[Craic] The 5th anniversary(18 June) of Laudato Si (Letter to the Earth)

[Arthur Blomme]

Hi all

This June 18th is the fifth anniversary of the official release of 
Laudato Si.  I have found this document to be inspiring as I have made 
it the focus of my spiritual reflection this year. Below find  my 
attempt to honour this great document.

    In an episode of the TV Series, _Westworld_, Dolores, who is leader
    of the Artificial Intelligence Rebellion discusses whether humans
    have freewill.  Computers in the series have the capacity to predict
    final outcomes of individual human beings with great accuracy.

    I love Dolores' conclusion: "Humans  have free will but its difficult"

    It's so much easier to go with the flow and not make decisions.  Or
    in words from Laudato Si:
    "Our freedom fades when it is handed over to the blind forces of the
    unconscious, of immediate needs, of self-interest, and of violence.
    In this sense, we stand naked and exposed in the face of our
    ever-increasing power, lacking the wherewithal to control it. "

    Francis believes that our economic and political life is dominated
    by a technocratic paradigm where "the economy accepts every advance
    in technology with a view to profit"  This technocratic perspective
    is so pervasive that many are unable to conceive of any other
    possibility.  Technology and profits become the principle key to the
    meaning of existence.

    According to the logic of this perspective the following course of
    events in India is logical and acceptable  To facilitate Pandemic
    lock-down the poor have been driven from their places of work.
    Returning en masse to their home village they are now facing a
    plague of locusts and starvation.  Meanwhile the vast reserves of
    rice stored in Indian grainerys are being  turned into hand
    sanitizer this resource by providing the largest profit.

    Earlier on some of us weighed in with our opinions of  Michael
    Moore's On the Planet of the Humans <https://youtu.be/Zk11vI-7czE>.
       Although their may have been some inaccuracies in the advances of
    green technology It does clearly point out that there is no
    technological solution that will allow us to continue our
    technocratic life style by replacing gas cars with electric cars. 
    Laudato si call us to a much deeper metanoia.

    Yesterday (June 10) I attended the webinar Towards a Just Transition
    <https://youtu.be/0_Vysfrr-aI>moderated by Mark Hathaway.  The forum
    is described as "... they examined the ethical roots of the current
    ecological crisis, the responsibility of humans to the wider
    community of life, and the invitation to embrace an integral ecology
    and a just transition for a healthy future for the planet.

    With all the peaceful protest in solidarity with Black Lives Matter
    from around the world new possibilities are erupting. Many are
    transitioning out of isolation and lock down making the difficult
    choice to creatively forge the way to greater happiness with less
    stuff.


Kind Regards

Arthur Blomme

125 Jones Ave.
Toronto ON M4M 2Z7
Mobile(Text) 647-719-7779



<http://www.amaruru.ca>


art at serpentgold.ca <mailto:Arthur Blomme<art at serpentgold.ca>>
http://serpentgold.ca






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