares of the IPs’ ancestral domain have been converted inro military reservation but in truth is to accommodate TNCs.
Indeed, these “Masters of Mankind” in collusion with powers-that-be are exemplifying that “ distorted imperialist worldview of having dominion over the earth.” This has put in clear categorical term that high veneration to the profit motive has already captured the mindset of everyone. I am not surprised anymore why our beloved Xavier University was sold to a powerful corporation for five billion pesos, sacrificing its cultural heritage which is contrary to the vision-mission of Jesuit pioneers to develop human potentials to be “men and women for others.” It is so puzzling why will they allow the transformation of the 14-hectare land area into business centers, destroying the mini-forest at Manresa and put to extinction 40 species of bird, not to mention the shameless desecration of the burial ground of the Jesuit pioneers, our professors, our heroes. Reverend Fathers, with all due respect, isn’t it that your mission Sirs is to maximize values, not consumer goods and not short-term profit!?
Such narration is so painful and so puzzling not only locally but more so globally. Why in the USA, the richest country in the world which is in control of more than one half of the world’s resources, one American commit suicide every thirty minutes out of poverty. This truism put in clear categorical term the meaning of gross inequity where the wealth of the ONE PERCENT REGIME is greater than the combined assets of the 99% of the world’s population of 8 billion people; that the wealth of the 8 richest corporations in the USA is greater than the assets of some 4 billion people. These corporations have indeed sacrificed the people and the environment to the altar of greed and profit. Shall we not be bothered by this truism?
Indeed, the growth-at-all-cost development paradigm called Neo-Liberal Capitalism popularly known as Corporate Globalization based on the wrong belief of the imperialist and Christian distorted worldview to dominate the earth and that humans are separate from nature is the culprit. What these super-rich called the “MASTERS OF MANKIND” are brandishing is the Darwinian’s theory on the Survival of the Fittest, being the strongest, the wisest, the reason why they have accumulated so much wealth and power and will defeat anyone who dares to go against them. All bow down to these Masters all over the world, be it the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the military, all governments all institutions, all universities, the profit-driven media and religious groups.
Indeed, despite our considerable achievements, it is now dawning upon us humans that our way of life is fatally flawed as manifested by the billions facing unimaginable sufferings, out of the enormous profit of a few. We must change our belief systems and our way of life. The truth is, in my interactions with concerned environmentalists, there is now an evolving consciousness that Darwin’s theory of Survival of the Fittest is flawed and must be debunked, a wrong concept that has given way to a roadmap of economic paradigm that has justified the gross inequities in the world where a few oligarchs are in control, that is, if “fittest” is equated to the strongest, the most aggressive who will defeat anyone who dare to challenge to dominate, That dictum only applies to a jungle-like existence like a hungry lion competing who is the one who will eat a cornered prey. That mindset controlling everything has worked for the beasts in a world where the name of the game is survival. It should not be the case now where life should be for love, kindness, compassion and service as human beings are embodied spirit, more spirit than body. By “fittest” now means the most loving, the most compassionate. Thus, debunk the object consciousness (form or ego) and go to the formless consciousness, the vast spaciousness. Maximize spiritual inner values to connect with the Formless Being called God and leap to that transcendental dimension where the Universal Intelligence governs. There is no need to live in that jungle-like existence anymore. The universe is unfolding so fast that there are so many things to do, to know, to discover and to explore, to know that humans are still evolving, a work in progress through consciousness. No need to prove who is the best but the only path is to be compassionate, to love in the spirit of oneness and never to dominate. When that happens, there will be a new earth – all for God’s greater glory!
