Happy Earth Day. In 2010, 388 billionaires controlled as much wealth as the bottom half of humanity; this number came down to 177 in 2011, to 159 in 2012; 92 in 2013; 80 in 2014; and 62 in 2016; it shriveled to a mere 8 in 2017; by the end of this year, it seems, there will be only one.
We are at a critical juncture in the evolution of the planet, and in our evolution as a species. More than 90% of crop varieties have disappeared; some 75% of plant genetic diversity have been pushed to extinction by the monocultures of the mechanical mind. We are living in the age of the sixth extinction; this is the moment where we need to rejuvenate biodiversity on our farms and in our fields, in our kitchens and on our plates, to address the climate crisis, the health crisis, the crisis of corporate control over our food.
Food and agriculture are areas where we see clearly the failure of the industrial agriculture models imposed by global corporations. The so-called “modern” food and agriculture system, based on chemicals and GMOs, may be presented as efficient and productive, but they use 10 times more energy, have already destroyed 75% of the planet’s soil, water, and biodiversity, and are responsible for 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions which are driving climate change. While industrial agriculture is promoted as a solution to hunger, it is responsible for 75% of all ecological and health problems prevalent at the global level. Hunger, malnutrition, obesity, diabetes, allergies, cancers, and neurological disorders are intrinsic to the design of a greed driven, toxin based food system.
Colonization transforms abundance into scarcity, driven by the greed of a few. The story of the 1% is the story of greed without limits, without respect for the rights of others, without responsibility for the consequences of their actions. It is this contest between sharing and greed, between interconnectedness and privatization, between Oneness and the 1% that lies at the crux of this volume.
In an economy that is dominated by the 1% consumerism rules, and the 99% are denied even the most basic sustainability rights, including the right to food, water, and to work and livelihoods.
We can, through our creativity and imagination, through our solidarity and interconnectedness, create a planetary freedom movement through which we break free of the chains and walls constructed by the illusions of the mechanical mind, the money machine and the delusion of democracy.
We can reclaim and create real knowledge through real intelligence. We can reclaim and create real wealth with nature, through our creativity. We can sow the seeds of real freedom and earth democracy. Now has always been our time. This is the Resurgence of the Real. The real is our oneness and non-separability. The real is our lived and living intelligence. The real is our self organization, our creativity, our freedom. The real is our potential to sow the seeds of diversity, of hope, of compassion, of interconnectedness, of our common future.
– Dr. Vandana Shiva, Oneness vs. The 1%
