My friends sometimes tell me I'm obsessed with things coming to an end. Maybe they're right. I've been a psychotherapist for 44 years now. During that time I've treated more than 30,000 people. Most of them come to me because they are miserable and they want the pain to end. When they first come to see me, they usually have only a vague idea of what is wrong. Many are looking for a quick fix so that they can return to the life they perceive as "normal."
We are facing the most important transition in the history of humanity and we have an important choice to make. "People don't seem to realize that it is not like we're on the Titanic and we have to avoid the iceberg," says Rob Watson, CEO and Chief Scientist of The EcoTech International Group. "We've already hit the iceberg. The water is rushing in down below. But some people just don't want to leave the dance floor; others don't want to give up on the buffet. But if we don't make the hard choices, nature will make them for us."
Hope on the Horizon
Most of us recognize that something is terribly wrong. Financial systems are collapsing. The glaciers are melting. The housing market is in chaos. Food prices are increasing. Millions of people are sick and starving. Millions more are sick and overweight. Rates of depression and suicide are at all-time highs. We don't have enough money to fix our roads or educate our children. We have more than enough money to build new prisons. We get tired of fighting one war and rather than finding peace we look for another place to send troops. The list could go on and on and we still wouldn't have covered all the indicators of decline.
But just as there are indicators that an old system is going under, we also see hope on the horizon. We have a new President who is creative, intelligent, and committed to change. More and more people are giving up on the old economy and seeking new ways to create real value. As David Korten, author of the book, Agenda for a New Economy, says, "Spending trillions of dollars trying to fix Wall Street is a fool's errand. Our hope lies not with the Wall Street phantom-wealth machine, but rather with the real-world economy of Main Street." Here's an example of what one "Main Street" community is going. My wife and I moved to Willits, California 15 years ago and began to network with others who wanted to support each other in this small, creative community of 5,000 people. In 2004 we began to address Peak Oil and Climate Change as a community and started WELL the Willits Economic LocaLization) network. Think Global, Act LocalThis year we are focusing on "food" and food security. We have created a local currency backed by something real, healthy, and tasty. Unlike the $10 bill with the picture of Alexander Hamilton, our first Secretary of the Treasury, on it, which is backed by ... not a lot these days -- my Mendo $10 bill is backed by my choice of one of the following:
11 pounds of pinto beans 11 pounds of brown rice 11 pounds of white rice 17 pounds of triticale.The whole community has come together to buy food in bulk, create a storage facility, and make good food available to all those who want it. Even the president of the local bank is pictured holding up a handful of Mendo Food Futures saying, "This is real money," he tells us. It feels good to be carrying "money" around that really means something, is locally supported, and benefits the local community.We are at a turning point in human history. We can continue remain on the old Ship of State, singing and dancing while we go under, or we can get off the Ship and begin building local, living economies. What indicators do you see that tell you the Ship is sinking? What do you see that tells you that we can make the transition to a better world? What choices are you making in your life? Don't wait too long.Come visit me at ww.MenAlive.com and receive your free E-newsletter on how to survive and thrive in difficult times.
