Breaking the Spell of Our Cultural Imprisonment

By Christina Lavers | Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

What would the world look like if instead of living our lives according to how we are told we ‘should’ be, we were all free to follow the deep callings of our hearts? Diehard capitalists would recoil at the thought and insist that civilization would come to a halt. But would everyone really stop working and choose to spend their days lounging around doing nothing? I don’t think so. We humans are curious, industrious creatures who are naturally driven by a passion to explore, learn and create.

We currently live in a mad world that is based on fear, greed and scarcity. It is considered completely normal for people to spend the majority of their waking lives toiling in jobs they hate. Economic inequality has reached a point of staggering absurdity where many people slaving away in full-time jobs can barely even meet the basic survival needs of their families, while others lounge around on $200 million yachts and have ridiculously decadent luxury homes around the world.

The amount of human energy and resources that go into designing, making, promoting, and distributing cheap, useless products in this consumerist society is phenomenal. Then to add to the madness, these shoddy, chemically altered, often disposable items are quickly discarded as waste, increasing the huge amount of toxic pollution generated by this lifestyle. Then there are the ongoing unnecessary wars that have shameful costs at both a human and economic level. If we continue much farther down this road of outrageous consumption and disregard for the sanctity of life we will inevitably end up poisoning the planet and all its inhabitants, which of course includes us! If this isn’t the height of madness I don’t know what is!

Although most would agree that the existing system is unsustainable and far from ideal, those who dare to imagine a better world are often labelled dreamers and idealists, and ridiculed for suggesting that alternatives are possible. “It’s just the way things are. Make the best of it, ‘cause it’s never going to change.” These are common responses, usually given by those who are relatively comfortable and have heavily invested in the current system. Consumed by the onslaught of demands required to just stay afloat, so many of us are distracted away from our true power and potential.

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Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat http://philosophers-stone.co.uk