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Tomorrow is the equinox, when day and night are of equal length across the planet. Day and night are always of equal length at the equator, but for the rest of us, because of the Earth’s tilt as it circles the sun, we only have two such days each year.
I like to pause at the equinox to consider this moment of balance. MOGO is a balancing act. It isn’t always simple to know what does the most good and the least harm, and even when we know, it’s not always easy to act on this knowledge. What does the most good for the natural world, other species, and other people may conflict with what, in the short term, does the most good for us as individuals. And what does the most good for one species (usually humans) may be harmful to others.
In the long term, the MOGO choice is often quite clear, but our short term needs, desires, and passions often eclipse our wisdom. As Dr. Edward O. Wilson has written in his book Biophilia, “To choose what is best for the near future is easy. To choose what is best for the distant future is also easy. But to choose what is best for both the near and distant futures is a hard task, often internally contradictory, and requiring ethical codes yet to be formulated.”
As we all know from personal experience, when we only choose what is best for the near future, we endanger our distant future. We must extend this knowledge. We need to find the balance between the near and distant future in all aspects of life, government, and commerce. But what would it mean to formulate ethical codes that consider the future? What would economic and political models look like? How would our daily choices be affected? How would our personal life goals shift?
How do YOU find a balance?
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | balance, Biophilia, E.O. Wilson, equinox, ethical codes, future, What is best?
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Thank you for this. I really appreciate the concept of “most good least harm” because it frees us from the inclination to focus so closely on the black-and-white world of good and bad that we miss the grey area where most of life resides. I think there is a way in which a desire for balance helps us accept the “extremes” of human behavior. If we don’t experience extreme situations from time to time, we might not recognize balance when it occurs. Individually and as a species, we seem to treat the short term future with more respect than the long term, probably because the foreseeable future (if such a thing exists) is easier to grasp and manage. In order to make policies for the long term health of humans, the Earth and all species, we would need to take responsibility for shaping that future and embracing the notion that we determine our destiny, it isn’t something that happens to us. I believe that vigilantly implementing small, personal, humane and sustainable practices in our own lives will help us create templates for large, long-lasting change on a global scale.
What “mp champeau” says about being freed from viewing our world from a black and white mindset really resonates with me. It gives us space to continuously redefine this concept based on the circumstances we find ourselves in.
In general, find that the less heady I am about this concept and the more I live from a place of heart, the easier it is to grapple with the complexity of it.
As a volunteer, I recently attended an holistic intensive retreat for 20-30 year-old women uncovering, rediscovering and reclaiming their lives from past addictions (drug, alcohol, relationships), eating disorders and other crises.
Upon doing a Spring season-based ritual at a local beach with them, the MOGO concept suddenly became very clear to me. When I spotted a small snail in one of the shells that was to be dipped into the Pacific Ocean as part of this intention-setting exercise, I wondered if speaking up in that moment was “appropriate.” Just as the shells were to be carried off, I exclaimed, “Wait, I see a snail and I want to save her.”
The whole group of women gave a sigh of relief and cheered for her safety. Shortly after, the Educational Director of the organization commented that recovery was for the women personally but that in the context of what was happening in the world today, that their healing would only contribute to global healing (karmic yoga in a sense – and responsbility and choice like “mp champeau” referenced as well). These are our future leaders.
These are like minutia stories in the big picture of our prevailing cultural stories, but I belive that every time these kinds of conversations happen that we raise the bar higher and higher for achieving the kind of balance we’re speaking about.
Thank you, Zoe.
Zoe asks some difficult and heady questions. I am going to focus on answering a question that I think is implied: “how do you go about making your decisions and choices?”
Given the nature of people to focus on short-term gains and narrow self-interest at the expense of the long-term sustainability and community goals, I think it is important to bring to the table a healthy skepticism of all things status quo. This can serve as a counter-balance that forces us to examine our actions as opposed to just blindly accepting the way things are as givens that we must participate in and support.
Added to this, we must address issues and actions from a place of selflessness and love for all involved. We should not ask ourselves “what is best for us?” (for the answer to this will come unbidden), but instead, “what is best for all beings and the environment, including those who will be here generations after us?”
When someone is affected by our laws or our actions, we need to put ourselves in those beings’ shoes and ask, “what would I want to happen if I were them?” And we need to seek informed answers to that question, by obtaining the answers as much as possible from “the horse’s mouth.”
If our choices affect people, meet and talk with them, or read their writings about the subject. If it involves animals, learn about the natural behavior and needs of that species and how the choice will impact them as individuals and as a species. Get information from all constituencies affected by the choices and skew your concern towards those beings who are the weakest and least powerful, as their voices will tend to be drowned out or ignored.
Sadly, the above does not come naturally for many of us, it takes discipline, courage, strength, and eternal vigilance. But if we want to follow our often-professed values of compassion, respect, and love, and create a peaceful and just society, such a path must be walked.
I wish you all well on your journeys!
Freeman Wicklund
I know the phrase, “Think globally, act locally”, is sort of a cliche but is it really any more difficult to, paraphrasing EO Wilson, “Think for the future, act now”? (Coining a new cliche)