The Quantum Revolution
Creating a More Sustainable, Holistic, and Enlightened World
Alan Watts: What if Money Wasn’t The Most Important Thing
The philosopher/Zen teacher Alan Watts was a Quantum Revolutionary.
Quantum Revolutionaries are people living and dead, who have made an indelible mark on the lives of others and of society in a way that truly raises awareness and consciousness, and makes a difference.
Alan Watts
They are transformational figures, folks from various walks of life who in one way or another are bringing the consciousness revolution and Quantum Revolution to the forefront.
Alan Watts was a Quantum Revolutionary became he was committed to transformation through understanding and speaking out about the radical truth, and he was also committed to helping people understand and get past the taboo against knowing who they are.
In the short video clip above, Alan Watts talks about one taboo: the subject of Money, and what if it was not an object to recklessly pursue.
What if, he asks, we pursued our dreams in life, our passions, and didn’t think about whether we could make money at it? As Watts points out, if you walk the path of what makes you happy, if you take the road less taken, and don’t let the pursuit of money be your primary goal, eventually it will work out.
In our money-driven society, this is a refreshing reminder that financial success doesn’t always equal happiness and that you should pursue what truly matters to you every day.
If people focused on what made them happy when pursuing their life’s work, it would truly be a transformative process. When people are happy, and doing good work that doesn’t harm others, it makes for a better world.
The writers of the U.S. Constitution knew this when they wrote in the Declaration of Independence that all people have the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – this was an important component to democracy.
But what is happiness? is it buying bigger and more expensive things? No, it’s feeling that the kind of work you do is a full expression of who you are as a human being.
And that’s what Alan Watts gets at in the short video above. Watch it, and when you do, I hope it inspires you to find your way.
Quote of the Day: 5/10/13 – Plato
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”- Plato
Quote of the Day: 5/7/13 – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“We have flown the air like birds and swim the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Global Zero: Imagine a World Without Nuclear Weapons
There are currently 17,000 nuclear weapons on Earth. How can we ever live peacefully and sanely on this planet with such a persistent and pervasive threat hovering over us?
Twenty years after the Cold War, maintaining vast arsenals of mass destruction – at a staggering cost of $1 trillion per decade globally – makes no sense, strategically or financially. Nuclear weapons undermine global stability. We need to reset our priorities, abandon outdated thinking on global security and set the world’s course to global zero.
21st century global security can’t be built on the Cold War idea of basing national security on the threat of mass destruction. The ability to completely annihilate populations, infrastructure and the environment doesn’t make us safer or more secure.
There is an organization doing something about it: Global Zero.
Global Zero has emerged as one of the most remarkable social movements in history.
Powered by a visionary group of 300 leaders and experts, and the relentless creativity, energy and optimism of young people and half a million citizens worldwide, Global Zero is challenging the 20th century idea of basing national security on the threat of mass destruction – and together they are making real progress on the road to global zero.
Global Zero leaders understand that the only way to eliminate the nuclear threat – including proliferation and nuclear terrorism – is to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, secure all nuclear materials and eliminate all nuclear weapons: global zero.
They have spent years building a nonpartisan, international community of influential political, military, business, civic and faith leaders – matched by a powerful global grassroots movement. And Global Zero is not tilting at windmills – they’ve got a plan that is backed by experts and leading newspapers worldwide. The challenge now is getting world leaders to act on it – and only an unprecedented international demand for zero can create the necessary political will to make it happen.
No one wants to see the mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb
The only way to eliminate the existential nuclear threat is to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, secure all nuclear materials and eliminate all nuclear weapons: “global zero.”
There are nine countries that possess nuclear weapons today, including: (1) Russia with approximately 8,500; (2) the United States with approximately 7,700; (3) France with fewer than 300; (4) China with approximately 240; (5) the United Kingdom with fewer than 225; (6) Pakistan with 90-110; (7) India with 80-100; (8) Israel, which is believed to possess 80 weapons; and (9) North Korea, which is estimated to possess enough plutonium for up to 10 fission bombs.
Global Zero’s plan is backed by political leaders, military commanders and national security experts worldwide. And with the re-election of President Obama – a passionate supporter of Global Zero – 2013 could mark the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons. But not without strong, sustained and urgent support from the public, leaders and the media.
To find out more and to sign their petition, check out Global Zero’s website.
And watch the below short video with Naomi Watts and Valerie Plame Wilson speaking about how the money saved from cutting out nuclear weapons could be much better spent on education and other more important things:
Quote of the Day: 5/2/13 – Mahatma Gandhi
“1) Start where you are 2) Use what you have 3) Do what you can.” – Gandhi’s advice on creating positive change in the world
Quote of the Day: 4/30/13 – Don Beck
“It’s not that we need to form new organizations. It’s simply that we have to awaken to new ways of thinking. I believe it makes no sense to spend a lot of time attacking the current realities. It is time to create the new models that have in them the complexity that makes the older systems obsolete. And to the extent that we can do that, and do that quickly, I think we can provide what will be necessary for a major breakthrough for the future.” – Don Beck
The Obesity Apocalypse is Coming
To create a positive change in the U.S. and world towards a more holistic, sustainable and enlightened society – in other words, a Quantum Revolution – one of the areas that has to be addressed is health and getting people healthier and wellness oriented.
Health and wellness is an area that, for all the wonders that modern medicine has to offer, isn’t a strong suit of modern medicine. Sick care is modern medicine’s strength, but helping people get healthy escapes the capabilities of modern medicine – it’s just not in the paradigm.
For example, let’s look at the level of obesity in the U.S.
Statistics show that obesity is rapidly reaching epidemic proportions. Already the U.S. is the most obese nation on the planet. And the truth is that if we don’t address this in a health-promoting way and instead continue with the path we’re on, something ugly will be looming on the horizon.
And that something ugly is the obesity apocalypse.
If current trends continue, this apocalypse will occur in 2030. That’s the year, according to a study that came out in the August 2008 edition of the medical journal Obesity, that nearly every American will be overweight or obese.
The study, led by Dr. Youfa Wang of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, says that if current overweight and obesity trends continue, 86 percent of Americans could be overweight or obese by the year 2030.
And even more troubling, the authors note, is the fact that “by 2048, all American adults would become overweight or obese.”
Shades of the Pixar film Wall-E. In that film, 700 years in the future, the inhabitants of earth are forced to evacuate the planet, because due to mass consumerism the entire planet is covered with trash. The people of earth are now living in space on starliners, and are grossly obese and no longer able to walk. They have to rely on motorized hovercrafts to get them around.
Dr. Wang of John Hopkins also said that the increase in metabolic disease and other weight-related conditions could have a catastrophic toll on public health — and on the public pocket. If these predictions come to bear, Wang and his colleagues estimate that the additional overweight and obesity burden could add up to an extra $860 billion to $956 billion per year in health expenditures to treat these conditions.
All told, this would mean that $1 in every $6 spent on health care would be spent as a result of the overweight and obesity.
The reality is that if those dollar figures quoted above are spent on the health demands of obesity, it will bankrupt this nation. We can reform health care until we’re blue in the face, we can create a single payer system that is compassionate, caring and exceeds expectations, but if we have that level of burden to pay on health care, the only way to rescue the U.S. economy will be if every person in the country is allowed to have a printing press in their home in order to print up money.
Obviously, we are in dire need of reversing course, and doing it soon…or else.
Dr. David Katz, co-founder of the Yale University Prevention Research Center says, “We are terribly, ominously off-course. To close the gap, we need to fix everything that’s broken — from neighborhoods without sidewalks, to the high price of produce, to food marketing to children, to misleading health claims on food packages, to school days devoid of physical activity and school cafeterias devoid of healthful offerings. The list goes on and on.
”
Others state that the path to reversing course lie in individuals taking responsibility for diet and lifestyle habits. Dr. Neal Barnard, founder and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and a staunch supporter of a vegetarian diet, says dietary modification could be a crucial step in solving the problem.
“U.S. eating habits are nowhere near where they should be,” he says. “The average American eats 50 pounds more meat and 20 pounds more cheese per year, compared to the 1960s. … I would strongly encourage Americans to adopt more vegetarian meals.”
Soon we will be at a crossroads. On one path is the road to obesity, predicated on the continuation of the old ways of doing things, while on the other path is the trail towards better health and a better way, predicated on the proliferation of the new way of doing things.
The choice is ours.
Quote of the Day: 4/23/13 – Peter Drucker
“Every few hundred years in western history there occurs a sharp transformation. Within a few short decades, society – its worldview, its basic values, its social and political structures, its arts, its key institutions – rearranges itself… We are currently living through such a time.” – Peter Drucker
Quote of the Day: 4/20/13 – Don Beck
“Evolution and revolution are part of our nature. Many believe we are passing through such a momentous transformation, a major turning point, a history-making sea change. A new and entirely different pattern of thought is beginning to emerge worldwide and in various fields of human activity.” – Dr. Don Beck
