7 Ways the Idea of Spaceship Earth Binds Us All
Gary ‘Z’ McGee, Staff
Waking Times
“Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our planet has sailed through the universe of time. And for a brief moment, we have been among its many passengers.” ~Jeremy Irons
We are all of us captains of Spaceship Earth, and we each have a responsibility to our own power as captain. If we shirk our responsibility, we do so at the detriment of both our spaceship and our fellow captains. Nobody is more or less “in charge” than anybody else. This is important to understand.
The problem is, of course, that this concept is not understood, and many of us are under the delusion that only a few select individuals are capable of being in command of the ship. The concentrated power given has thus become corrupt, and the overall health of both the spaceship and its captains has been compromised. As such, mutiny has become the moral imperative of our time. And we’re running out of time.
The idea of Spaceship Earth has the power to bind us, captains all. But first we must get over the psychological hang-up that only a select “authority” has the “right” to steer the ship. This is a pandemic delusion that is systematically destroying the biodiversity of the world, precisely because concentrated power tends to become corrupt. But power can only ever become concentrated when the majority allows it to. When the majority takes its power back, power can no longer be concentrated. The idea that we are ALL captains of Spaceship Earth is the epitome of the majority reclaiming its own powers as Captain and thus acting as a social leveling mechanism for the concentrated power of so-called authorities.
1. It Depicts Overindulgence and Waste as Evil
“How are you going to teach logic in a world where everybody talks about the sun setting, when it’s really the horizon rising.” ~Cal Craig
As it stands, Spaceship Earth is cluttered with toxicity. Our excess as passengers long ago became careless and overindulgent. In the passenger mindset we’ve grown wasteful and disrespectful, imagining we “deserve” this or can “own” that. We’ve become hoarders and polluters of the worst kind, with a ridiculous sense of entitlement, accumulating excessively and consuming mindlessly at the detriment of our spaceship’s vital resources. As such, our spaceship is in unhealthy disarray.
Switching to the courageous captain mindset turns the tables on our helpless passenger mindset, putting our power back where it belongs –in our own hands. As captains we are better able to see how important it is to keep our spaceship in healthy order, and we are less likely to leave it up to somebody else to fix. As captains of the ship, we fully understand that the spaceship is crashing and the oxygen masks have been deployed. But we also understand that the others may not realize their own captainhood, and so we must have the courage to put the oxygen masks on ourselves first in order to be there for those who are less capable or even unable.
2. It Depicts Apathy and Indifference as Immoral
“A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring;
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.” ~Alexander Pope
As mere passengers, we are subject to the orders of “captains” (concentrated power). As mutual captains, we are subject only to our own orders divined from our own leadership (contested power). This compels us to be proactive with our power rather than inert with it. As mere passengers, we are more likely to become complacent and indifferent to power and how it’s used. As mutual captains we are more likely to become empathic and compassionate with our power and contest how it is used. This is because, as captains, we have a bird’s eye view of how everything needs to be in healthy working order in order for progressive and sustainable evolution to be a possibility.
3. It Makes the Idea of Racism Irrelevant
“Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.” ~Rene Magritte
In order for Spaceship Earth to prosper, biodiversity is paramount. This applies just as much to human diversity as it does to the biotic community. Everything is connected to everything else in such a way that the individual connections are greater than the sum of those connections, otherwise there can be no sum. Otherwise there can be no life, only entropy. If it is true that we are each a microcosm within a macrocosm, and that we can no more separate the micro from the macro than we can the human from the natural, then diversity is needed to put the whole into holistic. As captains of spaceship earth it is our duty to recognize and honor the diversity of the human condition so that Nature and the human soul can merge and a healthy evolution can become a possibility for our species.
4. It Makes Solidarity Paramount
“No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.” ~Voltaire
On spaceship earth, we are all unique captains. Each with our own unique medicine. Each with our own unique soul-signature leaving its imprint. The question is this: is that imprint going to be an ecocidal carbon footprint or a moderated healthy footprint? Are we in divisive competition or in competitive solidarity? Have we lost touch with the fact that we are social creatures first and individuals second? Is cooperation primary and competition secondary, the way it should be? Is the cart truly behind the horse, or is the horse banging his head on the cart?
The idea of spaceship earth has a way of putting such questions into proper perspective. It binds us as a powerful species that needs to become responsible with its power. And the best way to be responsible with our power is to combine our power in solidarity for the earth rather than against it. Rather than using the earth merely as a place to conquer-control-destroy-repeat, let’s use it as a place to adapt-surrender-create-repeat, as a force to truly be reckoned with.
5. It Makes Clear the Idea of Interdependence
“We may be stumbling, fumbling, flawed primates, but when we work together, we are primates that can fly.” ~The Imaginary Foundation
As mutual captains on spaceship earth, we are independent creatures who have transcended an unhealthy codependency while embracing a healthy interdependence. The codependent past has revealed itself as uncouth, and so, as mutual captains, we must move on. An interdependent future is emerging as the only rational, tenable and moral way toward a healthy coevolution between nature and the human soul.
We are individual captains, sure, but there’s no reason why we cannot be individuals with a self-as-world and world-as-self mindset. Such a mindset is the epitome of interdependence. The healthiest way forward is to realize, indeed to self-actualize, our power as individuals and then to use it as a force of nature first and as individuals second.
6. It Fosters a Proactive Attitude Toward a Healthy Present
“If a radical political alternative is not opened up then I think we are essentially going to amuse ourselves into extinction! Business as usual, at this point, is a death sentence on the human race.” ~Terence Mckenna
All this talk about being stewards of the planet is all for naught if we cannot manifest a healthy disposition in the dynamic present, despite the static past. In order to get Spaceship Earth up and running again in healthy equilibrium, we must begin steering the ship as mutual captains in solidarity with each other in the moment. Now is all we have. Tomorrow may be too late. Our spaceship will end up like the Titanic if we’re unable to steer it away from avoidable icebergs in time. The unavoidable icebergs are irrelevant. What’s relevant is that it will take every single one of us (with the capacity to do so) to steer this ship. Not one. Not an elite few. Not a voted-in group. Not any single so-called authority. But every single one of us, self-empowered and empowering each other to take their power back and to put the “oxygen mask” on themselves first so that they can be there for those who cannot. The ship won’t steer itself, after all. And it will be steered in an unhealthy way if entrenched power or blind authority is the only thing at the helm.
7. It Fosters a “7th Generation” Vision Toward a Sustainable Future
“And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” ~Howard Zinn
Rather than shooting future captains in the foot while overindulgently soaking our own, let’s pull our all-too-comfortable feet out of the hot water and begin fostering a healthy mindset right now so that our children and grandchildren can have a healthy world to live in.
It’s easier said than done, sure. But so what? If we really want to be compassionate and moral individuals it behooves us to, as Gandhi said, “Live simply so that others may simply live.”
Living simply means living in compassionate moderation. It means not over-consuming and hoarding. It means not being wasteful and polluting the environment. It means trumping me-me-me with we-we-we. It means loving others, which means loving the self, which means realizing that the self is the world and the world is the self. It means rising above the unhealthy codependent relationship between citizen and state, between sheep and church, between order-follower and order-giver, between mere passenger and crashing spaceship, and then becoming an interdependent force to be reckoned with, a mighty captain of the only spaceship capable of keeping us all alive –planet fucking Earth!
About the Author
Gary ‘Z’ McGee, a former Navy Intelligence Specialist turned philosopher, is the author of Birthday Suit of God and The Looking Glass Man. His works are inspired by the great philosophers of the ages and his wide awake view of the modern world.
This article (7 Ways the Idea of Spaceship Earth Binds Us All) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is printed here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Gary ‘Z’ McGee and WakingTimes.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this statement of copyright.
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