Language and Identity Essay Example for Free

Language and Identity Essay Who am I? What is it that defines that personality? Anzaldua argues in her essay that the language is what defines one’s identity. Language is indeed an important component of culture, and culture is known to be a crucial definer of identity. People use language to connect to their identities and communicating their realities and values to themselves and to the world around them†¦ In other words, language is important because people use it to express their thoughts and beliefs. â€Å"People evolve a language in order to describe and thus control their circumstances† (Baldwin 109). Consequently, language does not necessarily define identity as much as identity defines language. People decide on what language to use in order to communicate with their communities according to their identities. One’s identity defines and regulates the use of language and not the contrary. People speak different languages; this difference is used to identify and distinguish between different people, different ethnicities and races. The human need to belong to a group makes them abide to a specific language and dialect that represents their specific community and differentiate it from the rest. Language is what connects people to their communities; they are directly connected to people who speak the same language as them. Anzaldua argues that â€Å"Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic, I am my language† (Anzaldua 136), which strongly supports the fact that language is used to ensure that people belong to group. Talking the same language and using the same expressions defines to which group people belong to, it also evaluates the truthfulness of the affiliation. â€Å"Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself†, which basically states that language shapes one’s identity. This statement however, does not apply to all situations and communities and is certainly not constant. There are people who cannot identify to a specific group but rather to a variety of communal affiliations. Most people speak multiple languages; each language connects them to a specific culture and group of people. Tan clearly mentions in her story that she had to speak two different languages to her Asian mom who had her own made up English. Tan relates to both her Asian descent and American belongings by using her mom’s made up English to speak with her mom, and uses the proper English to give lectures and speak to most Americans. On the same grounds, Anzaldua learned through her life experiences to frequently use multiple types of English, and many other Dialects of proper Spanish and Mexican Spanish. She uses each language to communicate, connect and affiliate to specific people according to their background. This proves that the assumption that language defines culture and identity fails. What happens to the people who speak many languages, do they not get the benefit and pride of belonging to a certain community? Rather the contrary, they belong to multiple communities and they choose which group they want to communicate with and with which language. People have the ability to switch from a language to another to be part of a group and this supports the idea that identity defines and shapes language, and not the opposite. Language is used as a way to identify with people, but it is also used to distinguish between them. People use language to differentiate between people and associate them to a specific culture and community according to the language they speak. America is known for having a diverse population, and people are identified based on their language; Mexicans can be recognized to be Mexicans because of their accents even though they might be Caucasian. Tan argues that her mom spoke broken English that limited the people’s perception of her capacities. â€Å"People in department stores, banks, restaurants, did not take her seriously† (Tan 144)which strictly proves that people who do speak the proper language of the specific group they happen to be in generates a different treatment than that a true English speaker. Baldwin denounces that black Americans are treated differently than white Americans because they speak English with a different accent. When speaking â€Å"Black English, you have confessed your parents, your youth, your school, your salary, your self-esteem, and, alas, your future† (Baldwin 110) according to Baldwin. People associate language with background which then leads to choose to treat that specific person a talk to him a way they associate with the people who speak that exact same language. In this case, for the minority, it is language that assumes their behavior, but for the other dominant group, it is identity that shapes behavior. It is their identity that tells them that a specific language must be allocated with that specific type of person and then treat them in the way it is conventions set. People speak a specific language because it is in their identity to do so, and they choose to treat people differently according to language. This allows me to conclude that identity defines language, and language triggers behavior. Language is a major crucial component of our everyday life; it is used to differentiate between different categories of people, connect with one each group, and then choose how they will address those people. People argue that it is language that defines which type of person you are and shapes your identity. The arguments and the authors I quoted obviously proved the contrary, and stated that it is one’s identity that sets up and decides on the language used. References: Anzaldua, Gloria.  «How to Tame a Wild Tongue. » Nancy R Comley, David Hamilton, Carl H Klaus, Robert Scholes, Nancy Sommers, Jason T ougaw. Fields of Reading. New york : Bedford/ St. Martins , 2010. 131-141. Baldwin, James.  «If black english Isnt a language, Then Tell Me, What is. » Nancy R Comley, David Hamilton, Carl H Klaus, Robert Scholes, Nancy Sommers, Jason Tougaw. Fields of Reading. Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. 109-113. Tan, Amy.  «Mother Tongue. » Nancy R Comley, David Hamilton, Carl H Klaus, Robert Scholes, Nancy Sommers, Jason Tougaw. Fields of Reading. New York : Bedford/St. Matins, 2010. 142-147.

The Youth And Islam Theology

The Youth And Islam Theology A man came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam and said: My camel starts crying whenever i go into my bed for sleep, i do not know the reason behind it and i am very much worried. Holy Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam asked him if he offers his Namaz e Isha. The man answered: No!I do not. Our Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam told the man that your camel cries because he sees the fire under your bed when you go into it without offering your Namaz. The man offered his Namaz e Isha and that night, his camel did not cry anymore.[Muslim] This incident shows the importance of Namaz e Isha and there are many incidents which tell us about the importance of every Namaz. But today, people have forgotten their religion. They feel shame of acting upon it. They have restless nights and joyless life because they do not follow their religion. Especially our youth is going to the very wrong path, who has the responsibility of the nation on their shoulders. It is a ve ry terrible condition to be sight.

Confidentiality of Medical Information :: HIPAA Act

The law does not give permission to the health care professionals to disclose the medical information of the patients. It is the right of a patient to have his or her personal identifiable information to be confidential. This medical information is suppose to only be available to the physician of record as well as other necessary health care and insurance personal. Confidentiality of patient was protected by federal statute, as of 2003. Passing of federal regulations which was the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was facilitated by the requirement of having privacy as well as protection of personal records and data in an electronic medical records environment and third party insurance payers. The meaning of patient confidentiality is that personal and medical information that are provided to the providers of health care cannot be disclosed to others not unless the patient has provided authorization for the release. In fact permission is not supposed to be granted to health care professionals to disclose the patient’s medical information. This is because there could be professional or personal problems by disclosing the medical information of the patients for patients depends on the physicians in keeping private their medical information, American Psychological Association (2003). Normally it becomes difficult for medical records to be completely sealed up. The greatest factor that affects confidentiality is when clinicians turn to share medical information as case studies. In any case such data happens to be published in professional journals, then the patient’s identity is never divulged and the entire data that identifies the patient become either eliminated or changed. However, if at all the confidentiality is breached, the patient may have the right of suing, British Medical Association (2008). Another greatest threat to medical privacy takes place since many of the medical bills are settled through a particular health insurance, which can be private or public, Radford, Roger, (2002). In this occasion it becomes very hard for the medical information to be confidential. There is viewing of the health records occasionally by just not physicians and their staffs only but as well medical laboratories, employees of insurance companies, researchers, public health insurance and a lot of others. In any case an employer is providing health insurance; the employee files may then be accessed by the employer and designated employees. The requirement of the 1996, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is that every organizations and professionals to guard the privacy of their customers and patients, Carter P.

Traditional Health Care Practices in Africa Essay -- cure and prevent

Traditional healing refers to a set of practices passed down through generations which intend to cure and prevent disease. In short, traditional medicine is the practice of health care based on traditional philosophy and the use of traditional medicine. In Africa, it presents as a holistic health care strategy which relies on an accumulation of knowledge of herbs and remedies which include plants, insects, and parts of animals. Traditional African healing is intertwined with traditional religions and spirituality. In Africa, traditional healing is administered by two different types of practitioners: sangoma (also called ngoma)—spiritual healers and diviners— and inyanga—herbalists. Although Africa is a continent of diverse cultures and tribes, traditional healers such as these exist across continent, providing 80% of the care for the population. From this information, it is evident that traditional healing is a important practice in the experience of a modern Af rican. Inyanga and sangoma perform different functions, treating different types of ailments. Inyanga are usually consulted for problems that are a result of a natural misfortune, such as routine illness or injury. They will treat the ailment with a traditional remedy made from medicinal herbs or mixtures of animal parts. Although anyone who wishes to, may become and inyanga, approximately 90% are male. Generally, a man wishing to become an inyanga will apprentice himself to a practicing inyanga before opening his own shop. An inyanga may also provide preventative medicines as well as remedies meant to bring about good luck. Sangoma, on the other hand, treat the spiritual. When an unknown problem occurs, a sangoma is consulted to divine the source. Unlike inyanga, in or... ...journal 74, no. 8, 2007. Kale, Rajendra. "Traditional healers in South Africa: A parallel healthcare system," British Medical Journal, International edition. 310, no. 6988, 1995. Nelms, Linda W and Gorski, June. "The Role of the African Traditional Healer in Women's Health,† Journal of Transcultural Nursing : Official Journal of the Transcultural Nursing Society / Transcultural Nursing Society. 17, 2006. Hall, James. Sangoma: my odyssey into the spirit world of Africa New York: Putnam, 1994. Berends, Willem. "African Traditional Healing Practices and the Christian Community," Missiology 21, no. 3, 1993. Janzen, John M. "Self-Presentation and Common Cultural Structures in Ngoma Rituals of Southern Africa," Journal of Religion in Africa. 25, 1995. McCord, Margaret. The Calling of Katie Makanya: a memoir of South Africa. Cape Town: David Philip Publishers, 1995.

Driving Miss Daisy Essay -- essays research papers

Driving Miss Daisy This is a report on the story "Driving Miss Daisy". The main characters are Daisy Werthan, Boolie Werthan, and Hoke Colborn. Alfred Uhry wrote the play. It started in nineteen forty-eight and ended in nineteen seventy-three. It’s a play based on a female Jew, which is Daisy Werthan, which passes the ages of seventy-two to ninety-seven years old, and a black chauffeur named Hoke. Daisy’s son Boolie is stuck in between Daisy’s prejudice and Hoke. Here goes. Daisy showed her first type of prejudice when Hoke told her "yo zinnias cold use a little tendin’ to". She told him to leave them alone. He also offered to put vegetables in the garden. Daisy just gave him a rude reply. Now my opinion is that she didn’t want him to touch her garden because she wasn’t sure if black people knew how to take care of that type of thing. She also could have meant to be rude, not prejudice, because she doesn’t want help from anybody for anything, ever. Her next example of racism was when Hoke was looking at the walls that had pictures on them, and Daisy saw him, She told him she didn’t like him "nosing through" all her things. All he did was try to compliment her on her house, and to be more specific, her walls. Hoke told her that he liked a house that had pictures in it. Now, what I think is that this part could go two ways. She might not be comfortable with ...

Max webber

This is a study of the bureaucratic characteristics of Turkish elementary and secondary schools Little is known about the organization and foundation of these schools. This study Is d beginning In an effort to develop d body of literature In these schools. Max Weber's (in Gerth ; Mills, 1946) thinking and Hall's (1961) operationalization of bureaucracy form the theoretical foundation for the study.Because the construct of alienation is the main construct that has been studied with relation to bureaucracy, this study also examines the relationships between ureaucracy and sense of power as a measure of alienation. Context Organizations surround us. Bureaucracy Is d blueprint for organlzlng human activities for a desired end. It is a sociological phenomenon that has evolved throughout the history ot clvlllzauon. As a sociological tool It has been used to bulld pyramids, to invade nations, to cure illnesses, to keep criminals incarcerated, to land on Mars, to massacre millions, to educat e. nd so on. It Is the tool of power, an â€Å"effective† device to control and direct human effort and behavior. The bureaucratic theory of Max Weber has been a point of departure for the development and odification of organization structure to Influence the flow of Interrelationships within organizations (Hall, 1963). The degree of bureaucracy in an organization sets the boundaries tor human action. These boundaries that regulate people's treedom have a by-product known as alienation.The construct of alienation has been studied with relation to bureaucracy. It has been demonstrated that people who work in bureaucracies have a limited â€Å"say† In what they do. For good or for evil, bureaucracy is the machinery to control human behavior. What matters is how to use this device without alienating people. chools are one of the forms of bureaucracy where a large portion of our lives is spent Schools prepare youth for bureaucracies. If the schools are the places that prep are people tor bureaucratized lite. hen, the teachers in them are the agents of bureaucracies. If teachers are alienated, society may also be alienated It is possible that certain problems ascribed to bureaucracies can be related to d certain degree of bureaucracy In organizations. All organizations are bureaucratic toa degree. Human lite, even before It begins and after It ends, is in contact with bureaucratic organizations. Organizations will ontinue to dominate and alienate our lives It is worthwhile to understand what bureaucracy Is and what problems are associated with It. ureducracles surround The orlgln ot the Bureaucratic Theory Since translations of Max Weber's works into the English language during the second part of the 1940s, a vast literature on organizations, In general, and on bureaucracy, 1 Of6 In partlcular, nas Deen generated. Max weDer (Ge in favor of bureaucratic organization: argued as Tollows The decisive reason for the advantage of bureaucratic organization ha s always been its purely technical superiority over any form of organization. The fully developed bureaucratic mechanism compares with other organizations exactly as does the machine with the non-mechanical modes of production.Precision, speed, unambiguity, knowledge of files, continuity, discretion, unity, strict subordination, reduction of friction, and of material and personal costs– these are raised to the optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic administration, and especially in its monocratic form. As compared with the collegiate, honorific, and avocation forms of administration, trained bureaucracy is superior on all these points. (p. 214) Max Weber (Etzioni, 1961) listed organizational attributes that when present, constitute the bureaucratic form of organization. 1 A continuous organization of official functions bound by rules. A specific sphere of competence. 3 The organization of offices follows the principal of hierarchy; that is, each lower office is under the control and supervision of a higher one. 4 The rules which regulate the conduct of an office may be technical rules or norms. 5 It is a matter of principle that members of the administrative staff should be completely separated from ownership of the means of production or administration. In order to enhance the organizational freedom, the resources of the organization have to be free of any outside control and the positions cannot be monopolized by any incumbent. 7 Administrative acts, decisions, and any rules are formulated and recorded in writing. (pp. 53-54) Based on the theory developed by Max Weber, researchers used bureaucratic theory as an analytical tool to examine organizational structure. Until the 1960s, case studies were used to assess bureaucratic characteristics of organizations. These studies were called unidimensional approach to the study of organization. Researchers who used the unidimensional approach believed that all characteristics of bureaucracy must be presen t to a high degree in an organization before it can be called a bureaucracy.During the late 1950s this approach was questioned. Researchers started to think that all characteristics of bureaucracy might not be present in an organization at the same time. Some characteristics can be stronger than others. Characteristics could be independent of each other. Bureaucratic characteristics or dimensions could create different configurations of bureaucracies. Since the 1960s, imensional approaches to study bureaucracy have been used. Hall (1961) was among the first to measure bureaucratic dimensions in organizations empirically.Hall (1961) was the first to develop a survey instrument to measure the degree of bureaucratization in organizations. After an extensive literature review, he identified six dimensions of bureaucracy: hierarchy of authority, division of labor, rules and regulations, procedural speclTlcatlons, Impersonallty, ana tecnnlcal competence. HIS instrument (Organizational Inv entory) has 62 items. All dimensions have 10 items xcept for hierarchy of authority, which has 12 items. Modified versions of his instrument have been used in educational settings to assess school bureaucratization.Researchers have added more items to his instrument during modifications. Hall's instrument was first modified by the Canadian researcher, MacKay (1964), to measure six dimensions of bureaucracy in educational settings. In Canada, Robinson (1966), Kolesar (1967) and Punch (1967) continued to use and refine the Mackay's instrument. These Canadian researchers were followed by Anderson (1970), Isherwood ( 1971), and Sousa (1980) in the U. S. Researchers using modified versions of Hall's instrument have consistently found six dimensions of bureaucracy clustered around two overall higher-order dimensions.Hall (1961) warned that one of the six dimensions could be an abureaucratic dimension. He found that the technical 4 competence dimension was inversely correlated with three d imensions. Mackay (1964) and Robinson (1966) also found that the dimensions did not converge under a single overall dimension. Punch (1967) found that six dimensions formed two higher order dimensions. Hierarchy of authority, rules and regulations, procedural pecifications, and impersonality clustered together while division of labor and technical competence clustered together.The higher order dimension formed by the first set of dimensions is a measure of bureaucratization while the higher order dimension formed by the second set of dimensions is a partial measure of professionalism. Isherwood and Hoy (1973) confirmed that Hall's six dimensions cluster under two separate second order dimensions. Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the utility of Hall's conceptualization of bureaucracy in analyzing the organizational structure of Turkish elementary and econdary schools. Research on educational organizations in Turkey is not as advanced as it is in the western countries.T urkey adopted its centralized ministry system from European nations. No empirical studies were found on structural characteristics of Turkish public schools. Researchers do not have an empirical base to help them understand how organizations function. It is hoped that this study will start a literature base on the subject and provide a tool to assess the organizational structure of schools that is desperately needed in Turkey. Also an empirical llustration from Turkey might provide a useful addition to the literature because the literature on school organizations in developing countries is very limited.Researchers know little about how school bureaucracy functions in other cultures. Questions How are the bureaucratic dimensions of Turkish elementary and secondary schools related? What are the relationships between the bureaucratic dimensions of Turkish elementary schools and the demographic variables? wnat are tne relatlonsnlps Detween tne Dureaucratlc Olmenslons 0T lur s elementary and secondary schools and teachers' sense of power? 5 Definitions Major Variables A bureaucracy is an organizational form designed to accomplish large-scale administrative tasks by systematically coordinating the work of many individuals (Blau, 1956).Hierarchy of authority (HA) is â€Å"the extent to which the locus of decision making is prestructured by the organization†(Hall, 1968, p. 95). Division of labor or specialization (DL) is â€Å"the extent to which work tasks are subdivided by functional specialization within the organization† (Hall, 1968, p. 95). Rule enforcement or rules and regulations (RR) is â€Å"the degree to which the behaviors of organizational members re subject to organizational control† (Hall, 1968; p. 95).Procedural specification (PS) is â€Å"the extent to which organizational members must follow organizationally defined techniques in dealing with situations they encounter† (Hall, 1968, p. 95). Impersonality (IM) is â€Å"the e xtent to which both organizational members and outsiders are treated without regard to individual qualities†(Hall, 1968, p. 95). This dimension has two distinct factors. (1) Friendly climate (CLM) is the degree to which relations in the organization are friendly and warm. (2) Formality (FRM) is the degree to which nteractions among people are formal and free from emotions.The second factor was accepted as the measure of impersonality. The friendliness of the school climate is most likely to be an outcome variable rather than a structural variable. This variable was analyzed separately. Promotions based on technical competence (TC) is â€Å"the extent to which organizationally defined â€Å"universalistic† standards are utilized in the personnel selection and advancement (Hall, 1968, p. 95). Control is the degree to which bureaucratic authority is utilized to regulate teacher behaviors.Expertise is the degree to which professional authority is utilized to regulate teach er Sense of power (SP) is the extent to which a teacher believes he/she is able to influence the course of events in the school that holds significance for him/her (Moeller 1962). 6 Teacher's friendship with school administrators was measured by responses to the statement, † I have a friendship with school administrators outside the school,† on a five-point Likert type scale ranging from 1 = definitely inaccurate to 5 = definitely accurate . Demographic Variables Name of city is the school district where the teacher works.It is operationalized as the name of the township: Karabuk (1), Safranbolu (2), Eflani (3), Eskipazar (4), Yenice (5), and Ovacik (6). Number of sessions is a two-category variable. Teachers were grouped into two categories ( ) teacners wno work at scnools tnat run one sesslon a cay ana teachers who work at schools that run two sessions a day. Level of the school refers to grades in the teacher's school. Teachers in elementary school (K-5) were coded as one, teachers in middle schools (6-8) were coded as two, and teachers in high schools (9-11) were coded as three.Size variables are (1) the number of teachers who are on the payroll of the teacher's school, (2) number of students enrolled in the teacher's school, (3) student-teacher ratio in the teacher's school, (4) number of classrooms in the teacher's school, and (5) number of administrators in the teacher's school. Age of the teacher's school is the number of years passed since the foundation of the school. Urbanization is a three-level categorical variable: teachers who work in urban schools, teachers who work in suburban schools, and teachers who work in rural schools. Urban was coded as one, suburban was coded as two, and rural was coded s three.Occupation of principal's father was a five-level categorical variable: teachers who work under principals whose fathers were farmers (coded 1), teachers who work under principals whose fathers were blue collar workers (coded 2), tea chers who work under principals whose fathers were small business owners (coded 3), teachers who work under principals whose fathers were civil servants (coded 4), and teachers who work under principals whose fathers were professionals (code 5). 7 Sex is the gender of the teacher. Male teachers were coded as one while female teachers were coded two.Socio-economic status of teacher was measured by three variables (1) growing up location of teacher, (2) number of sisters and brothers of teacher, and (3) father's occupation of teacher. The grown-up location of teacher was operationalized as rural (1), town (2), city (3), big city (4), and all (5). Father's occupation was categorized as small business owner (1), civil servant (2), blue-collar worker (3), and farmer (4). Socio economic status of students (SES) is the teacher's principal's perception of students socioeconomic status measured on a five point likert type scale.Principals ere asked to rate students in their school on a five- point scale ranging from very poor (1) to very wealthy (5). Political ties of teachers were measured on a five-point Likert- type scale. Teachers were asked to respond to following statement: â€Å"l know influential people who can help me if I am in trouble in this school. † Response options ranged from definitely inaccurate (1) to definitely accurate (5). Experience of teacher was measured by four variables: (1) age of teacher, (2) total service years of teacher in teaching, (3) total years in administrative positions and (4) ork experience outside teaching.The last variable, the work experience outside teaching, was a categorical variable. Teachers who had work experience outside teaching were assigned one while teachers who did not have work experience outside teaching were assigned two. Overall alienation from work was utilized to cnec tne vallOl ty 0T sense 0T power scale. leacners were asKea to response to tne following question: â€Å"Do you wish your child to pursue a career in teaching? † Those who said â€Å"†yes† were assigned â€Å"two† and those who said â€Å"no† were assigned â€Å"one. † Teacher's birthplace had two possible responses. Those who were born in the province, Karabuk, were assigned a â€Å"two. Those who were born outside the province were assigned a â€Å"one. † Training had three potential responses. Teachers who were not graduated from teacher colleges were assigned a â€Å"one,† teachers who were not graduated from teacher colleges but 8 earned teaching certificate by attending extra training were assigned a â€Å"two,† and regular teachers who were graduated from teacher colleges were assigned a â€Å"three. † Experience of principals had three measures: (1) age of teacher's principal, (2) total ears in administrative positions, and (3) total service years in education sector.These measures were obtained during school visitations. Percentage of male is the percentage of male teachers in teacher's school. Organization of the Study The relevant literature is reviewed in the second chapter. The third chapter deals with instrumentation and methodology. The findings of the pilot study are reported in the fourth chapter. The findings of the research sample are in the fifth chapter. After discussions of findings, recommendations for further research are presented in the sixth chapter.

Technology, Human Beings and the Fate of the Earth: a Social Critique of Modern Life

It’s both funny and sad that as soon as people leave their familiar comfort zone, when they are alone, say at a coffee shop or waiting in line for a bus, they automatically, almost reactively, reach for the cell phone to call or text someone who will reconnect them with the safe and familiar world from which they have momentarily wandered away.The average persons’ lack of ability, or willingness, to encounter an unknown situation or territory reveals their lack of tolerance for being alone, as well as their lack of curiosity or propensity to simply notice and appreciate their surroundings – as if their bodily senses had been nullified into a potential danger zone in which their very stability of self would quickly fragment should they let go a little, observe and potentially interact with the unfolding world around them.Yes, we’ve learned to live in little bubbles of safety which cut us off from our fellow-humans – we no longer live in the actual wo rld, but in our own self-created worlds, via the latest form of technology. I suspect that our modern sense of security has been entrained to operate in collusion with these technological devices that have slyly entrapped our minds even as they have offered us incredible new possibilities.Our reliance on new and ever-advancing technologies, such as the mobile phone – which in a few short years has also become a mobile photo album, mobile internet, camera, video machine and multi-media entertainment center – has developed into quite a habit, an unconscious addiction that is shaping the very nature of our personalities, both personal and collective, and even, God forbid, our souls. What need have we, the general public, for an imagination when so many limitlessly stimulating devices are available in our world?Who needs an inner world at all when the outer world of our own creations has become so evocative, so seducing, so ever-demanding, evasive and totalitarian? We are continually inundated with advertisements and societal pressures to acquire new technological distractions and modes of external stimulus. Living under such conditions, how is it possible for us to maintain or cultivate much of an inner world, or a soul, whatsoever?The underlying message of our media is commercial; in enforcing the demands of commerce upon us, we are defined primarily as consumers, persuaded not to think for ourselves, but to join in the latest collective frenzy of technological adventures that continually reinterpret the purpose of our lives. This never ending flood of media proclamations, while appearing as a material liberation, serves as a psychological oppression of the individual soul. Capitalism sells new versions of reality that may have nothing to do with one’s own true needs or sensibilities. However, it is the advertisers’ job to convince us otherwise.So far they are doing a pretty good job! The natural world, the earth itself; the air, the trees, the vast realms of animals, plants, oceans, deserts and mountains are increasingly losing meaning and value in the self-hypnotized, narcissistic lives of mechanized human beings. Although it is certainly an abomination of our essential heritage, we are ever-entrained to focus less and less on the natural world in which we live, and of which we are but one aspect – lest we forget – and more and more to focus on the world as fashioned through the minds and hands of men.It’s sad indeed when we ignore what is right before our eyes, i. e. our actual surrounding environment, and instead remain culled to a collective techno-vision of the ideal man-made life. It’s also sad when we ignore those human beings who are standing right in front of us because we’d prefer to text or talk with someone miles away, when we must remain overly-attached to those we know because we’ve lost our human capacity for interrelationship with our expanded world of f ellow citizens who we now dismiss as strangers.Our advance in technology has engendered a compensating inversion in our capacity for compassion and community – which is to say, the further we develop our technology, the less we appear to maintain the qualities of a loving, caring and attentive human society. Being aware in the mystery of the present moment, tolerating the unknown, and tolerating states of non-stimulation is the first phase in moving towards a more attuned state of openness and potential interaction with the actual, non-virtual, world around us.However, we have been so conditioned by a perpetual bombardment of electronic stimuli – radio, television, computers, video games, mobile phones/entertainment centers, etc – that it has become difficult, albeit unappealing, for us to re-focus our attention on our actual physical, natural environment. A parallel outcome of our desensitization to the physical, natural world in which we live, is the subsequen t degradation of our ecology, which entails our lack of emphasis or awareness on its living/breathing/fragile/organic nature.The danger of this, as many of us recognize, is potentially catastrophic; as we create and live in an increasingly human-made and virtual reality – wherein we believe we are safer, happier, more satisfied, etc – we also increasingly ignore the actual and natural reality in which we are encompassed, and risk the extinction of the environment through the excessive pollution, raiding and deforestation of the planet that we have witnessed since the rise of the industrial-technological age.The degradation of the natural world is problematic in many ways. Firstly, it appears to be morally and ethically wrong – at least to those of us whose ethics and morals outweigh our imperialistic drives – to destructively impact the earth, its ecosystems, i. e. rivers, oceans and forests, as well as animals, plants, trees, etc. One might ask, â€Å"W hat right have we humans to destroy the earth, simply for our own benefit? Is this not selfish and unnecessary? Many of us have asked this question, though it seems that the overall progress of our technologically based capitalism remains unwilling to curtail its invasions and usurpations of nature, or to halt its path of destruction for the sake of morals or ethics. Where the dollar bill is concerned, questions of right and wrong become thin and ineffectual, nearly meaningless. Secondly, the degradation of the natural environment is increasingly affecting the balance of the planet itself, which in turn contaminates our own quality of life.For a thorough overview of how human technology is damaging the planet, one has only to search through a plethora of books, TV specials, or movies on this topic (i. e. â€Å"An Inconvenient Truth†, by Al Gore). I will here mention only a few ways in which planetary degradation affects human life. In a recent trip to Lima, Peru I learned tha t Peruvians predominantly drive older used cars, from the 80s or 70s, which emit high levels of visible exhaust fumes making the air both toxic and putrid to breathe.Driving around town there is often no escape from these fumes which pour out of the car just in front of you. The situation is just as bad in many other developing â€Å"third world† countries around the globe. Even here in the United States, where we have increasingly stricter emissions controls on our vehicles, the air quality in some cities is very poor, and on certain days people are advised to avoid going â€Å"out of doors,† or allowing their children to play outside at all.In many countries, air pollution is severe and debilitating, and only getting worse. In addition to increasing the risk of respiratory disease, the eroding of the ozone layer has also increased the risk of skin cancer, and it’s become customary to slather on gobs of sunscreen lotion before going outside on a sunny day for a ny length of time. Industrial pollution has made our water supplies dirty, so they are zapped with chlorine, making our water not really enjoyable, or many would say, healthy to drink.As for our food, as genetic engineering takes hold, what we eat becomes increasingly tasteless and less nutritious. Although these are only a very few examples of the many problems made by technology, there is no denying that the degradation of the natural world leads to our own degradation. The third major impact of the degradation of nature is spiritual. As we become less attuned to the world of nature, which is gradually breaking down, our inherent connection to the earth dissipates.We become less the â€Å"caretakers of the earth,† or participants in Her splendor of glory, and moreover the survivors of a man-made holocaust inflicted upon nature. We rationalize our disconnect from nature – those of us who are aware of it – with the heralding of a new age of technological transce ndence. In comparison with all our own amazing discoveries, inventions and developments, we cannot believe that the earth is all that important. How can a handful of dirt compare to the glory of an I-phone?Our attitudes reveal a consensual belief that we are superior to and above the earth – as also evidenced by our scientific investigations into creating hospitable conditions on other planets, as well as expanded, city-size space stations in which we could begin to populate the greater universe, where we would, even more so, live in human-made, virtual reality realms. The bigger question is whether our spirits can survive – or thrive – in states of stark disconnection from the earth, our origin and planetary source of being†¦ This sort of fantastic and futuristic evolution is in line with our reigning eligion of Christianity, in which our sinful earthbound lives are to be potentially transformed through belief in Christ, when, upon the moment of our death, we are to ascend high into the heavens, into a cloud-like dimension above and beyond all the messy entanglements of this planet earth. With such a cosmo-vision, such a context of the goal of life, it’s no wonder the sanctity of the earth has lost its power to impel our actions. It seems only the portended threat of our own extinction will suffice to encourage us to behave differently.For if we are only to inhabit this earth for such a brief span of time – until our transcendence into a perfect eternity in another dimension – then what’s the big deal if we just abuse Her until we’re gone, because in the grand scheme of things She doesn’t matter much anyways. Christianity also teaches that, of all the creatures and life-forms upon this planet, only human beings have souls â€Å"that can be saved,† and thus make the transmigration beyond a mortal death into an immortal and eternal after-life.Since, in the Christian view, nothing else up on this planet has a soul, or is capable of redemption, we justify our own paramount importance, and it becomes completely plausible to view all things as merely our own resources. In this way, we lose a perspective of value and veneration for the natural world around us while worshipping our own agendas. It becomes evident that many areas of our lives – our economy, our technology and industry, our religion, and our general philosophy of living – depict our own implicit superiority complex over the natural world of creation.And yet, by and by, we get glimpses of the truth that it is impossible for humanity to become superior to nature, because we are really an intrinsic part of the earth which we seek to dominate and control. In actuality, the world of nature is indeed superior to humankind, as we are merely one aspect of its grand panorama. However, we continue to ignore our interconnectedness with nature, our true identity as an outgrowth or expression of nature, an d behave as if we have the right and ability to continue dominating the earth without eventually destroying ourselves.But â€Å"what goes around comes around,† and sooner or later you get what you give, or to put it in technological terms: you â€Å"input† what you â€Å"output. † Why have we continued on in this, less than intelligent, manner? You could say that we modern-day humans are simply dumb and indifferent, which is partially true from a holistic perspective. But beneath that we are really out of control, so fascinated by our own invented civilization that we fail to recognize the greater organic and historical context in which we live.Over the past 500 years or so, the peoples of Europe have invaded, conquered, colonized and converted virtually every other continent, people and culture upon the planet – we’re currently working steadfast on the Middle East – with our imperialistic inquisitions, our Christianity and our capitalism. I n the words of Martin Prechtel, author of Secrets Of The Talking Jaguar, and an initiate of the Mayan shamanic mysteries: Over the last two or three centuries, a heartless culture-crushing mentality has incremented its progress on the earth, devouring all peoples, nature, imagination, and spiritual knowledge.Like a big mechanized slug, it has left behind a flat, homogenized steak of civilization wherever it passed. Every human on this earth – African, Asian, European, Islanders, or from the Americas – has ancestors who at some point in their history had their stories, rituals, ingenuity, language and lifeways taken away, enslaved, banned, exploited, twisted or destroyed by this force. Our modern technological way of life is a vast and dramatic change from the vastly more earth-friendly modes of human existence that preceded this rapid â€Å"global development† for thousands of years.It is a sad and unpopular fact that, as Western civilization has progressed, cou ntless other civilizations have regressed, have indeed been ravaged and undone by the coercion of our own ideas and powers upon them. To this day, we either disregard their suffering and continue on our own path to global domination, or we view them through the eyes of sympathetic charity, regarding ourselves, our own culture, as the superior and dominant people who will now help, aide and assist these less fortunate people – whom we devastated in the first place – to acquire the modes of our own elevated survival and sustenance.The deceptive hypocrisy of our impact upon, and subsequent response to, â€Å"third world† countries is confounded by our own apparent lack of responsibility for our actions, both past and present, that debilitate these people. For instance, in the countries of Central & South America, our oil production facilities lead to massive destruction of both the land and the lives of the indigenous peoples. In the mid 1990? s, author Joe Kane do cumented the horrific impacts of corporate oil companies upon native cultures and the pristine Amazonian rainforest of Ecuador in his superbly written book, Savages.In the book, Kane describes the struggle of one of the last remaining indigenous tribes – the Huaorani – who consider themselves to have not been conquered by modern Western culture, against the impending invasion of corporate oil. Referencing his colleague Judith Kimerling from her book Amazon Crude, Kane states: â€Å"In 1967 Texaco discovered commercial oil in the Oriente [the Ecuadorian rainforest]. In 1972 it completed a 312-mile pipeline from the Oriente to Ecuador’s Pacific coast. From its inception until just 1989, â€Å"the Texaco pipeline had ruptured at least twenty seven times, spilling 16. 8 million gallons of raw crude †¦ most of it into the Oriente’s delicate web of rivers, creeks and lagoons. † As a witness himself to a colossal oil spill into the native Ecuadorian rainforest, Kane writes, â€Å"While I was in Tonampare a valve in an oil well near the Napo broke, or was left open, and for two days and a night raw crude streamed into the river – at least 21,000 gallons and perhaps as many as 80,000, creating a slick that stretched from bank to bank for forty miles. Due to this oil spill, a state of emergency was declared downstream in both Peru and Brazil, although, according to Kane, the oil company responsible for the spill disregarded the incident and did nothing to improve the situation. While in Ecuador, Kane visited various Huaorani communities and received further firsthand reports of extensive and extreme contamination, via oil spills, of their water supplies resulting in unruly health epidemics, severe illnesses and deaths.However, the problems of oil drilling extend beyond the awful impacts upon Huaorani and Indian health in general, as the settlements made by the oil companies result in drastic disruption, deviation and dese cration of traditional Indian culture. It is a complicated process, because the imperialistic thrust of big oil coincides with all sorts of modern Western byproducts including colonization, conversion to Christianity, and ‘re-education’ of native Indians – in which â€Å"no element of Huaorani culture was allowed to enter the curriculum. This enforced process of acculturation to Western ways results in the obliteration of the value, the history, and the very existence of traditional culture for all Indians affected. During the months that Kane spent roaming through Ecuador, mainly with the Huaorani tribe, he experienced the traditional self-sufficient way of life that the Huaorani – as well as many other indigenous South American tribes – have lived for millennia. After visiting colonized areas as well, he reports that Indians who have succumbed to a conversion to Western ways appear much worse off than those who have held to their traditional ways .Of these colonized Huaorani, Kane writes â€Å"the people were dependent on goods brought in from outside, and many of them had become wage slaves to a culture they could never hope to be truly a part of – to a culture that, in fact, considered them little more than animals. † The convergence of the diverse aspects of capitalism, colonization and conversion to Western ways and Christianity upon the various Indian tribes who are impacted all amount to ethnocide.The fact that such corruption – initiated by Western imperialistic drives based on capitalistic gains – is still going on, only reveals that we have not progressed very far, at least globally speaking, in our path to becoming a more humane society. But the typical modern world citizen doesn’t care about any of this and has very little knowledge of the historical European conquests that have transformed spiritually and functionally intact cultures into materially indigent, chaotic and violent third world countries. Most of us are more or less plodding along our own enlightened paths of self-serving materialism.When we do give any consideration to cultures of a lesser material status, we judge and compare their â€Å"shabby† way of life to ours, in which running water, electricity, cars, central heating, air conditioning and 24 hour grocery stores are essential. We devalue their modes of living through our own ignorance and ingrained sense of superiority, as we seek to save them, not by helping them to regain their own valued way of life, but by converting them to ours – which only reinforces our own paradigm of economic, technological and religious superiority. We frequently fail to realize that not every human being on this planet wants r needs to be hooked into the wave of technological progress with which we are so completely mesmerized. Not only does our enchantment with technology threaten our humanity, our society, and our planet, it also – th rough our continued pressures upon non-Western, non-technologically-based cultures to convert to the ways of the modern Western world – threatens to destroy the few remaining earth-based, indigenous peoples on this planet who would rather not be bothered by us or our materialistic ways. Do we really need to continue to conquer the earth with our capitalism until there is a 7-11 and McDonalds in every corner of the world?Until there are freeways chomping through every area of pristine land? Until all the forests have been chopped down and transformed into urban and industrial sprawl? Can’t we contain ourselves with a little respect for the rest of the world? There are still people on this planet who enjoy living in the organic environment of nature, where electricity, motor vehicles, cells phones and I-pods aren’t a necessary aspect of life. They are able to survive, and thrive, quite well without all the modern accoutrements of modern life that we so desire, and many of them would like to remain as they are.And yet our attitude reveals an inner conviction that we have discovered â€Å"the way of the future† and must deliver this message in force to the rest of the world. Rather than continuing on our present course of a global takeover, we need to ask ourselves what we can learn from non-Westernized cultures that still live in ancient and earth-honoring ways, cultures that we tend to brutalize and greedily destroy. We need to learn to interact with these other cultures respectfully and humanely, allowing them their own way of life and sustenance upon this planet without interfering and coercing our interests and values upon them.Not everyone needs to drive a car on a freeway, to work in an office and live in a house in the city – if the 7,000,000,000 human beings now alive on the planet lived like this, our environmental devastation would likely expand exponentially. To expect a global conversion of all peoples in all places into an assimilation of our unique modern, technological way of life is stupid, insane and supremely unreasonable. However, like a big, proud, arrogant peacock strutting itself all over the planet, the United States continues making moves to engulf the globe with the gluttony of our own capitalistic enterprises, all the while disregarding nd disrupting the dignity of other countries, cultures and peoples. Reflecting upon the impact of our very recent civilization upon other, much older, traditional and earth-based civilizations, as well as the planet itself, we should notice and consider the damages we have done, the violences we have perpetrated, and the miseries we have created †¦ We need to move beyond the Christian fantasy that we are a completely good and benign presence on the planet, that we are somehow â€Å"God’s chosen people† with a free pass to do whatever we want regardless of the consequences.We should think about how we can be less ego-centric, and seek to balance our technological advances with tending to the well-being of the earth, other cultures and one another. We should consider how to create more harmony in the world, and a little less profit. Indeed, many individuals and organizations are becoming increasingly devoted to a greater consciousness of how to live in ways that are â€Å"earth friendly. The overall pro-environmental movements are coming to be known as â€Å"green† movements, and they provide good and necessary developments toward a future in which humans could be of greater benefit than detriment to the planet. However, very much work and change remains to be done in this area. One problem inherent with these movements is that when we think about â€Å"saving the planet,† or â€Å"saving the polar bears,† we are still thinking abstractly. In truth, the planet was doing just fine before the advent of modern industry and technological society. Save the planet! † really means â€Å" Stop the humans from destroying the planet! † because we are only saving the planet from ourselves. Living our urban, fast-paced and machine-based lives, very few of us have time, energy or ability to keep gardens, raise livestock, hunt for our sustenance or otherwise live in any kind of experiential symbiosis with the planet. We live in suburban and citified concrete jungles where the animals have become cars, and the trees and forests are now banks, department stores and high rise apartment complexes.Because we have created our own processed environment of roads, cars, industry, buildings, malls, homes: an endless â€Å"urban sprawl† that houses an endless supply of manmade things; because we live in a world designed by capitalism, a world of incessant advertising, sales and the desperate, frantic pursuit of material things – of production and products – a world molded and defined by television, radio and the chronic bombardment of salesmen; we rarely, i f ever, experience an intimate connection with the natural world, with â€Å"the planet† we are hoping to save.Sure we can learn all about the planet, discovering the marvels of the earth in science magazines or through viewing compelling video footage of nature, we can learn all about the planet in schools, in laboratories or other second hand means, but until we have a sustained, direct encounter with the earth and nature itself, how can we truly know it, and what will it ever really mean to us? And how few of us will ever accomplish this?Indeed, as it now stands our â€Å"civilization† is composed of a people, and a culture, that have moved out of nature into man-created worlds based upon the destruction of nature †¦ and they call this evolution. Ultimately, it’s up to us to change the story, to write a new script, to realize who we are, what we have become, and to simply wake up to the realization of how we want our lives, and the life of our entire pla net, to unfold †¦ So think about it, and let your thoughts permeate all that you do, for the existence of yourself and every other being around you may depend upon it.It’s both funny and sad that as soon as people leave their familiar comfort zone, when they are alone, say at a coffee shop or waiting in line for a bus, they automatically, almost reactively, reach for the cell phone to call or text someone who will reconnect them with the safe and familiar world from which they have momentarily wandered away.The average persons’ lack of ability, or willingness, to encounter an unknown situation or territory reveals their lack of tolerance for being alone, as well as their lack of curiosity or propensity to simply notice and appreciate their surroundings – as if their bodily senses had been nullified into a potential danger zone in which their very stability of self would quickly fragment should they let go a little, observe and potentially interact with the unfolding world around them.Yes, we’ve learned to live in little bubbles of safety which cut us off from our fellow-humans – we no longer live in the actual world, but in our own self-created worlds, via the latest form of technology. I suspect that our modern sense of security has been entrained to operate in collusion with these technological devices that have slyly entrapped our minds even as they have offered us incredible new possibilities.Our reliance on new and ever-advancing technologies, such as the mobile phone – which in a few short years has also become a mobile photo album, mobile internet, camera, video machine and multi-media entertainment center – has developed into quite a habit, an unconscious addiction that is shaping the very nature of our personalities, both personal and collective, and even, God forbid, our souls. What need have we, the general public, for an imagination when so many limitlessly stimulating devices are available in o ur world?Who needs an inner world at all when the outer world of our own creations has become so evocative, so seducing, so ever-demanding, evasive and totalitarian? We are continually inundated with advertisements and societal pressures to acquire new technological distractions and modes of external stimulus. Living under such conditions, how is it possible for us to maintain or cultivate much of an inner world, or a soul, whatsoever?The underlying message of our media is commercial; in enforcing the demands of commerce upon us, we are defined primarily as consumers, persuaded not to think for ourselves, but to join in the latest collective frenzy of technological adventures that continually reinterpret the purpose of our lives. This never ending flood of media proclamations, while appearing as a material liberation, serves as a psychological oppression of the individual soul. Capitalism sells new versions of reality that may have nothing to do with one’s own true needs or s ensibilities.However, it is the advertisers’ job to convince us otherwise. So far they are doing a pretty good job! The natural world, the earth itself; the air, the trees, the vast realms of animals, plants, oceans, deserts and mountains are increasingly losing meaning and value in the self-hypnotized, narcissistic lives of mechanized human beings. Although it is certainly an abomination of our essential heritage, we are ever-entrained to focus less and less on the natural world in which we live, and of which we are but one aspect – lest we forget – and more and more to focus on the world as fashioned through the minds and hands f men. It’s sad indeed when we ignore what is right before our eyes, i. e. our actual surrounding environment, and instead remain culled to a collective techno-vision of the ideal man-made life. It’s also sad when we ignore those human beings who are standing right in front of us because we’d prefer to text or talk with someone miles away, when we must remain overly-attached to those we know because we’ve lost our human capacity for interrelationship with our expanded world of fellow citizens who we now dismiss as strangers.Our advance in technology has engendered a compensating inversion in our capacity for compassion and community – which is to say, the further we develop our technology, the less we appear to maintain the qualities of a loving, caring and attentive human society. Being aware in the mystery of the present moment, tolerating the unknown, and tolerating states of non-stimulation is the first phase in moving towards a more attuned state of openness and potential interaction with the actual, non-virtual, world around us.However, we have been so conditioned by a perpetual bombardment of electronic stimuli – radio, television, computers, video games, mobile phones/entertainment centers, etc – that it has become difficult, albeit unappealing, for us to re -focus our attention on our actual physical, natural environment. A parallel outcome of our desensitization to the physical, natural world in which we live, is the subsequent degradation of our ecology, which entails our lack of emphasis or awareness on its living/breathing/fragile/organic nature.The danger of this, as many of us recognize, is potentially catastrophic; as we create and live in an increasingly human-made and virtual reality – wherein we believe we are safer, happier, more satisfied, etc – we also increasingly ignore the actual and natural reality in which we are encompassed, and risk the extinction of the environment through the excessive pollution, raiding and deforestation of the planet that we have witnessed since the rise of the industrial-technological age.The degradation of the natural world is problematic in many ways. Firstly, it appears to be morally and ethically wrong – at least to those of us whose ethics and morals outweigh our imper ialistic drives – to destructively impact the earth, its ecosystems, i. e. rivers, oceans and forests, as well as animals, plants, trees, etc. One might ask, â€Å"What right have we humans to destroy the earth, simply for our own benefit? Is this not selfish and unnecessary? Many of us have asked this question, though it seems that the overall progress of our technologically based capitalism remains unwilling to curtail its invasions and usurpations of nature, or to halt its path of destruction for the sake of morals or ethics. Where the dollar bill is concerned, questions of right and wrong become thin and ineffectual, nearly meaningless. Secondly, the degradation of the natural environment is increasingly affecting the balance of the planet itself, which in turn contaminates our own quality of life.For a thorough overview of how human technology is damaging the planet, one has only to search through a plethora of books, TV specials, or movies on this topic (i. e. â€Å"A n Inconvenient Truth†, by Al Gore). I will here mention only a few ways in which planetary degradation affects human life. In a recent trip to Lima, Peru I learned that Peruvians predominantly drive older used cars, from the 80s or 70s, which emit high levels of visible exhaust fumes making the air both toxic and putrid to breathe.Driving around town there is often no escape from these fumes which pour out of the car just in front of you. The situation is just as bad in many other developing â€Å"third world† countries around the globe. Even here in the United States, where we have increasingly stricter emissions controls on our vehicles, the air quality in some cities is very poor, and on certain days people are advised to avoid going â€Å"out of doors,† or allowing their children to play outside at all.In many countries, air pollution is severe and debilitating, and only getting worse. In addition to increasing the risk of respiratory disease, the eroding of the ozone layer has also increased the risk of skin cancer, and it’s become customary to slather on gobs of sunscreen lotion before going outside on a sunny day for any length of time. Industrial pollution has made our water supplies dirty, so they are zapped with chlorine, making our water not really enjoyable, or many would say, healthy to drink.As for our food, as genetic engineering takes hold, what we eat becomes increasingly tasteless and less nutritious. Although these are only a very few examples of the many problems made by technology, there is no denying that the degradation of the natural world leads to our own degradation. The third major impact of the degradation of nature is spiritual. As we become less attuned to the world of nature, which is gradually breaking down, our inherent connection to the earth dissipates.We become less the â€Å"caretakers of the earth,† or participants in Her splendor of glory, and moreover the survivors of a man-made holocaus t inflicted upon nature. We rationalize our disconnect from nature – those of us who are aware of it – with the heralding of a new age of technological transcendence. In comparison with all our own amazing discoveries, inventions and developments, we cannot believe that the earth is all that important. How can a handful of dirt compare to the glory of an I-phone?Our attitudes reveal a consensual belief that we are superior to and above the earth – as also evidenced by our scientific investigations into creating hospitable conditions on other planets, as well as expanded, city-size space stations in which we could begin to populate the greater universe, where we would, even more so, live in human-made, virtual reality realms. The bigger question is whether our spirits can survive – or thrive – in states of stark disconnection from the earth, our origin and planetary source of being†¦This sort of fantastic and futuristic evolution is in line wit h our reigning religion of Christianity, in which our sinful earthbound lives are to be potentially transformed through belief in Christ, when, upon the moment of our death, we are to ascend high into the heavens, into a cloud-like dimension above and beyond all the messy entanglements of this planet earth. With such a cosmo-vision, such a context of the goal of life, it’s no wonder the sanctity of the earth has lost its power to impel our actions.It seems only the portended threat of our own extinction will suffice to encourage us to behave differently. For if we are only to inhabit this earth for such a brief span of time – until our transcendence into a perfect eternity in another dimension – then what’s the big deal if we just abuse Her until we’re gone, because in the grand scheme of things She doesn’t matter much anyways. Christianity also teaches that, of all the creatures and life-forms upon this planet, only human beings have souls â€Å"that can be saved,† and thus make the transmigration beyond a mortal death into an immortal and eternal fter-life. Since, in the Christian view, nothing else upon this planet has a soul, or is capable of redemption, we justify our own paramount importance, and it becomes completely plausible to view all things as merely our own resources. In this way, we lose a perspective of value and veneration for the natural world around us while worshipping our own agendas. It becomes evident that many areas of our lives – our economy, our technology and industry, our religion, and our general philosophy of living – depict our own implicit superiority complex over the natural world of creation.And yet, by and by, we get glimpses of the truth that it is impossible for humanity to become superior to nature, because we are really an intrinsic part of the earth which we seek to dominate and control. In actuality, the world of nature is indeed superior to humankind, as we are merely one aspect of its grand panorama. However, we continue to ignore our interconnectedness with nature, our true identity as an outgrowth or expression of nature, and behave as if we have the right and ability to continue dominating the earth without eventually destroying ourselves.But â€Å"what goes around comes around,† and sooner or later you get what you give, or to put it in technological terms: you â€Å"input† what you â€Å"output. † Why have we continued on in this, less than intelligent, manner? You could say that we modern-day humans are simply dumb and indifferent, which is partially true from a holistic perspective. But beneath that we are really out of control, so fascinated by our own invented civilization that we fail to recognize the greater organic and historical context in which we live.Over the past 500 years or so, the peoples of Europe have invaded, conquered, colonized and converted virtually every other continent, people and cult ure upon the planet – we’re currently working steadfast on the Middle East – with our imperialistic inquisitions, our Christianity and our capitalism. In the words of Martin Prechtel, author of Secrets Of The Talking Jaguar, and an initiate of the Mayan shamanic mysteries: Over the last two or three centuries, a heartless culture-crushing mentality has incremented its progress on the earth, devouring all peoples, nature, imagination, and spiritual knowledge.Like a big mechanized slug, it has left behind a flat, homogenized steak of civilization wherever it passed. Every human on this earth – African, Asian, European, Islanders, or from the Americas – has ancestors who at some point in their history had their stories, rituals, ingenuity, language and lifeways taken away, enslaved, banned, exploited, twisted or destroyed by this force. Our modern technological way of life is a vast and dramatic change from the vastly more earth-friendly modes of huma n existence that preceded this rapid â€Å"global development† for thousands of years.It is a sad and unpopular fact that, as Western civilization has progressed, countless other civilizations have regressed, have indeed been ravaged and undone by the coercion of our own ideas and powers upon them. To this day, we either disregard their suffering and continue on our own path to global domination, or we view them through the eyes of sympathetic charity, regarding ourselves, our own culture, as the superior and dominant people who will now help, aide and assist these less fortunate people – whom we devastated in the first place – to acquire the modes of our own elevated survival and sustenance.The deceptive hypocrisy of our impact upon, and subsequent response to, â€Å"third world† countries is confounded by our own apparent lack of responsibility for our actions, both past and present, that debilitate these people. For instance, in the countries of Centra l & South America, our oil production facilities lead to massive destruction of both the land and the lives of the indigenous peoples. In the mid 1990? s, author Joe Kane documented the horrific impacts of corporate oil companies upon native cultures and the pristine Amazonian rainforest of Ecuador in his superbly written book, Savages.In the book, Kane describes the struggle of one of the last remaining indigenous tribes – the Huaorani – who consider themselves to have not been conquered by modern Western culture, against the impending invasion of corporate oil. Referencing his colleague Judith Kimerling from her book Amazon Crude, Kane states: â€Å"In 1967 Texaco discovered commercial oil in the Oriente [the Ecuadorian rainforest]. In 1972 it completed a 312-mile pipeline from the Oriente to Ecuador’s Pacific coast. From its inception until just 1989, â€Å"the Texaco pipeline had ruptured at least twenty seven times, spilling 16. 8 million gallons of raw c rude †¦ most of it into the Oriente’s delicate web of rivers, creeks and lagoons. † As a witness himself to a colossal oil spill into the native Ecuadorian rainforest, Kane writes, â€Å"While I was in Tonampare a valve in an oil well near the Napo broke, or was left open, and for two days and a night raw crude streamed into the river – at least 21,000 gallons and perhaps as many as 80,000, creating a slick that stretched from bank to bank for forty miles. Due to this oil spill, a state of emergency was declared downstream in both Peru and Brazil, although, according to Kane, the oil company responsible for the spill disregarded the incident and did nothing to improve the situation. While in Ecuador, Kane visited various Huaorani communities and received further firsthand reports of extensive and extreme contamination, via oil spills, of their water supplies resulting in unruly health epidemics, severe illnesses and deaths.However, the problems of oil drill ing extend beyond the awful impacts upon Huaorani and Indian health in general, as the settlements made by the oil companies result in drastic disruption, deviation and desecration of traditional Indian culture. It is a complicated process, because the imperialistic thrust of big oil coincides with all sorts of modern Western byproducts including colonization, conversion to Christianity, and ‘re-education’ of native Indians – in which â€Å"no element of Huaorani culture was allowed to enter the curriculum. This enforced process of acculturation to Western ways results in the obliteration of the value, the history, and the very existence of traditional culture for all Indians affected. During the months that Kane spent roaming through Ecuador, mainly with the Huaorani tribe, he experienced the traditional self-sufficient way of life that the Huaorani – as well as many other indigenous South American tribes – have lived for millennia. After visiting colonized areas as well, he reports that Indians who have succumbed to a conversion to Western ways appear much worse off than those who have held to their traditional ways.Of these colonized Huaorani, Kane writes â€Å"the people were dependent on goods brought in from outside, and many of them had become wage slaves to a culture they could never hope to be truly a part of – to a culture that, in fact, considered them little more than animals. † The convergence of the diverse aspects of capitalism, colonization and conversion to Western ways and Christianity upon the various Indian tribes who are impacted all amount to ethnocide.The fact that such corruption – initiated by Western imperialistic drives based on capitalistic gains – is still going on, only reveals that we have not progressed very far, at least globally speaking, in our path to becoming a more humane society. But the typical modern world citizen doesn’t care about any of this and ha s very little knowledge of the historical European conquests that have transformed spiritually and functionally intact cultures into materially indigent, chaotic and violent third world countries. Most of us are more or less plodding along our own enlightened paths of self-serving materialism.When we do give any consideration to cultures of a lesser material status, we judge and compare their â€Å"shabby† way of life to ours, in which running water, electricity, cars, central heating, air conditioning and 24 hour grocery stores are essential. We devalue their modes of living through our own ignorance and ingrained sense of superiority, as we seek to save them, not by helping them to regain their own valued way of life, but by converting them to ours – which only reinforces our own paradigm of economic, technological and religious superiority.We frequently fail to realize that not every human being on this planet wants or needs to be hooked into the wave of technologic al progress with which we are so completely mesmerized. Not only does our enchantment with technology threaten our humanity, our society, and our planet, it also – through our continued pressures upon non-Western, non-technologically-based cultures to convert to the ways of the modern Western world – threatens to destroy the few remaining earth-based, indigenous peoples on this planet who would rather not be bothered by us or our materialistic ways.Do we really need to continue to conquer the earth with our capitalism until there is a 7-11 and McDonalds in every corner of the world? Until there are freeways chomping through every area of pristine land? Until all the forests have been chopped down and transformed into urban and industrial sprawl? Can’t we contain ourselves with a little respect for the rest of the world? There are still people on this planet who enjoy living in the organic environment of nature, where electricity, motor vehicles, cells phones and I-pods aren’t a necessary aspect of life.They are able to survive, and thrive, quite well without all the modern accoutrements of modern life that we so desire, and many of them would like to remain as they are. And yet our attitude reveals an inner conviction that we have discovered â€Å"the way of the future† and must deliver this message in force to the rest of the world. Rather than continuing on our present course of a global takeover, we need to ask ourselves what we can learn from non-Westernized cultures that still live in ancient and earth-honoring ways, cultures that we tend to brutalize and greedily destroy.We need to learn to interact with these other cultures respectfully and humanely, allowing them their own way of life and sustenance upon this planet without interfering and coercing our interests and values upon them. Not everyone needs to drive a car on a freeway, to work in an office and live in a house in the city – if the 7,000,000,000 human beings now alive on the planet lived like this, our environmental devastation would likely expand exponentially.To expect a global conversion of all peoples in all places into an assimilation of our unique modern, technological way of life is stupid, insane and supremely unreasonable. However, like a big, proud, arrogant peacock strutting itself all over the planet, the United States continues making moves to engulf the globe with the gluttony of our own capitalistic enterprises, all the while disregarding and disrupting the dignity of other countries, cultures and peoples.Reflecting upon the impact of our very recent civilization upon other, much older, traditional and earth-based civilizations, as well as the planet itself, we should notice and consider the damages we have done, the violences we have perpetrated, and the miseries we have created †¦ We need to move beyond the Christian fantasy that we are a completely good and benign presence on the planet, that we are someho w â€Å"God’s chosen people† with a free pass to do whatever we want regardless of the consequences.We should think about how we can be less ego-centric, and seek to balance our technological advances with tending to the well-being of the earth, other cultures and one another. We should consider how to create more harmony in the world, and a little less profit. Indeed, many individuals and organizations are becoming increasingly devoted to a greater consciousness of how to live in ways that are â€Å"earth friendly. The overall pro-environmental movements are coming to be known as â€Å"green† movements, and they provide good and necessary developments toward a future in which humans could be of greater benefit than detriment to the planet. However, very much work and change remains to be done in this area. One problem inherent with these movements is that when we think about â€Å"saving the planet,† or â€Å"saving the polar bears,† we are still thinking abstractly. In truth, the planet was doing just fine before the advent of modern industry and technological society. Save the planet! † really means â€Å"Stop the humans from destroying the planet! † because we are only saving the planet from ourselves. Living our urban, fast-paced and machine-based lives, very few of us have time, energy or ability to keep gardens, raise livestock, hunt for our sustenance or otherwise live in any kind of experiential symbiosis with the planet. We live in suburban and citified concrete jungles where the animals have become cars, and the trees and forests are now banks, department stores and high rise apartment complexes.Because we have created our own processed environment of roads, cars, industry, buildings, malls, homes: an endless â€Å"urban sprawl† that houses an endless supply of manmade things; because we live in a world designed by capitalism, a world of incessant advertising, sales and the desperate, frantic p ursuit of material things – of production and products – a world molded and defined by television, radio and the chronic bombardment of salesmen; we rarely, if ever, experience an intimate connection with the natural world, with â€Å"the planet† we are hoping to save.Sure we can learn all about the planet, discovering the marvels of the earth in science magazines or through viewing compelling video footage of nature, we can learn all about the planet in schools, in laboratories or other second hand means, but until we have a sustained, direct encounter with the earth and nature itself, how can we truly know it, and what will it ever really mean to us? And how few of us will ever accomplish this?Indeed, as it now stands our â€Å"civilization† is composed of a people, and a culture, that have moved out of nature into man-created worlds based upon the destruction of nature †¦ and they call this evolution. Ultimately, it’s up to us to change the story, to write a new script, to realize who we are, what we have become, and to simply wake up to the realization of how we want our lives, and the life of our entire planet, to unfold †¦ So think about it, and let your thoughts permeate all that you do, for the existence of yourself and every other being around you may depend upon it.It’s both funny and sad that as soon as people leave their familiar comfort zone, when they are alone, say at a coffee shop or waiting in line for a bus, they automatically, almost reactively, reach for the cell phone to call or text someone who will reconnect them with the safe and familiar world from which they have momentarily wandered away.The average persons’ lack of ability, or willingness, to encounter an unknown situation or territory reveals their lack of tolerance for being alone, as well as their lack of curiosity or propensity to simply notice and appreciate their surroundings – as if their bodily senses had been nullified into a potential danger zone in which their very stability of self would quickly fragment should they let go a little, observe and potentially interact with the unfolding world around them.Yes, we’ve learned to live in little bubbles of safety which cut us off from our fellow-humans – we no longer live in the actual world, but in our own self-created worlds, via the latest form of technology. I suspect that our modern sense of security has been entrained to operate in collusion with these technological devices that have slyly entrapped our minds even as they have offered us incredible new possibilities.Our reliance on new and ever-advancing technologies, such as the mobile phone – which in a few short years has also become a mobile photo album, mobile internet, camera, video machine and multi-media entertainment center – has developed into quite a habit, an unconscious addiction that is shaping the very nature of our personalities, both persona l and collective, and even, God forbid, our souls. What need have we, the general public, for an imagination when so many limitlessly stimulating devices are available in our world?Who needs an inner world at all when the outer world of our own creations has become so evocative, so seducing, so ever-demanding, evasive and totalitarian? We are continually inundated with advertisements and societal pressures to acquire new technological distractions and modes of external stimulus. Living under such conditions, how is it possible for us to maintain or cultivate much of an inner world, or a soul, whatsoever?The underlying message of our media is commercial; in enforcing the demands of commerce upon us, we are defined primarily as consumers, persuaded not to think for ourselves, but to join in the latest collective frenzy of technological adventures that continually reinterpret the purpose of our lives. This never ending flood of media proclamations, while appearing as a material liberat ion, serves as a psychological oppression of the individual soul. Capitalism sells new versions of reality that may have nothing to do with one’s own true needs or sensibilities. However, it is the advertisers’ job to convince us otherwise.So far they are doing a pretty good job! The natural world, the earth itself; the air, the trees, the vast realms of animals, plants, oceans, deserts and mountains are increasingly losing meaning and value in the self-hypnotized, narcissistic lives of mechanized human beings. Although it is certainly an abomination of our essential heritage, we are ever-entrained to focus less and less on the natural world in which we live, and of which we are but one aspect – lest we forget – and more and more to focus on the world as fashioned through the minds and hands of men.It’s sad indeed when we ignore what is right before our eyes, i. e. our actual surrounding environment, and instead remain culled to a collective techno -vision of the ideal man-made life. It’s also sad when we ignore those human beings who are standing right in front of us because we’d prefer to text or talk with someone miles away, when we must remain overly-attached to those we know because we’ve lost our human capacity for interrelationship with our expanded world of fellow citizens who we now dismiss as strangers.Our advance in technology has engendered a compensating inversion in our capacity for compassion and community – which is to say, the further we develop our technology, the less we appear to maintain the qualities of a loving, caring and attentive human society. Being aware in the mystery of the present moment, tolerating the unknown, and tolerating states of non-stimulation is the first phase in moving towards a more attuned state of openness and potential interaction with the actual, non-virtual, world around us.However, we have been so conditioned by a perpetual bombardment of electronic stimuli – radio, television, computers, video games, mobile phones/entertainment centers, etc – that it has become difficult, albeit unappealing, for us to re-focus our attention on our actual physical, natural environment. A parallel outcome of our desensitization to the physical, natural world in which we live, is the subsequent degradation of our ecology, which entails our lack of emphasis or awareness on its living/breathing/fragile/organic nature.The danger of this, as many of us recognize, is potentially catastrophic; as we create and live in an increasingly human-made and virtual reality – wherein we believe we are safer, happier, more satisfied, etc – we also increasingly ignore the actual and natural reality in which we are encompassed, and risk the extinction of the environment through the excessive pollution, raiding and deforestation of the planet that we have witnessed since the rise of the industrial-technological age.The degradation of the natural world is problematic in many ways. Firstly, it appears to be morally and ethically wrong – at least to those of us whose ethics and morals outweigh our imperialistic drives – to destructively impact the earth, its ecosystems, i. e. rivers, oceans and forests, as well as animals, plants, trees, etc. One might ask, â€Å"What right have we humans to destroy the earth, simply for our own benefit? Is this not selfish and unnecessary? Many of us have asked this question, though it seems that the overall progress of our technologically based capitalism remains unwilling to curtail its invasions and usurpations of nature, or to halt its path of destruction for the sake of morals or ethics. Where the dollar bill is concerned, questions of right and wrong become thin and ineffectual, nearly meaningless. Secondly, the degradation of the natural environment is increasingly affecting the balance of the planet itself, which in turn contaminates our own quality of life.For a thorough overview of how human technology is damaging the planet, one has only to search through a plethora of books, TV specials, or movies on this topic (i. e. â€Å"An Inconvenient Truth†, by Al Gore). I will here mention only a few ways in which planetary degradation affects human life. In a recent trip to Lima, Peru I learned that Peruvians predominantly drive older used cars, from the 80s or 70s, which emit high levels of visible exhaust fumes making the air both toxic and putrid to breathe.Driving around town there is often no escape from these fumes which pour out of the car just in front of you. The situation is just as bad in many other developing â€Å"third world† countries around the globe. Even here in the United States, where we have increasingly stricter emissions controls on our vehicles, the air quality in some cities is very poor, and on certain days people are advised to avoid going â€Å"out of doors,† or allowing their children to play ou tside at all.In many countries, air pollution is severe and debilitating, and only getting worse. In addition to increasing the risk of respiratory disease, the eroding of the ozone layer has also increased the risk of skin cancer, and it’s become customary to slather on gobs of sunscreen lotion before going outside on a sunny day for any length of time. Industrial pollution has made our water supplies dirty, so they are zapped with chlorine, making our water not really enjoyable, or many would say, healthy to drink.As for our food, as genetic engineering takes hold, what we eat becomes increasingly tasteless and less nutritious. Although these are only a very few examples of the many problems made by technology, there is no denying that the degradation of the natural world leads to our own degradation. The third major impact of the degradation of nature is spiritual. As we become less attuned to the world of nature, which is gradually breaking down, our inherent connection t o the earth dissipates.We become less the â€Å"caretakers of the earth,† or participants in Her splendor of glory, and moreover the survivors of a man-made holocaust inflicted upon nature. We rationalize our disconnect from nature – those of us who are aware of it – with the heralding of a new age of technological transcendence. In comparison with all our own amazing discoveries, inventions and developments, we cannot believe that the earth is all that important. How can a handful of dirt compare to the glory of an I-phone?Our attitudes reveal a consensual belief that we are superior to and above the earth – as also evidenced by our scientific investigations into creating hospitable conditions on other planets, as well as expanded, city-size space stations in which we could begin to populate the greater universe, where we would, even more so, live in human-made, virtual reality realms. The bigger question is whether our spirits can survive – or th rive – in states of stark disconnection from the earth, our origin and planetary source of being†¦This sort of fantastic and futuristic evolution is in line with our reigning religion of Christianity, in which our sinful earthbound lives are to be potentially transformed through belief in Christ, when, upon the moment of our death, we are to ascend high into the heavens, into a cloud-like dimension above and beyond all the messy entanglements of this planet earth. With such a cosmo-vision, such a context of the goal of life, it’s no wonder the sanctity of the earth has lost its power to impel our actions.It seems only the portended threat of our own extinction will suffice to encourage us to behave differently. For if we are only to inhabit this earth for such a brief span of time – until our transcendence into a perfect eternity in another dimension – then what’s the big deal if we just abuse Her until we’re gone, because in the grand scheme of things She doesn’t matter much anyways. Christianity also teaches that, of all the creatures and life-forms upon this planet, only human beings have souls â€Å"that can be saved,† and thus make the transmigration beyond a mortal d