Toxic Myth
Toxic myths, such as limitlessness and individualism, are destroying human habitat and spirit.
Myths are the
road maps of
the Mind.
What if our
maps no
longer make
sense?
Myths are the
road maps of
the Mind.
What if our
maps no
longer make
sense?
Limitlessness is scary.
Scientifically speaking there is no such thing as a limitless system. A system designed for limitlessness is a system designed for collapse. Think Andre the Giant when you think of limitless growth. A human body can't grow indefinitely and neither can an economy. Limits to Growth by Denise and Donella Meadows and Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows are two excellent books on the subject.
Watershed, 2009.
Watershed was cut late winter of 2009 after the housing bubble burst in 2008. I was hopeful at the time that our nation could learn from the experience, that it would be a watershed moment in time when our corporate-driven, unsustainable limitless growth economy would come under greater scrutiny and new patterns formed.
I was wrong.
CEO's, politicians, and the media that echos them, started scrambling back up the precipice. "Too big to fail" gave blank checks to the robber barons operating out of jet planes and ignoring national good. Wealth consolidation, high risk investing shouldered by the 99%, high speed trading still threatens our shrinking middle class skittering forth another precipice.
In the Seed of Destruction, There is Salvation, 2009.
Limitlessness is scary.
Limitless growth economy, limitless resource exploitation, limitless wealth consolidation is powering a train that has the blind inertia to carry humanity to a future where survival and civilization is difficult to maintain.
Limitlessness causes widespread suffering and anxiety. No system, economic or otherwise, can grow indefinitely before it breaks down and collapses. According to Donella Meadows, author of Living Systems Theory and Limits of Growth, our growth based economy was doomed from conception. I find comfort in this.
In the Seed of Destruction There Is Salvation illustrates the fragility of this moment. Incorporating ancient mythic symbolism, the snake is a symbol of life's eternal regenerative power, shedding old skin and creating anew. The green seed holds the old earth goddess being pumped dry to fuel the conveyor belt of material goods and waste that feeds the bloated and over sexed Ogress of Consumerism.
Individualism is overrated.
Individualism is married to our American identity and rooted in our pioneering spirit. Individualism, taken to its extreme, has a dark side which often leads to isolation of body and mind. We are social animals, and if left in isolation for too long, die.
Our economy is no longer based on geography. Most people no longer do business in the community where they live. They go from home to car to work without much interaction, while many people's jobs have intangible results and links to the people or companies they serve.
In leisure, our individual hand held devises are amplifying mirrors of individual perspective that kill people's ability to empathize with others. Ironically, studies on the aging brain show that those who are open to new perspectives and regularly place themselves in social situations are less likely to suffer from dementia and Alzheimer's. It is interesting to note that the age-adjusted death rate from Alzheimer's disease increased by 39 percent from 2000 through 2010 in the United States.
In the month of March 2009, there were over 50 different incidence of mass murders preceding suicide. I attribute this to epidemic levels of isolation and hopelessness. Broken-hearted and sick of brain, people are so wildly desperate to make an impact on others they kill those around them before ending their own anonymous, miserable, disconnected lives.
The community of Alger, in 2008, suffered when six people were killed and two injured at the hands of a mentally ill 28 year old man, Isaac Zamora.
There is a mental health crisis in America.
Our economy is no longer based on geography. Most people no longer do business in the community where they live. They go from home to car to work without much interaction, while many people's jobs have intangible results and links to the people or companies they serve.
In leisure, our individual hand held devises are amplifying mirrors of individual perspective that kill people's ability to empathize with others. Ironically, studies on the aging brain show that those who are open to new perspectives and regularly place themselves in social situations are less likely to suffer from dementia and Alzheimer's. It is interesting to note that the age-adjusted death rate from Alzheimer's disease increased by 39 percent from 2000 through 2010 in the United States.
In the month of March 2009, there were over 50 different incidence of mass murders preceding suicide. I attribute this to epidemic levels of isolation and hopelessness. Broken-hearted and sick of brain, people are so wildly desperate to make an impact on others they kill those around them before ending their own anonymous, miserable, disconnected lives.
The community of Alger, in 2008, suffered when six people were killed and two injured at the hands of a mentally ill 28 year old man, Isaac Zamora.
There is a mental health crisis in America.