Maybe I’m wrong.

Maybe I’m wrong.

I think that most of the problems in our society are due to a lack of efficiency from government. Private companies should take a more significant role in taking on societal challenges. They are all that we can rely on. But maybe I’m wrong.

All green people are greedy and can’t be trusted. They all eat the same thing and they smell funny. I’ve never been friends with a green person and I’m sure I never will be. But, maybe I’m wrong?

If we are unable to question our own ideas and opinions, to look in the mirror and ask whether we are wrong, how are we to progress? To have the courage and the humility to challenge your own ego and test whether perhaps your thoughts are dragging you down, is essential. It is a challenge to cultivate patience and to carefully ask yourself whether you are still on track. As long as we cling to ideas which are outdated and no longer relevant, we will struggle to progress as individuals and as a society. We have so many big challenges as the human race in this time of rapid population growth, diseases of affluence, technological advance, environmental pressure and space exploration to name a few modern trends.

In life we establish ideas based on what we observe in our environment, but once the environment or our perception of it changes, we need to change our behaviour as well. When the time comes, we need to update our old selves, make new connections and move into new areas of thought and action. If we sincerely listen to what others have to say and to what the environment tells us, we will have the opportunity to shift into more efficient and more pleasant forms being. The inability to become aware of irrelevant and useless concepts keeps our potential dormant and prevents us from fully realizing who we are and what we are capable of.

“Many of us go through the motions in life without fully realizing our potential for greatness…Passing routinely through the events in one’s lifetime, from one to the next without honest reflection or examination of the meaning in them and how each experience shapes us personally, denies us that potential.”

Chirsty Turlington in Living Yoga.

An individual or an organization may decorate their outdated ideas with clever words or marketing schemes, but ultimately the truth will decide the fate of such a person or group. Here are some examples of ideas or concepts which I believe should be revisited with regard to their relevance to society. Hopefully these organisations and concepts can adapt and become better suited to our ever changing world, before they collapse and cause collateral damage. I may be totally ignorant with regard to some of these ideas, but maybe you can shed light on some of these topics and help me to update my own beliefs? Thanks!

The following is a broad list of concepts which I think are slightly archaic and may require revisiting, rethinking and some even eradicating:

• The military and how murder is acceptable in the name of ‘national defense’
• Dirty energy
• Patriotism, racism, homophobia and other forms of arbitrary hatred
• Land fills and non recyclable or non reusable products
• Chemicals in food and water, genetically modified organisms and junk ‘food’
• Television and invasive forms of advertising
• Prison systems
• Animal testing
• The pharmaceutical industry
• The definition of luxury and the arbitrary assignment of value eg. Fashion
• Unnecessary packaging of products
• The safety of alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine
• Factory farming 

And pop music.