To quote Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” This seems quite applicable to the present state of affairs in our fair country. We are living in an age of both wisdom and foolishness.
I suggest that at the root of this dichotomy lies bad, or simply unworkable, technology. How do you know a technology is bad? By its observable results—not by its promises or “scientific” justifications. Good technologies lead us toward the best of times. Bad ones give us newspaper headlines and top stories on the 6 o’clock news.
We may have adopted bad technology for good reasons. And in most cases we probably thought it was good technology at the time. But results tell the story. If we’re getting bad results, then something needs to change—and odds are that the people reaping the bad tech profits aren’t going to be the ones to change things for the better.
Now that we’ve established that our addiction to fossil fuel is making life on this planet unsustainable, we need to shift over to good, sustainable technologies. That’s wisdom. To oppose it or cause unneeded delays is foolishness at best. Apply this to any less-than-optimum situation. Who is making positive changes? And on the other side of the dichotomy, who is using force to maintain patented profits and power to the benefit of the few and detriment of the many?
Often, pointing out what’s not working can lead us in a positive direction. Filmmaker Robert Kenner has done just that in his documentary Food, Inc., which “lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry.” Author and speaker Anna Lappé has connected the dots between our eating choices and climate change. And renowned chef Alice Waters had taken local, sustainable organic food into the schoolyard to show how easily we can make positive changes if we really want to do so.
We have good technology with the wisdom of natural, organic and sustainable products, alternative healthcare options and green technologies. We have the potential to reconnect with nature and adopt practices that will not only remedy old problems we’ve created but also lead us into a new era of harmony as responsible stewards of our bodies, plant and animal life and the future of our planet.
Because you’re reading this magazine, I’m sure you want a sustainable America. Well, it’s up to you and me to reach out to our fellow citizens and share our good technology through the Internet, through our stores and practices and in our daily lives. We’ll get the America we want and the best of times when the majority of us truly demand it.
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