Attitudes of an Earth Citizen?

Having been asked hundreds of times the connotation of the phrase Citizen of Earth, I thought it best to describe the attitudes, behaviors, and practices of one. Many will undoubtedly notice that my list of attributes calls for us to remember and act with the same symbiotic qualities as our animal cousins (also Citizens of Earth) which allow for this planet to sustain, and promote the continued thriving of all of its diverse organisms. That is the #1 imperative for the continuation of life on this planet. But more personally, if we really want our children and grandchildren to have a better life, (as many previous generations have asserted) then the only frontier we have to conquer is greed!

However, be clear that what I accord hearkens to all the great spiritual traditions since each faculty is imbued with the conscious intent (of which I believe is the aspect of Spirit in human animal nature) to achieve expansion, prosperity, justice and health for all God’s creatures. However, the Kleptocracy and its agents of shortage, greed, hording, exploitation, and waste, need not win and continue to put our planet in peril. Yet, if we believe the threat of contraction and scarcity then we ourselves will collude with the profiteers and enable our own decline.

All of Earth’s citizens may realize the state of well being through the elimination of the mindset of separation. The idea that “we are all one” while spouted by some as a substitute for individual action and at the same time used by others as to lambaste or mock those who believe in it; the ecosystem of the Earth and the economy which humans enact to distribute the bounty of the planet are inextricable linked i.e. ONE!

It is within this context that I list the following attitudes and behaviors.

As a Citizen of Earth, I strive to:

• Be mindful of all the energy I use: That of products consumed. Of calories consumed. Of motion and time used in any activity. How and on what I spend my money or resources. What emotions run me at any given moment.

• Continuously minimize the excesses of my life and to reduce my waste products whenever possible.

• Make the lives of all current living beings just, healthy, and provide whatever means I can to expand opportunities for them to realize their maximum potential.

• To show kindness and compassion for all while not disabling their natural capacity to assert themselves and overcome personal and community obstacles.

• Eliminate the support of conflict and war when the ends of said is mere profiteering.

• Maximizing the output of my energy everywhere in my life. By consuming no more than necessary; such as owning more than is of immediate use or need and by opting instead for effective minimization of needs and wants.

• Optimize beauty, pleasure, function, health, attention, self awareness and personal potency.

• Create peace and effectiveness by reducing needless energy drains: worries essential about survival, overwhelm due to habitual activity, environmental noise, and the burden of attending to excessive material possessions.

As a Citizen of Earth, I support these ideals:

• Sustain the Earths population of human beings while continuing to promote the balance of the ecosystem.

• Enable an Economic system that relies upon technologies that enhance human work, creativity and employment instead of reducing the number of workers or making people subservient to machines.

• Encourage and enable systems of governance where participation is rewarded, exclusion prohibited, and abstention penalized.

• Encourage true excellence and innovation in an Economic System based upon efficacy (effective solutions to real problems) rather than efficiency.

• Allow for the balanced, sustainable and equitable distribution of rewards for merit using a system of financial compensation of which the lowest and highest level of salary or recompense have a maximum span of 20 times.

• Private property, particularly that which provides housing, sustenance, appropriate recreation, or individual or joint livelihoods is enshrined.

• Competition  to challenge limitations and striving for excellence is desirable. But gamesmanship for profiteering, conquest, or destruction of other beings must be curtailed if not eliminated.

• Cooperation within a community and/or support group of interest is imperative.

• Truth, even when frightening or painful, is preferable to deception and misinformation.

• Reuse, Recycle, Re-purpose, Restore, Repair, Reduce, and  Reinvent, whenever possible. It is always possible!