We Are Reaching A Tipping Point

Living simply helps push us back from the brink, Image: Guy Billout

While looking through my writing file today I came across an old draft, and was unsure of why I didn't post it when I wrote it. The ideas are as applicable today, if not more so.

November 20, 2009

You don't need to be a Hopi elder to see that there are seriously strange days ahead. Climate change, an aging population, peak oil, H1N1, water shortages, and continued use of violence and war as the way to solve problems are only some of the things slapping us in the face.

The continuing global economic meltdown is a beast all on its own. Everything seems to be racing toward a tipping point. Are you prepared? Do you feel confident moving forward?

Those with vested interests are trying to convince us that things are improving. Or that technology will come along that will enable us to deal with all our problems. Some deny that the problems even exist.

We have been lulled into near-comatose complacency over the past several decades, trusting that government and corporate interests were aligned with the people's.

Governments around the world are lavishing our cash upon the gatekeepers of a broken system. With record debt loads, the coming years will see government, corporate and personal cuts in spending. Expect higher taxes and fewer services.

We are rapidly tipping toward a day when we will all be required to fend for ourselves, whether due to an extended power outage, water shortages, or economic collapse. Daniel Pinchbeck writes that, "the support structures upon which we have relied are dangerously corrupt and no longer dependable."

One reason I am a proponent of voluntary simplicity is that it allows me to focus on living according to my values. By living more self-sufficiently, I am reducing my dependence on, and support of, a corrupted, unsustainable system.

Radical changes in the way we live and how things are structured are needed. It will be a positive change as we readopt some of the ways of the past, and formulate new ones.

It will be a saner, slower, more sustainable life, once we adjust. It will prevent humanity from hitting the tipping point.