Three generations ago the United States, involved in a global conflict against the will of most of Americans – until the Japanese government attacked the U.S. Navy in Pearl Harbor – became a role model to the human family of courage, determination, and compassion in victory. Japan and Germany, the causes of World War II, were destroyed by Allied militaries and reconstructed by American largesse to become the most powerful economies in the world outside of the United States until the creation of the European Union and the recent emergence of China, India, and Brazil as nascent economic superpowers.
The men and women of that time were Citizens, charged with the responsibilities of Citizenship, guardians of a cherished political freedom later made more precious by the rise of the Soviet Union and the Cold War. Citizens came to the rescue as Nazi bombs fell on England and Japanese bombs fell on Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, Wake and Midway Islands, British Malaysia, and Thailand in a single day. Citizens bought war bonds, worked in factories, and labored to defeat the greatest threat to civilizations east and west in human history. Inspired by the defiance of the British, courageous resistance on the continent, and the humiliating loss of so much of the Pacific fleet, Citizens set the intention to work together, do what was necessary to protect themselves and their children, and they did.
Today few Citizens remain. I do not mean old people who lived during those challenging times, but grateful inheritors of that great legacy. “Consumers,” who are often unaware of that legacy, have replaced Citizens who see themselves as responsible for its safe–keeping and further development. A nation of great Citizens, such as the United States and Briton once were, is not the same as a nation of indebted “consumers.” “Consumers” account for 72% of the American economy, and as we are seeing, when U.S. “consumers” increase or decrease their “consumption,” economies around the world expand or contract.
Does becoming a great Citizen inspire you, or becoming a great consumer? Which creates the legacy that you want to leave? Do you care enough about others to create a legacy? These are not questions for Americans only. They are questions for all people in all “consumer” countries. Consumers focus on themselves. Citizens focus on more. Consumers do not think about the effects of their actions. Citizens do. The transformation of consumers back into Citizens now lies at the heart of spiritual development, but not the transformation of national consumers into new national Citizens. It means the expansion of awareness, responsibility, and care beyond nation, culture, religion, race, and sex; the self–creation within each of us by each of us of a Citizen of the Universe whose allegiance is to Life first and all else second, including consumption. Spiritual development and the transformation of a world of waste, violence, and neglect into a world of aware, responsible, and grateful Citizens are not so different. In fact, they are not different at all.
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Copyright © 2008 by Gary Zukav. All rights reserved.
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