Since this is the holiday season, I want to diverge a little bit from my usual format but still of course focus on the principles of sustainability.

The three pillars of sustainability are economy, society and environment, which can also be translates as  profit, people, and planet. Now I am quite certain that the environment would be just fine without any people.  But, without people there is also no society and no economy. Consequently,  we must address all three pillars to be successful. But what I want to focus on in this episode is the people. 

That said, I do see changes in our society that I find discouraging and sometimes I start to loose my faith in humanity because of it. And that is what I want to discuss in this episode which is called Faith in Humanity.

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E55 which is called Faith in Humanity. 

At this point, I think we could all agree that we live in very different and perhaps unprecedented and certainly unpredictable times.

Obvious climate change, questionable national leadership unlike nothing that we have ever seen before, a questionable economy, a pandemic, severe droughts, forest fires that almost seem apocalyptic, hurricanes, flooding, and civil unrest not seen in this country since the 1960’s.

As if this is not enough, our daily media diet is nothing more than a buffet of bad. Depending on the study you read, 87% of national reporting is negative, 64% of articles in scientific journals are negative, 53% of regional reporting is negative, and 51% of international reporting is negative. 

We hear everyday, all day long, about how the world is falling apart. Recent surveys reveal that less than 17% of Americans actually believe that the federal government will do the right thing. Then there are fears of global disruption of our supply chain. With all this bad news it is easy to loose hope and it is no wonder that 1 in 6 Americans take some form of psychiatric drug. 

And yes we live in a very different world than what we did even 5 years ago. And while this may cause some uneasy feelings for most, I do think it is causing some changes in our culture. But before I get to that, allow me to digress a little so that you understand where I am coming from.  

My grandparents grew up in the era of the Great Depression. They were married in their early adult years and were given some acreage as a wedding present. That land was part of a homestead property that had been in the family for some time. They built a house, moved onto the property and that is essentially where they stayed for the remainder of their lives. 

That is where my mother was raised and that was one of two working farms in my family. And it was on these farms that I spent much of my childhood. All in all, I thought my parents did well enough in raising four children considering neither one of the them even graduated from high school. 

Interestingly enough, three of the four of us went on to get advanced degrees. But I think a big part of that is simply because we were taught to never be afraid to work for what you want. But, also part of how we were raised is that we simply did not have a lot. We never really did without anything but we also rarely had any extra. 

Consequently, we all went to work at a fairly young age. One or more of us would sometimes spend months helping on the farms. I was also doing odd jobs and yard work for extra cash from the the time I was twelve. 

Now I am certain that all of us could be very critical of our parents in many ways. But, without a doubt one positive thing I can say is that my parents instilled in us a very strong work ethic which I feel has driven much of my success in life. The other side to that coin is that I was always taught to appreciate what ever it is that I have, which is some ways is why I think it truly takes very little to make me happy.

In all the right ways, my parents provided us with what was needed: respectful treatment, shelter from the weather, healthy food, doctor and dental check ups, decent clothing,  and an education. Anything beyond that we had to work for and it was considered a privilege.  And maybe this is why I am so content to live a minimalistic lifestyle on the homestead. It simply makes me happy. 

So, coming from that perspective, I sit back in awe at times wondering about the future of our culture. I wonder when it is we are all going to get our heads out of our backsides and realize that no one is going to swoop down and save the planet. It is truly up to all of us gain a deep sense of enlightenment about our situation from a sustainable perspective and make significant changes. But that is not what I see everyday. 

Despite all that is going on in the world, the average American continues to live an overly consumptive lifestyle, continues to want more, spend more, get further in debt, and continues to produce more waste and consume more resources each day than 50 people in an under developed country. 

With all of this, it is easy to see why I loose faith in humanity at times.   

Furthermore, it seems that almost on a daily basis I deal with impatient, entitled people that are enormously “put off” because they had to wait 10 minutes for services. Often I think of those clients I’ve seen in other countries that waited 6 hours without a single complaint because they were simply grateful that you were there in the first place. 

On a regular basis I become discourage because we live in the midst of a culture that teaches us by example that we do not have to actually be responsible for our own choices. It seems to me sometimes that so many people walk around with a huge chip of entitlement on their shoulder all the while thinking they are the ones that should be the next special “exception” to the rule. Furthermore, I commonly see bumper stickers and license plates openly displaying why that particular person is “special” in some way.  It never seems to end. 

It seems to me at times that we truly live in a self centered, narcissistic, entitled era of “you owe me.” There was a time in this country when people literally worked hard their entire lives to have a comfortable retirement. Now during our pandemic there are literally millions of people refusing to go back to work. It is absolutely astounding. 

And it also seems to me that this pandemic that we are presently experiencing is making people even more angry. And I thought is was just my biased opinion. But I went to work in a new hospital last week and one of the veterinarians there asked me if I thought this pandemic had made people even more angry and entitled. I of course said yes that is exactly what I have noticed. 

One of the things I never appreciated about how I was raised is that is was very limiting in some ways, meaning that your social engagement was limited, you were not taught much about the world.  I think that is one of the reasons for my love of travel and experiencing other cultures. I have spent time in my career working with a wide range of people from those that literally live in the jungle in a hand made hut and dirt floor to those that live in mansions and have billions of dollars. Such experience truly gives you a different perspective. 

But when you spend your entire life living in a culture where you can have anything you want any time you want, you get conditioned to thinking that is how life is and in fact that is how life ought to be. And you start thinking that is what you are entitled too. And that is why I think so many of us are now more angry.  For a short period of time during our pandemic what we think we are entitle too got taken away. And that make us angry. 

But while many of us are angry over what we think we are entitled too we so easily forget that in other parts of the world poverty, oppression, starvation, and injustice so frequently prevails. 

So you see, this is why I loose faith in humanity at times. And I do not think I am alone in these feelings. 

But then out of no where you occasionally meet a person that restores your faith in humanity. It is because they offer some tiny little hint that there are people in the world that are worth saving. Typically it is someone that has absolutely no presumption over what you “owe” them.  It is someone that has made the most out of their lives despite their unfortunate circumstances. They smile as they walk through life. They appreciate the services you offer. They have a kind nature about them. And when they leave your company you feel as if you finally met a true old soul that brings value into the world.  

I met someone like this recently. She was a client with a sweet dog that had some severe, unresolved health issues. I was proposing some expensive diagnostics and was carefully explaining why that was the best course of action. She smiled and thanked me for the information. She then asked a few questions about “why this or why that” but was happy to proceed. I explained it may take a day or two to obtain results and that I would call her as soon as I had some further information. She again was grateful for what I offered. 

I asked her when the symptoms started. She stated it was after her and her husband had moved to Denver from Kansas City. Since she was a little older I asked what had prompted the move. She said her husband had been a Vietnam veteran and lost both of his legs. He was of course in a wheel chair. He simply wanted to move back to Denver to spend the rest of his life because that was where he was born. 

Oh yes, I failed to mention that this client had obviously been involved in a bad fire. She had extensive burns over her facial area, arms, and chest. She had obviously had numerous skin grafts and cosmetic procedures. Yet the physical deformity was still present and quite obvious. 

After she left the clinic I could not help but wonder if I would have the same measure of courage in the face of such adversity. I wondered if I would remain kind, unassuming, and thankful. Yet these are the very traits we all need to face our ever changing world. 

And yes on that day in some small little way my faith in humanity was restored. But it was also a reminder to me to always be grateful for what I have, always be kind no matter what, and above all do no harm. 

This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.  

Patrick