Someone asked me to comment on the recent oil spill in the gulf. I would like to comment on more than that because the oil spill is symptomatic of a much larger problem. The problem has to do with clear thinking and values or lack of them. My comments will be from the perspective of career choice and human values.
When thinking about a career it is important to not only think of ourselves and how we will benefit. Certainly you want to choose a career or volunteer activity that you love and do well. You also want a career that will benefit you and your loved ones, but it is important to think beyond yourself. If your work is destructive to others or the planet is that success? I think that success includes human values such as integrity, compassion, and reverence for life.
There is nothing wrong with making a very good living, but making money should not be at the cost of human values. When money becomes your master it is easy to make choices that benefit you temporarily, but at the cost of pain to others. Conversely, if your choices are guided by human values, wisdom, and thinking things through to see the big picture, then you will be the master of money instead of the reverse.
Many people today are making choices based on money and self-interest first, without concern for the planet or others. Others include the animals and many species that are dying in large numbers.
We are all interconnected and interdependent. Someone might ask, “who cares if the bees are dying?” Well, without bees we will not have fruits and vegetables to eat. Animals that depend on plants to live will die. We will have to live on gruel and according to Einstein we would die in a few years. Bees and other species are part of a whole ecosystem and they have their role to play. The same is true for the other species that are dying in polluted oceans, rivers and marshes.
Many scientists believe that humanity has reached a critical fork in the road. There are now two diverging roads from which to choose. One is the low road on which most of humanity is traveling. This is a road devoid of human values and wisdom and it may lead to the destruction of our planet and ourselves or send us back to the dark ages. We are facing major problems such as weapons of mass destruction which could be used, global warming and environmental problems that poison the very air we breathe, economic issues, destruction of our oceans and species, and more.
These problems can also be considered as maps of possibilities. This is the other road and choice at the fork in the road. Opportunity can be the flip side of crisis. We can create careers and volunteer activities to tackle these problems. We can develop leaders and people who care not only about making money and about their own welfare, but who also care about our planet and others.
Each of us can make our own choice of which road we want to travel. If enough people choose the high road guided by human values and clear thinking, then we can create a better world for ourselves, for other people and for other species.
