of the Heart
Counseling
for the
Common Good
Observations to Guide Us
Everything on the planet—all material, energy, and work—has been freely given to be equally shared by all—those on two legs and four, those with wings, fins, and roots as well.
Human beings are the only creature on the planet to use money to conduct economic exchanges.
The economic system we have inherited and thus far adopted distributes resources, wealth, and labor unequally, and therefore inefficiently. We might learn from our non-human neighbors.
Restricting access to food, water, housing, healing, and education through fees paid for with money; restricting access to money through work; and restricting work based on the highest qualifications--and age, ability, gender, and race--benefits the few and deprives the many of the means of their survival.
The ways we choose to relate to money (earn as much as possible, in the least amount of time, and spend as you wish) have normalized the corruption of distrust, fear, cynicism, and selfishness.
Our natural state is one of peaceful contentment. In our daily lives, we are meant to feel safe, and well, and loved.
There is an inextricable entanglement between the accumulation of wealth, widespread scarcity, racial hierarchy, sexism, environmental degradation, and war.
The ills of this economic system upon our atmosphere, water, soil, neighbors, and ourselves are plainly evident. Extinctions, pollution, war, suicide, homelessness, and preventable disease are but a few.
If equality, freedom, and peace are the fundamental states by which we define societal health, and if we live in a period of extreme inequality, as we do, half of us must strive to earn more, while half of us strive to earn less, so we all meet in the middle to restore health.
For those above the median, who must strive to earn less, the first step involves reducing expenditures, especially on unnecessary consumption, debts, insurance, and taxes.
To avert an environmental catastrophe, we must universally strive to reduce fuel and electricity consumption, food waste, and unnecessary consumption of material goods and packaging.
When jobs are no longer sought for the purpose of increasing income and accumulating wealth, we will seek work for the purpose of caring for our neighbors and ourselves.
Such life-giving work includes caring for the land, water, and our neighbors by providing food, water, shelter, healing, education, and protection.
Reparations can never be made to those harmed by capitalism, including the planet, indigenous communities, persons of African descent, and women, until the beneficiaries of inequality who have accumulated savings are voluntarily willing and able to redistribute the surpluses to those who have no savings until we approach equality.
Americans, in particular, subscribe to a taboo against discussing alternative ways to relate to money and work which restricts our abilities to overcome the issues of racism, sexism, environmental dis-ease, violence, and war.
At the Quiet Revolution of the Heart, we do not subscribe to such taboos. Everything is on the table, for the sake of our health, relationships, freedom, and flourishing. Please, won't you put your shoulder to the plow and join us?
