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Earth Day Contemplations
“Dumbing down of America” has been a buzz line for years. Do you ever wonder if or how that’s happening to you? What shape does it take today in our rapidly changing world? Are we comprehending how this is affecting all life and our ability to survive? It seems that we must strive to understand the obvious results of being dumbed down, and we must be willing and sometimes courageous enough to ask questions.
Questions open the door to answers. Answers expand the picture. So asking questions can be very helpful to each of us to better understand the larger picture, the interconnectedness of everything.
How well are we functioning as family, as community, as a nation, as humanity in the world? Do we actually try to understand one another? Or is our lack of knowledge interfering with our collective problem-solving ability?
Are we free to lead our lives in a fashion that allows our potential to fully mature? Do jobs or everyday actions reflect our individual gifts brought to fulfillment in service to our communities?
Am I monitoring the snares of materialism and the consequences of capitalism—am I truly free anymore? Do I have a choice on how I spend my time, my days, my life, and energy?
Be it for survival, for friendship, for comfort and love, we must be able to come together as a community. A part of every person shares this longing for any or all of this list.
Is it not the act of a dumbed-down populace to remove the very trees that clean our air and provide our oxygen?
To destroy the healthy quality of water so necessary for life?
To turn our attention away from holding the Earth with reverence for sustaining our very lives?
Is it not the failure of a dumbed-down nation to miss the opportunity to share our wealth with the whole world so everyone would have a home, clean running water, healthy waste systems, and food for all?
Is it not dumbed-down to have forgotten love, joy, and peace?
Maybe the contemplation of these questions will give each of us personal answers to how we must each move forward. Move out of the stupor into the light of knowledge and reason. Do not allow yourself to be so dumbed down that you cannot act. Become good at asking questions, and listen to the answers.
Nadananda and Kathy Glass
2007