The ecological twins have arrived

The Eco Twins are upon us, forcing us to reevaluate our attitudes and correct our assumptions. In popular lingo they are at bat in the bottom of the ninth with no outs and the score right now is tied. Who are these twins? They are the ever-present natural powers of ecology and social economy. Ecology and economy: what is its basic meaning? Both words are derived from the Greek: Environmentally friendly means home; heavyfrom which the word “logic”, order or arrangement is derived; not my it implies management. So ecology designates the order or relationship of the parts to each other and to the whole house. And the economy deals with the management of the home. Obviously, we humans with all our sophisticated technology are failing in both areas. The most pessimistic argue that we have already turned the corner and we cannot avoid disaster. The most optimistic contender that humans still have a chance to alleviate the utter disaster by acting now. Not tomorrow but now. we will do it?

The first step is to let go of our arrogance based on the false notion that change is progress and improvement is desirable. If that were correct, then of course we would not be facing such a catastrophe. A specific type of technology is not inherently superior or inferior to other technologies. Herein lies another level of our modern arrogance: contemporary technology is superior to all that has come before. A false premise is that the latest or newest is the best. And of course, if everyone is making it, using it, what’s wrong with it? We believe we should help those less fortunate who don’t have the latest iPod, computer game, or gadget. Should we force these products on them so they can be like us higher ups? Yes, the greater the pride, the harder the fall. And what will these ‘less fortunate’ give for the latest gadgets? Well, the only thing they have: their natural resources and their social and cultural identity.

A historical example will clarify the idea. Many cultures populated the Americas in pre-contact times. Some date from twelve thousand a. C. and others may be even older. These civilizations were just as brilliant and sophisticated as those in other parts of the world. In the United States, the most significant cultures were the Chacoans in the Colorado Plateau region and the Mound Builders in the Midwest and South, centered along the Mississippi and its tributaries.

Many archaeologists have proposed that the Chaqueños developed the largest civilization in northern Mexico. From the mid-800s to the 1200s, Chaco Canyon, carved out by the Chaco River flowing into the San Juan River, encompassed eleven large settlements containing buildings, some four stories high, with hundreds of rooms. The large Chaco houses and kivas used five different styles of stone masonry for wall structures built with sandstone. In addition to the eleven large settlements, many small farms were scattered throughout the canyon. Hundreds of kilometers of wide roads that led to the peripheral districts started from the center of Chaco. The Chacoans devised an extraordinary celestial calendar that revealed exact knowledge of the solar, lunar, and stellar cycles. Buildings and roads were aligned to mark the pace of the heavenly movements.

Many other stone settlements with homes for hundreds were built throughout the Colorado Plateau region. Known ruins are at Mesa Verde near the Mancos River, Aztec on the Animas River, Hovenweep north of the San Juan River, and Wupatki west of the Little Colorado River.

However, the residents eventually left their settlements, and we are not sure of their reasons; The weather definitely played a part. After a twenty-year drought in the late 1000s, a more severe drought, lasting fifty years, hit the area in the mid-1100s. Another drought occurred during the last twenty-five years of the 1200s. Dry weather conditions, more or less severe, continued for another two hundred years or so. Drought has brought down many civilizations.

Contemporary Puebloans living in the Colorado Plateau region are descendants of those who built the great settlements. And the Puebloan people have learned from their ancestors the art of surviving in a rather dry environment. But what about the citizens of Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and other Southwestern metropolitan areas? Will they learn in time to prevent disasters?

At the bottom of it all, the nexus of our existential condition is that the Echo Twins do not care about any of us humans, whether we are superiors or not. Our species is not more important than any other, perhaps even less. Do we really understand the thinking of the Eco Twins? Do we have a direct line for them? Are we your friends? What is our role as humans in the ongoing cosmic drama of existence?

We talk about a global village, a global market, a global playground here in spaceship land. Too often we forget that the earth has limited resources and many of them are about to run out. The time has come to borrow and apply ideas and perspectives from all human cultures, past and present.

We can start with our sense of self, an individual living as part of a community; we are both single and online. From this awareness grows self-responsibility. What we do affects us personally and the entire community. Native Americans speak of “all our kin.” We are all related: everything, animal, vegetable and mineral, is linked to each other. We are all made of the same chemical matter, like everything in the universe. For those of us who reside on spaceship Earth with its physical limits, we will survive together or not. It is true that some of our ancestral microorganisms, from which we evolved, can survive even if the most complex creatures die out.

Reality has areas, shadows, that we cannot see and of which we have little or no knowledge. Ancient peoples knew about these places and recognized their existence, even if their understanding from the modern point of view seems mainly fanciful. Today, scientists who study the cosmos claim that most of the universe is in the shadows, unobservable and unintelligible dark matter that fills the universe. Ancient peoples, albeit without our contemporary technology, had ways of connecting with the shadows and accepting them as an important part of their reality. These anomalous forms of knowledge, considered irrational or superstitious by some, have been used for thousands of years. If they are recognized at all, they are considered a personal gift of mental and physical power. When a society rejects large areas of knowledge as false and demotes those with extraordinary forms of knowledge, can it survive with the Echo Twins rising and bringing down the portal? Those interested in alternative ways of knowing should read Elizabeth L. Mayer’s book. extraordinary knowledgethat investigates these inexplicable mental powers from a scientific point of view.

Tech geeks who put their faith in a technological solution should remember their responsibility for the mess we find ourselves in. We all need to participate in cleaning and repairing: it is our well-being that is at stake.

We are ending a twenty-eight year business cycle that began in 1981. Based on Reaganomics, which some had called voodoo economics in the 1980s, the global marketplace is in disarray. Its center is filled with foolish desires fueled by greed. A player’s charisma has engulfed the marketplace, casting a cloak of reckless judgment over our leaders. If the collapse were not so serious, it would become a popular comedy on the cosmic stage. So-called rational creatures built and ran the largest economic superstructure the world has ever seen. It was thought to be natural, and although it would have its ups and downs, it would last indefinitely without serious damage. Famous economic prophets were stunned, confessing their mistakes, when the system fell apart.

Nature has laws, limits and regulations. Economic leaders have forgotten this basic fact. They were confused by the player’s charisma – luck was on his side. The Twins have now arrived and are confirming the laws of nature. Nature has its own cycles, and our human affairs are dependent on its flow. An interesting side note is that the twenty-eighth cycle is based on the lunar cycle. Maybe the moon is making her say.

Indigenous societies have discerned methods and techniques to stay within nature’s guidelines and balance their lifestyle to fit harmoniously into their sacred place. Can we moderns learn from them and develop a society that does the same?

Using a form of stereovision, we can see the ways in which the Twins are working together. A severe drought is taking place in large parts of the country, particularly in the regions with the highest population growth. These are the regions where home values ​​are falling and foreclosures are rising. The population has exceeded its limits and the Twins are pressing from two sides. We have excessively polluted the planet, destroying the air, water and land. We now have an excellent opportunity to abandon harmful industries and create green industries, transforming a dying planet into a garden of life. The choice is ours and the responsibility.

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