Here are some signs that Greed is Present:

Genocide

War

Poverty

Hunger

Racism

Sexism

Unemployment/Economic Insecurity

Hatred

Greed is the impetus for these.

We see the impact of Greed around the world. Governments want to begin austerity measures to cut costs and needed programs while tax rates for the wealthy remain very low. A minority of people and corporations are making out like the bandits they are while the rest of the world is watching its standard of living decline, its wages decline, its life decline.

Even worse, those who are not benefitting from the economic and corporate climate are blamed for their predicament. If we lived in a world with equanimity, then maybe one could make that argument but we don’t. Racism and Sexism still exist, like it or not. If you can’t see it then you haven’t been a victim of it, consider yourself lucky.

The stock market is a mirror for the chaotic and divided energy in the world. The volatility in the market is simply reflecting the polarization of the world. The world is being run like a multinational corporation, where most of the money goes to the top few.

If we truly want to stop these problems then we have to go to the root of the problem which is greed, otherwise we are just continuing the legacy for future generations. What is happening in the world in 2012 is not new.

The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing refers to both vested mutual/symbiotic interests of many businesses and business relationships and the saying of one thing while meaning the complete opposite thus hiding one’s true intention.  We experience this in our private lives and in the professional sphere. When people start losing their lives because of this, something has to change.

You see it is our intention and the intention of leaders and corporations that will truly determine if we meet the challenge  the Congo is providing for the world. Over 6 million innocent people have died and God is watching.

What will you do?

A WORLD FEAST and The Talking Stick Council

At least in the United States, we have always believed that the future generation will have a better life than we did and they have, until now and perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing.

Instead of bigger, better, more, perhaps what we need to entertain is the idea of sustainability for the world. This will ensure there is enough oil and gas and clean water and other things we depend upon not only to go around but to be there for future generations.

Just as Financial Markets and the Housing Market and the Economies of many countries have seen decline after a bubble it is foolish and naive to believe that anything including our lifestyles and livelihoods can or should continue to rise because it simply isn’t sustainable. What goes up, will come down.

We as a world will see our own bubble burst if we don’t take steps to consume less and use less. I’m not an advocate of the austerity measures sweeping the world. What I am suggesting is that we strive for sustainability. Countries that have a lot can use and take less so that countries that have little can have more. This doesn’t mean we lose anything, quite the opposite, we gain because we are ensuring that the world has enough of what it needs in order to thrive not just survive.

A World Feast

The world is much the same. It is comprised of all life on earth. The world is given opportunity to discover what is important and what matters. Some of us get it, others of us do not.  Now instead of just our own personal universe being affected, we have the ability to impact many others in the world by what we do or don’t do.

We seem to have grown so far apart from one another. Our lives have become very small and instead of looking out across the world in which we live, we focus narrowly on our own concerns, unaware of even the person standing in line behind us at the checkout counter.

Life is giving us an opportunity to discover what matters in the form of sacrifice by the Congolese people who are dying in the DR Congo daily. Will we respond with compassion and go to the aid of our fellow human beings or stand in judgement?

Will we stand up and condemn what is happening and hold accountable those responsible for Crimes Against Humanity, or look the other way, focusing on our own concerns?

How do we wish others would behave if we were in trouble and fighting for our very survival?

I hope we will discover what matters, and act accordingly with the intention to protect and preserve life wherever and whoever it belongs too.

A World Feast

There are many things for which almost all of us can be angry about. We may be unemployed, or underemployed. We may have a loved one fighting overseas. We may not have healthcare or enough money to feed our families. Whatever the issue, and these are all serious issues, I know one way out of our anger and pain, give to others what we wish to receive. That golden rule really does work if we are willing to be part of it. If we do it often enough, our lives will begin to change. Someone will help us.  And in doing unto others what we would have done to us, we are supporting the unity of life on earth, so necessary if we want to create change in the world that lasts.

I know, it probably sounds simple and quaint the Golden Rule, but I think we’ve veered so far away from caring for more than ourselves that drastic measures are needed i.e. a return to what works.

My friend who survived the Holocaust learned to give to others with no thought of himself or what he might get out of it.  He is generous and kind, and I know his caring comes back to him in a million ways each day.

Out of our own personal adversity, we can learn to have compassion and care for others, and when we need that helping hand it will be there for us.  If it is not, we get to dig deeper and give more until it does come.

If something as beautiful as the lotus can rise from mud, surely its not too late to change the course we are on as a world. Surly we can do more to help our fellow human beings and in the process rediscover what is truly important during this time of adversity and challenge. Hard times come, so do times of abundance, in both it matters that we maintain balance and give unto others what we would have given unto us.

Leave your comments.

A World Feast

It was greed dressed up as manifest destiny that justified the genocide of millions of Native Americans. It was greed that made it okay to enslave Black Africans who were then forced to work on plantations against their will. It was greed that drove the enslavement of Blacks in the Caribbean. It was greed that led to the Nazi Holocaust and the murder of over 6 million Jews. And it is greed that fuels the Genocides in the DR Congo, Sudan and Darfur. It is greed that is causing economic crises around the world. Greed speaks by saying, why should I help someone in need? It’s there fault if they cannot put food on the table or a roof over their heads.

Greed leads to the quest for power and the abuse of power. Everywhere you look, you can see the impact of greed. And since the power acquired isn’t real, it just leads to a cycle of more greed and abuse and the search for power.

Crimes agains humanity are being committed every day in places like the DR Congo because of greed. The quest for money and resources that make money has become the dominating drive in the world for many countries, governments, corporations, leaders and individuals. Everyone is caught up in acquiring. It may be on a smaller scale than a multinational corporation or a country like the US, but greed is there nonetheless.

We are on a deadly out of control course. What is happening in the Congo is an opportunity to change the course of humankind. The Congolese people hold a gift for the world in their suffering and we choose to judge and not see what is really happening. One day it will be too late to turn back and correct our course.

There are times in life when we have the opportunity to stand up and do the right thing. The time is now. Will we hear or heed the call before it is too late?

-A World Feast

Perhaps this is because there are so many vested interests in the Congo. So many vying for its resources as a source of immense wealth at the expense of so many innocent people’s lives.  Over 6 million innocent Congolese have lost their lives, the number now may be closer to 8 million, when you divide that amongst the billions of dollars made on Congo’s resources, most of which have not benefitted the average Congolese, human lives don’t appear to be worth much in today’s global economy.

Honestly just what does this say about the world we are living in?  What kind of message does this send to the world, to one another?  That each of us on earth is worth about a nickel if we allow this to continue. That means the average person on earth is worth less than a cup of coffee…..

This is truly an outrage. Any Government, Corporation, Business, Leader, or Individual responsible for Human Rights Violations Must Be Held Accountable.

So here is the truth, we live in a world where corporations have virtually no accountability. Their “right” to make money supersedes all other considerations, even the loss of innocent life. The highest court in the US is debating the validity of even having this issue brought before the court. Clearly there is a long way to go toward justice for people in places like the Congo who suffer as a result.

Human Rights Abuses are Crimes Against Humanity.  Clearly Corporations and Governments need to be made accountable for what happens to citizens in these countries. Human life needs to take a priority over profit- making.

Over 6 Million Dead

Just what does that really mean anyway?

6 million dead does not include all the people living and dying in refugee camps. Living and dying in camps with no food, no shelter and no medical care.  How long could you survive living under these conditions?

This sounds like a concentration camp.

If people in the Congo need to be relocated in order for mining to take place, why are Congolese citizens, innocent women, children, men, families, left to fend for themselves with nothing?

If they are to be relocated shouldn’t they have  shelter, food, clothing, medical care and a way of providing for themselves, perhaps farming equipment, animals for milk and meat, a way to make clothing etc?

With all the money coming out of the Congo, surely there is enough to spare to aid people who are being displaced.

Could it be that greed has so completely overtaken the Countries, Corporations, and Leaders who are profiting from the Congo, that money has become the only thing they care about?  This certainly seems to be the case.

These are crimes against humanity.

It is criminal and an act of genocide, to displace people  and give them nothing for their survival, knowing full well that to do so will indeed mean their untimely and deliberate death.

What does 6 million mean?

The A World Feast Team

This is why it is so very important that we as a world take action to stop genocide.

The conflict has its roots in the mid-70s. I was unaware of this until just a couple of days ago.  The US needed Cobalt for colored televisions so they went to Congo, a region rich in cobalt and it was there and then the birth of this money making machine was unleashed. It continues to this day and well into the 21st century.

Sadly we live in a world where big business and a few making a lot of money takes precedence over everything else including silencing the outrage  and the news coverage of Over 6 Million Lives Lost in the Congo Conflict.

It seems clear that once our leaders are able to look the Congo square in the face and see what is happening and take action, they will also be able to see and address Wall Street. Its the same issue in a different form.

The average citizen, which is most of us, is wiser than the government. Our vision is not clouded by acquiring money of late, but of sheer survival. So much have we seen our middle class standard of living falter and flee.

We the majority who have not lost our compassion, need to make our leaders hear and understand that what is going on in the Congo, the countries who participate in this, will suffer dire consequences and so will every citizen who lives within the boundaries of these countries.

its the responsibility of each one of us, and I will repeat this in other blogs, to take action in big and small ways to begin a dialogue about what is happening in Africa. It is from the very cradle of the world that salvation lies, and equally its destruction.  It is this important.

And in terms of the human cost, over 6 Million People lost is a travesty.