Iconic American thinker Joanna Macy highlights "The Great Awakening the Planet Needs" in a beautiful interview with Melvin McLeod of Lion's Roar this week. With her typical wisdom and foresight, Macy make a similar case to that of environmentalists Gary Snyder and Paul Hawken: it is not fear or blame that will solve our planet's problems. If we are going to save our planet, it must be out of love. In Macy's words:
Thank you for reading.
Macy makes another provocative prediction in the piece:(W)e are far vaster than we ever imagined ourselves to be. This crumbles the walls of the little separate ego and moves naturally into seeing with new eyes. Then you see with the eyes of an undefended being, intimately interrelated with this incredible living planet. You see that you’re part of everything.Compassion—literally to 'suffer with'—asks you to not be afraid to be part of this world. When you are that wide open, you see that the grief you feel is just the other side of love. You only mourn what you love.
To be honest, it looks like we’re nearing the end of corporate capitalism. People and ecosystems the world over are already suffering from its massive dysfunctions. Within another generation or two, all of us, regardless of our current level of comfort or privilege, will be struggling to build a future through the rubble of a failed political economy.I have been noticing the same trends that Macy identifies. Strange as it seems, I see the tragedy of COVID-19 as having the potential to transform our culture in many profound ways. If this does happen, there are important questions that we in the U.S. must face and answer honestly. Do we allow fear and blame to lead us down a path to either fascist or communist authoritarianism? Or do we choose a path of Compassionate Capitalism in which our government becomes what Lincoln so eloquently and beautiful described: of, for, and by the people?
Thank you for reading.
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