So with Christmas gone and the last of the celebrations of the year ahead of us here, what a great time to think of the year ahead and what we can take with us from the last year.
As I sit here with Daisy the beagle curled up and my lovely son opposite typing away also, studying for his first Oxford exams, It brings home to me how very lucky we are. No matter how we might think our life is tough in parts and precarious at times, we sit here in safety and with those that matter most to me in good heath.
You look around the world and see the destruction and suppression, hunger and cruelty, and it is but a stones throw from any of us. This time of year, the TV is full of appeals for money to save a child's life, to improve the health of others, to improve the life of animals, to prevent cruelty, to provide shelter etc.
It is impossible to give to all and even throwing money at these problems doesn't seem to be enough. We have these same problems decade after decade and who creates them - man himself of course. These are not problems inflicted by an outside force, but by the very decisions taken at every turn. If we are still facing the same problems in the 21st Century, then we really need to wake up.
All of us, I believe, have an inbuilt sense of what is right or wrong. We are never taught how to feel, so even if nurture plays a part, nature is there also and we learn a lot by how we feel. Empathy. We all know when greed and exploitation are our motive. We know when we are acting out of revenge and anger or doing an act of kindness.
Neglect of children and cruelty towards them is inexcusable. What defence can there be. It is not gifts that children need but the consistent love and protection of the very guardians/parents that have chosen to have this child. As adults we have the advantage of knowing the difficulties children face and how scary the world can seem to them, we have been there, they are yet to be adults and what sort of adults do we hope they become? Children are not just the responsibility of parents or guardians, we are all responsible for raising the next generation. What sort of example are we?
All around is excess in possessions and this can breed greed,envy & dissatisfaction. Imagine if this was an excess of pure love, the gap wouldn't need filling with gifts and to aspire to greater love has got to be better than aspiring to have more collateral in what ever form that collateral takes.
The way a nation treats it's animals is indeed a mark of its civility. They are a test of our innate knowing of right or wrong. I read an horrific story this morning of a couple who tied there dog upside down as a punishment. The dog was so distressed and disturbed, it had to be put down. In what mind would inflicting pain and cruelty onto any animal be considered ok? This is not just our pets of course, and after all, you don't have to have a pet, but it is also the way we treat livestock in our food supply.
Those that campaign for animal welfare do a superb job highlighting the world wide problems with the way we treat animals destined for our table. Surely the meat we want to eat we would rather had been fed well, treated well in life and at the time of death. I'm not promoting vegetarianism, but rightful respect for all life.
Then there are those that have an eye to our environment and put themselves at risk because they care so passionately about saving the planet. The very home in which we all rely, but seem to turn a blind eye when it is being stripped of all that we need to survive. These people deserve our support and not viewed as battling hopeless causes - without their actions, we could be in a much worse state. They are not afraid to take on the corporations and neither are they doing it for their own satisfaction, but for the generations they and us are yet to meet and beyond. For an outcome they may not see materialise in their lifetime, but out of sheer love of the planet. Greenpeace of course are the biggest movement in this and we all owe them more than we might ever realise.
Exploitation on many levels leads to poverty. Stripping assets, resources, taking possession, invasion - and what for? Exploitation at the hands of governments, corporations, and on a local scale, unscrupulous beings.
2014 I guess is not going to be the year to take your eyes of the likes of Monsanto and the likes of Bayer, GSK, Merck, as they struggle to keep the reins of power and exploitation in their hands
How to gain at the expense of others, cruelty, domination and neglect of care to those around us, whether we know them or not.
What if 2014 saw the reverse of this, when faced with the decision of cruelty or kindness, the option was always kindness. What if tolerance over intolerance, what if mutual support triumphed over domination and what is we stopped with our constant need to have more stuff.
It is never too late to have a new paradigm. Nature has a way of winning over in the end and she doesn't care how she does it - better we work with her than against her.
If in the process of continuing to live as we do, we wipe ourselves out - she isn't going to care. Nature doesn't favour one species over another. We are all here at her tolerance.
So when a festive season comes round that has no need for appeals to mop up our disgraces to each other, that really would be one to celebrate and the quicker that time comes the better.
To quote the philosopher, Edmund Burke 1729-1797
'Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little'
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