[music]
The world has always been caught between progressive
and destructive forces.
That duality is built into our nature.
Until now, most people would agree that the
steady momentum of progress had the upper
hand.
But looking into the future and the facts
of climate change and the accelerated impact
it's having on the planet, only a die-hard
optimist could contend that progress is still
the trend of the future.
The reality is that A world is coming to the
end, but not THE world.
A planet that cannot sustain itself, that
suffocates on oil and coal fumes, that is
decimated by disease or made unstable by refugees
fleeing from oppression or inhospitable conditions
won't literally end.
But it’s perfectly logical to predict that
human evolution could move backward on account
of our collective abuse of planet earth.
Envision a future where a tiny minority of
people live off the fat of the planet while
billions more are dispossessed.
We must face the possibility that this relentless
appetite has to be curbed and that the moral
values of narrow tribalism, crude nationalism,
and religious intolerance that further fuel
our collective decay must be altered.
Here’s the solution: If each of us could
aspire to express our expanded self, and if
we could share the knowledge and experience
of one another, perhaps we could create an
environment based on respect for life, and
achieve a restoration of balance in the oceans,
the forests and the wilderness.
In such a society we would see clearly that
love is the ultimate force at the heart of
the universe.
We’re facing a dramatic choice that will
determine the course of all human civilization.
Either we can stem the tide and collectively
seize a glorious future of human and planetary
prosperity or we can continue down the dark
path of ecological annihilation.
The planet will go on.
Humans on the other hand – well, that’s
up to us.
