NEW does not automatically equal better
- Kashaya Templeton
- Feb 13, 2020
- 4 min read
It’s the AGE OF AQUARIUS! It’s time to dismantle the old and bring in the NEW!
And: I’m already tired hearing about it…
There is a lot of talk about how the golden age of Aquarius will dismantle the old and bring in the new! And hey: I’m all for it. I don’t think we need to discuss the fact that we are living in an unfair society in which we haven’t even been able to establish equal rights yet.
But; here’s the question: Are we aware that NEW does not automatically equal BETTER?
The original idea behind the insurance system for example was a deeply compassionate and social one. Whilst the idea of insuring goods and merchandise against theft and natural disasters has been around in one form or another for quite some time, it wasn’t until the late 19th century that countries started to discuss social welfare and health insurances for sickness, accidents, death and old age. The main idea behind any insurance system at its core still is a highly compassionate one: everyone pays monthly contributions into a pod and should one of us be unfortunate enough to fall ill and need surgery or our house burns down, then the money in said pod, will enable us to get back on our feet once more.
How compassionate is that? Isn’t that one of the foundation pillars of any community? One for all and all for one? Isn’t that a beautiful way of helping each other out?
I definitely won’t argue with the fact that a couple of hundred years down the line, the system got distorted and it feels like it’s more about making money these days than it is about helping each other.
But what I’m trying to say here is that the core idea behind the insurance system was a good one, a compassionate one, a social one.
I think we can all agree that many things are currently going very wrong on this planet. Humanity seems to be all about chasing the dollar, quite happily exploiting Mother Earth and all her resources in the process. It’s all about revenue and net profit. We are willing to treat employees like machines, rather than fellow human beings and racism, sexism and crime have simply become a part of our daily lives.
So yes! I’m ready for the NEW as well. I believe change is not only desired at this point, it’s a necessity.
However, I also believe we all ought to be aware that each and every one of us will forever leave a foot print no matter what we do. So the real question is: how can we ensure that the next steps we take as a human collective truly are for the better and for the greater good of all?
The latest “almond milk scandal” has clearly shown this: Due to the increased demand in alternative milk, mainly born out of the desire of many conscious people to make a change and eat vegan and vegetarian, the demand for almond milk has gone through the roof.
And what is the current consequence of that? The consequence is that countries all over the world have now started to grow huge almond fields. Also countries, in which almonds would not normally grow. And as a result of that, the pesticides residuals within the almond nuts have gone through the roof too, raising some serious questions about how much health benefits are now even left in those almonds as well as raising questions about sustainability, emissions, eco-friendliness and the impact the pollination has on our precious bees.
Furthermore, during the crucial phase of the Australian bush-fires in Australia in early January this year, $490 million worth of Australian water was sold to a Canadian pension fund, which in return was using that water mainly for a almond growing orchards in Canada, so the watering needs of those farms could be met.
Say what?!
So what I’m saying here is that we are all constantly leaving foot prints on this earth. And as the almond milk conundrum shows, is that even though we all thought we would be supporting an eco-friendly, organic, animal- and environmentally friendly solution, it now turns out: maybe not so much.
And just switching to coconut milk from now on might not be the solution here either because guess what: coconuts don't grow naturally in snowy Canada or Europe either and quite frankly, I don’t believe any of us fully understands the long-term impacts of that just yet either.
I don’t believe that neither the inventors of plastic bags, nor the inventors of cars originally set out on a mission to destroy the planet. No. They just all had what seemed like a great idea at the time and saw how much benefit their invention would bring to their fellow brothers and sisters in terms of comfort, convenience, mobility and human evolution.
We all want to bring in the new and have a positive impact, I just feel very strongly that NEW does not automatically equal better and that most of the time, the long-term impacts of any great new idea is very hard to foresee.
I for one had tons of “great ideas” in my personal life in the past, which I had to abort at one point or another, because they turned out not to be so great after all.
And isn’t the current almond milk situation just a small but perfect example of this? Maybe the golden age of Aquarius should not necessarily be about dismantling the old completely and bringing in the "new", but rather about keeping, cherishing and being grateful for everything that works, whilst finding new alternatives for everything that currently doesn’t work in the humble knowledge, that even some of those new ideas and alternatives won’t work out either.
I truly wish I had all the answers to this. I feel there are so many conscious people out there who truly desire to make a difference and change the world for the better. Myself included. But at the same time, I’m very aware that so many people before us tried to do just that too...
(If you fancy reading up some more about almond milk and its impacts, here are couple of articles:) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/07/honeybees-deaths-almonds-hives-aoe
(Copyright, all rights reserved: Kashaya Templeton 2020)
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