Psychicbabble^(sm)

     Introduction

     Greetings loyal readers! How nice for us that the whole Y2K insanity (or y2caca, as one astute friend of mine terms it) turned out to be a fizzle. It could have been a real nightmare, but the doomsayers serve their purpose by scaring people into taking the problem seriously and spending serious money on fixing it before the actual rollover. Now we can turn our mind to other prophecies to glean their meanings.

     Floods, Earthquakes, Natural Disasters – What Do They Really Mean?

     What a perfect description of the current state of world affairs! The gap between the world's rich and poor is greater than at any time in history. Why? Because the rich, spurred by selfishness and avarice beyond measure, continue to steal more and more from the poor. They continue to lie to themselves that somehow they deserve to exploit others, that somehow they deserve to hoard and waste the world's resources while the lowly masses continue to suffer. Why do the world's wealthiest people continue to exploit the world's poorest? Because they can. But how is it that they can? Because they lie to themselves so successfully.

     Here's an example from New York City's back yard. The eastern end of Long Island is home to some of the country's – if not the world's – wealthiest people. Wall Street executives, celebrities from music, television and Hollywood, politicians – some of the world's most successful people have second or third or fourth homes on some of the east coast's most beautiful beaches and woodlands. Driving out in this part of the world one cannot help but be struck by the magnificent gardens surrounding these palatial estates. And who maintains these beautiful gardens? Would it surprise you to learn that these beautiful verdant plantings are maintained by Colombian immigrants earning three dollars an hour? That's right – three dollars an hour in a country where the federal government mandated a minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. So here we have some of the world's wealthiest people exploiting some of the world's poorest by paying them 40% less than minimum wage.

     How do you suppose these wealthy people justify blatant exploitation of penniless immigrants? If I had not heard the explanation out of the mouth of an eastern Long Island resident I would not have believed it myself, but here is the answer I received in response to my question on the subject. "Well, if we didn't give these people jobs at $3 an hour they wouldn't have jobs at all." I looked this person straight in the eye and said "Everyone deserves a living wage." Of course I received no response to this rejoinder. What could this person say? What a pathetic rationalization for exploitation of the world's poorest folk! One wonders how these rich folks sleep at night.

     So what does exploitation of the poor by the rich have to do with the Earth changes we are now experiencing? Why is the world suddenly undergoing a huge increase in earthquakes, floods, typhoons and natural disasters of all kinds? The answer is that the Earth changes are here to forcibly throw the rich off the poor's back, since they so stubbornly refuse to remove themselves. And how are the Earth changes going to achieve that?

     First of all, the Y2K insanity had one incredibly beneficial outcome. Those of us who have worked in and around information technology for many years are well aware of the pervasiveness of computers and computing. We not only know how important computer and information technology is to most businesses, but we also understand how computers are linked to one another in a variety of ways. The Y2K hype educated average people to the ubiquity of computer hardware and software in modern life, both locally and globally. For the first time the average person understood that the banking system really could collapse – something the average American would never have believed just one year ago.

     Now let's take the analysis one step farther. The present Earth changes are alerting the scientific community to possibilities their dogma has not previously allowed them to consider. The rains that demolished so many Venezuelan hillsides just a few months ago came down in sheets for days and days – reminiscent of the Biblical description of the great flood, as well as other "great flood" stories in non-Biblical cultures. The scientific community has long ridiculed the idea of cataclysmic geology (major, overnight changes), claiming there is no evidence to support it. What a foolish notion! The fact is that abundant evidence for cataclysmic geology exists on this planet. Our scientists have not discovered it because it lies underneath our world's oceans. Any self-respecting geologist can tell you that the world's tallest mountains are underwater. Such souls can also tell you that many of our planet's currently exposed land masses were once under water, and that many underwater land masses were once exposed.

     So now we're getting used to the idea of cataclysmic geology. That's a good start. Global warming could start another ice age. Consider paleontological evidence of flash-frozen animals. Imagine a glacier moving so fast that it could freeze animals in mid-meal! Well, it has happened before and it can certainly happen again if we don't pay attention to our planet's needs first and multinational corporate profit second.

     Now consider this. As the earth changes accelerate and more and more natural disasters take place around the world what will happen to the global insurance industry? You guessed exactly right – it will collapse. And when the insurance industry collapses it will take the financial services industry right along with it. How can this be? The financial services and insurance industries have for years been legally barred from participating in each other's businesses, although recent legislative action has been taken to remove the remaining legal barriers. The fact is that these two industries have been illegally in bed with each other for generations. So when the insurance industry collapses – poof! -- it will take the financial services industry along with it. The global banking system will collapse. The Y2K problem sensitized people to the fact that this could happen. The coming Earth changes will make it a reality.

     And Now for the Good News

     It is obvious that the vast majority of rich people will not on their own develop compassion for poor people or a genuine concern for the welfare of our environment and future generations. However, natural disasters will increasingly force people to develop compassion and to help one another. The signs of these changes are already upon us.

     Consider the situation between Greece and Turkey. These two countries – both incredibly similar in culture – have been mortal enemies for generations. Sometimes it seems as if the only reason for island of Cyprus to exist is to serve as a staging area for hostilities between these two nations. But then some strange things happened in 1999. Turkey was hit with a huge earthquake, causing enormous devastation both in terms of human suffering and property damage. Then a few months later Turkey was hit with another quake. The suffering was horrible. And guess who came to the Turks' aid – the Greeks! Yes, these ancient enemies have had their own experiences with the horrors of earthquakes, the their Turkish neighbors' suffering moved them to send aid. The Turks decided that maybe the Greeks weren't such bad people after all. Imagine – centuries of conflict being wiped out by a few horrible disasters that enabled ancient enemies to have compassion for each other due to ordinary people's suffering.

     Now let's examine other areas of the globe where culturally similar people have been waging ancient wars against their neighbors for reasons long forgotten by both parties. Northern Ireland is a good example. People who speak the same language, listen to the same music, eat the same food and who all claim to be Christians have been killing each other over ancient hatreds nursed and nurtured for generations. Now there is peace in Northern Ireland. The Arabs and the Israelis are another example. These two people are so closely related they claim a common ancestor. It is physically impossible to distinguish between Arabs and Jews simply by looking at them. These two cultures have been warring for millennia, yet as I write this these two ancient foes are sitting in a convention center in the West Virginia panhandle discussing peace. Israel is even considering returning stolen land to Syria – something most people considered unthinkable not six months ago.

     What Happens Next?

     The Earth changes are forcing people the world over to see each other as just that – people. We have been socialized the world over to view other cultures as inferior, as animals, as enemies. But the truth is we are all people. We have a duty to show compassion to one another, to cooperate and to help each other survive. The capitalist, market philosophy is based on competition, on winners and losers, on subjugation and exploitation. The dysfunctionality of this model is becoming more and more apparent with each new natural disaster. We, the peoples of the world, are being increasingly called upon to have compassion for each other, to cooperate and to make the world a more hospital, friendly and harmonious place.

     The United States, as supplier of half of the world's arms, has consistently advanced a foreign policy based on the use of force – especially deadly force – for domination and control. As more and more of the world lacks for the basics of food, clothing and shelter public opinion will turn more and more away from spending money on instrumentalities of death in favor of instrumentalities of life.

     Viewed in this light, the Earth changes are indeed a blessing. If the forces controlling the world's economy had chosen to value worker's rights and the environment we could have been spared these ghastly events. But since they have stubbornly refused to get off our backs, nature is responding with a loving and cleansing force so we can reshape this planet in a more human, loving and responsible manner.

Copyright 2000 Marcy J. Gordon. All rights reserved. The author wants you to know you are free to copy and distribute this article for noncommercial purposes, provided you reproduce it in its entirety and credit the author. For quotation permission, please contact the author at mgordon@pipeline.com.

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