Category: Thought’s on World Issues

Posted on

We should take care of our brothers and sisters.


Hands of Homeless Man Receiving Bowl of Soup --- Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis  So many going hungry, starving and malnourished across our globe and there is plenty of food to go around. Many of the nations across our planet have a large surplus of food and a good bit of it will go to spoil, yet there are many people who are going hungry. So much food waste in restaurants, grocery stores and even in our homes that could have been a meal for a less fortunate person. Luckily some grocery stores do donate close dated food to local food banks and organizations. More businesses need to focus on using their near dated food as donations to food banks and charity organizations. Almost all of the religions on our planet support the idea of feeding the hungry and helping the less fortunate. We need to get beyond our religious differences and work together to help our fellow humans survive.

MP910221024 The welfare of our fellow humans is our responsibility as a species, we should take care of our brothers and sisters. If more of us were to volunteer to help food drives, food banks, soup kitchens or one of the many other efforts in aiding fellow humans there would be far less hunger, homelessness and suffering in the world. Helping the less fortunate is a pure form of compassion and is the way we should be. Regardless of your political, religious or philosophical view, the welfare of our brothers and sisters should be one of your high priorities. For one day you may be one of those unfortunate, homeless, hungry brothers or sisters in need of help.

We can go from fortunate to unfortunate in a matter of one day, so we should always have compassion for those in need and do what is within our abilities to aid our fellow humans.
Ray Barbier

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution By license.
Related articles
Posted on

Just another Sunday morning Rant.


002Human history has proven humanity is capable of some horrific actions, from ancient conquerors , the trail of tears, world wars 1 and 2 we have seen some of the worst possible sides of humanity. There were of course some times that we rose up and done some miraculous things as well. When we are able to put behind us our differences and learn to forgive as well as forget we seem to be able to come together as a species and perform some very wonderful and spectacular feats.  The question remains of how this generation is remembered by the future generations to come. Is this going to be a generation of conflict, politics and the depletion of our natural resources or the generation that saw what was coming and took action as well as faced the dilemmas of our times. Between the media and the big corporations the average person is bombarded constantly with images and ideas of what we are supposed to look like, act like and what will make us happy. The sad part is a lot of us actually buy into all the sales pitches thrown at us. They pitch at us how a new smart phone makes our life easier or makes us look cooler or how we need to have tax cut for the wealthy. Too much information being sent at us 24/7 and it becomes almost like brain washing by seeing it so much.

Look at our food, it is so full of preservatives and unhealthy fillers or fats so that they can sell it cheap to us but anything that is good for you cost a lot more. Our meat is less nutritious than 2 generations ago and so was our fruits and vegetables. Our meat is becoming so low quality they was irradiate it to make sure it doesn’t have any bacteria or virus’s in it. It has all come down to profit, even to our governments. They spend our money and borrow from other countries and then try to cut off Social security which is by the way a paid for entitlement by the people. Our politicians are more worried about their political parties, agendas and careers than the economy or the state of our country. They are great at spinning tales, taking the words of another politician of context but they are lousy at reading and or passing bills to benefit the common worker.

To be honest, I believe some of the politicians in office really need to grow up and do the job we the tax payers pay them to do and stop playing party politics on our dime. We the consumers need to pay less attention to the illusion we need the newest thing to be happy and just be happy with what we have. We also should stop buying the unhealthy convenient foods and either buy fresh vegetables and fruits or when possible grow our own. We need to be more independent for the economy wont be getting better any time soon and the cost of food is unlikely to decrease. The more independent and self-sufficient we are the easier it will be to survive the possible hard times ahead. Even if the economy gets better it is still a good practice to be self-sufficient.

To be the generation of solutions and of change we must start changing our own lives and lead by example. We need to educate ourselves and help educate others on self efficiency and we need to get back to being more community minded. We can as a species either create a better world for our future generations or we can continue allowing the world to spiral downward as it has for years. I myself rather fix as much of the problems today in our world so that those who come after me will have a better world to live in than to leave them a mess that may not be fixable in the future.  It is our children’s and grandchildren’s world we are messing up today. Well enough ranting about this generation and the woes of the world of today and possibly of tomorrow for now.

We can be led by those in power or we can show those in power the way to lead.
Ray Barbier

Related articles
Posted on

God gave each of us the right to believe as we wish


Symbol of the three Abrahamic religions.

The world is in darkness,the world is trying to extinguish the spark of light in all of us. Those that promote hate, prejudice and intolerance are trying to keep us from finding the light we have in this world. In this world of darkness there is a light to be found.  God created a spark of light within us all and most of us are unaware or unable to feel its presence anymore. When we were children that light was bright and made life wondrous and beautiful. We allowed the world around us to cover the candle within us and we need to uncover it. Place that candle on a candle stick for all to see and so it can force the darkness away from us all. We can not allow the distractions and road blocks the darkness throws in our path to get in the way of being the beings of light god wants us to be. He wants us to be peaceful, loving, compassionate and full of hope. Things such as greed, lust and fear stand in the way of most of us and they keep us preoccupied and distracted from happiness and peace.

Three religions that were spawned by the one true God, yet those three religions still are distracted and preoccupied by their differences instead of being tolerant of each other. A house divided against itself surely will fall and that is the case with the three religions if they do not learn to co-operate or at least tolerate each other. We all serve the same God, even though we have differences in beliefs on some subjects that are sensitive we can learn to accept one another. We are all brothers and sisters in the eyes of God and we should love one another regardless of our different beliefs.  I am a firm believer in freewill and the fact God gave each of us the right to believe as we wish. Of course if we choose the wrong beliefs there will be a price to pay. This though is the price of freewill and is something each of us should consider when choosing our religious beliefs. I will not state which belief is the right one for only god knows the answer to that question and it isn’t my place as a mere human to answer. I believe as I do and respect the religious beliefs of all others in hopes they will do the same for me.

 We all have to live on this planet together, we can do it as brothers and sisters in peace or continue to go down this road of mistrust, hatred and of war. The choice is there for each one of us to choose and hopefully most of us will choose the path of peace and of love than the one of hate and war. Let us all be adults and civilized, let us live together as a great family and as the unique human species we are together in harmony.

Raymond Barbier

Related articles
Posted on

The World, The web and a needed change


MP900289198The world is connected by a spider’s web of communication, information and all the junk that comes with such a large social connection. There are no more borders between the people or barriers between the cultures of our world. Yet governments still fight over imaginary lines on a map and the resources that they consider critical. Only if the governments could learn from the people and start looking beyond the illusions of separation and tolerate the differences between us all they might be able to pull together to find peaceful solutions to the problems this world faces as a whole. I am not promoting one world government, I think that would be a bad idea due to the ability of one person controlling everything. But I do support the idea of one world co-operation for the betterment of our world for everyone. The promotion of peace, compassion and the acceptance of our differences as an asset instead of a hindrance. So many of the problems we face in the modern world has been with us for such a long time, so many grudges between nations, Peoples and belief systems that have been amplifying through so many generations. It is so hard to try to fight against such anger and fear when it so embedded in the core of a groups beliefs. Trying to convince those who been raised to hate to see that there is hope and that people change individually as well as in multitudes.

MP900444203We have so many tools at our disposal as citizens of the information age to share our cultural differences as well as to become a more peaceful world. The internet with all its tools at our fingertips that can help spread a peaceful mentality as well as gathering together as a world to deal with the issues we are facing in modern times. We as a species have such great potential and yet we cling on to negative ideas and beliefs and hold ourselves back from our destiny. We can become the great caretakers of our world and explorers of our vast universe. World hunger, water shortages, disease and the disregard for life can be things of the past if only we can grow enough to except each other as we are and co-operate on a global level for the good of our world. Seems sad we still hold on to prejudices and hatreds that have plagued us since the dawn of civilization. We need to grow up as a species and take responsibility for the crimes we have committed towards our planet and all life that lives upon it. Take responsibility and begin healing the wounds we inflicted on our world as well as the hurt we caused to our fellow humans and animals alike. We need to get past our lust of money, power and the fear of the unknown.

MP900437376The future of our world and our species is in our hands and we should take life and all that is in it seriously. Not only this generation of humans are in danger by our current path, so are the many generations being born today and those that will follow.  We can let them inherit the mess of ours along with the aftermath of the problems from the generations before ours or we can step up to the plate and try to fix the problems we face today. Some of the choices we will have to make will be hard and will require sacrifices that we may not like but it is something we will have to do in order to change our future into  something our grandchildren can live in as well as enjoy.

We are the architects of the future and the students of the past.
Raymond Barbier

Related articles
Posted on

Where has all the compassion, love and respect gone?


MP900427611Where has all the compassion, love and respect gone? People seem to be colder at heart and have only interest in themselves. Compassion is a key part of being human and respect is like the super lube of society. Without one or the other the world begins to become chaotic . Seems selfishness and the lack of respect for others is becoming the driving forces of the world we live in. Thing about selfishness is it is the seed to other things such as lust, greed, envy and vanity. I was brought up to respect elders, authority and have compassion for those who are less fortunate and in need. I was also taught that everyone is equal in the eyes of God and no person is greater than another. I never could see how anyone could find pleasure or some kind of satisfaction in causing physical or emotional pain to others. To help others and to make them smile or to make them laugh is the right path to follow and can be quite rewarding emotionally too.

MP900427738It seems Karma does exist in one form another, what you sow you shall reap and what you give you will get back seven fold. So when you show compassion it will be shown to you and when you give hate it will come back to you. It may take years but you always pay for both the good and bad you do in life. I just don’t understand why for some people being compassionate and carrying a heart of love is such a hard thing to do. Is it fear of being considered weak or the chance of being hurt by others? No matter how tough or how compassionate you are, you are going to be hurt from time to time in life its part of being human. It could be they have a deep wound or emotional pain blocking them from becoming what God had planned them to be. I wish everyone could be compassionate, understanding and full of kindness and we all could follow the teachings and examples god gave us through Jesus.

MP900289198There were many great prophets, philosophers and sages god gave man, he gave us great philosophies and examples to follow through them all. He just wants man to be kind, compassionate and forgiving towards each other. Far as the many branches on the tree of life and the many religions spawned on our planet, let each person choose their path and be good to one another. We all have freewill and the right to choose which religion and or faith we want to follow. We shouldn’t force our belief on others or judge them if they choose differently than ourselves. The judgment of who is right and or wrong is God’s alone, not that of man’s. We of different religions and faiths can get along and even be friends, I have many friends that are of different religions and faiths than myself and we have no hatred or distrust between us because of our differences of belief. We have respect for each others beliefs and live with each other in friendship and peace.

“ Learn from the wisdom of the old and the innocent truths of the young.”

Raymond Barbier

Related articles
Posted on

A Fork in the Road


Concept Lately the cycle of life has really sped  up around me, so many pregnancies and people either dying or getting life threatening diseases. This world is speeding up and we are heading towards a fork in the path we are going down. One of the paths ahead is to a dismal and foreboding future of selfishness, greed and eventual depletion of natural resources. The other path though will be rocky and hard to follow leads us as a species to a future of peace, equality and the saving of our wonderful planet and home called earth. We can not continue to walk through life with a selfish and/or apathetic heart, we have to become humble, compassionate and take care of this world we live in. We are all on this rock together and not one race, religion,country or individual has any more or less rights to live here. We are all equal and are equally responsible for our home and the life forms that live within it.

MP900408941 Some of the rich and powerful believe they are superior or at least deserve a better life than the average and impoverished man. This is just plain selfish and heartless thinking and not true, it isn’t about wealth, power or even physical prowess but it is about the spirit and the heart. The common and impoverished are not as naïve or  as uninformed as the rich and powerful believe. We are waking up and seeing that we are not being treated equal in taxation and not being represented equally in our governments. Eventually the meek shall awaken out of their groggy state of mind and will help bring some of the change needed. Sometimes I see big business as a kind of bully, they raise prices to gain huge profits with no concern about if the average person can or can not afford it.  Nothing matters but the profit margin and the bonuses they get each year. They fill their banks with money that was earned by underpaid worker’s in both their home country and 3rd world countries .  I understand the need for profits, but to be too greedy and have no care about the workers or the consumers who helped build that wealth is just not a good business model. Eventual things will become so costly that only the rich will be able to afford to buy anything beyond just food. And since the rich are just a small percentage of the whole consumer base there will be a lot of businesses failing.

Human eye with the recycling emblem inside<br /><br />File contains gradientsThough not all of the current financial crises is the fault of big business a lot of it falls on the consumer as well by using credit to purchase items they can’t really afford to have as well as buying luxury items that they could have lived without. Then the credit card companies also have their part in the mess as well as the mortgage lenders. There is many reasons why our world is in such a financial mess and the blame falls all across the board. The solution will also have to come from each level of the financial pyramid in order to fix it all. Greed and Envy seem to be the root of most of the mess, the businesses want more money and the consumer wants to keep up with the people next door.

We better change direction and choose the better path in the fork ahead, if we don’t our children, grandchildren and the generations afterwards will be living in a very dark future. We need to take care of the imbalance of wealth and start taking care of our home.

Just a rant of a middle-aged man.

008

Raymond Barbier

Related articles
Posted on

We are the stewards of this world we live in


We are the stewards of this world we live in; we are responsible for the well-being of the planet and all living things on it. We are responsible for one another, be it friend, stranger and even foe. God gave us the gift of life and the gift of such a beautiful planet to call home along with the responsibility of caring for both. Somehow a lot of us forgot our responsibilities and/or our job of being stewards of this world. So much pollution is filling the air, covering the land and poisoning the water. There is too many hungry and homeless people and way too many children in poverty. When did we lose our way and how can we find our way back? How can we continue to pollute our planet and allow famine and homelessness to run rampant across our beautiful world? We can spend trillions of dollars on wars and dedicate such a large workforce to achieve victory but yet spare hardly any resources to combat the hunger and homeless in our own country and around the world. As precious as life is along with the beautiful and wondrous planet to live on we don’t seem to care that we are throwing it all away. Since there is so many of us humans on this planet we all can choose just one or two things to be responsible for in our stewardship and still make an impact. Not everyone can be in Greenpeace or be a political activist. Not everyone is cut out to be a social worker or volunteer. Choose your battle and be dedicated to its cause, be it feeding the hungry, helping the homeless, cleaning up your hometown or doing grassroots activism.

This is our planet to take care of and we should do the best we can to make it a better place. Governments only can do so much to change our world; the rest is up to us and the business sector. We need to pressure both the governments and businesses of the world into being more green minded as well as more charitable towards the less fortunate. Not so much by making laws but by our spending and voting habits as well as writing our representatives. We should educate our fellow stewards about the state of our world and how to make changes at a personal level as well as in the big picture. We as a species need to learn to accept and tolerate the differences between us as people in order to come together and make this world a better place for ourselves and our children.

The Children are the world’s greatest resource and they are our precious future.

Raymond Barbier

Related articles
Posted on

Just some random thoughts to ponder on.


003Sometimes we go through our day without telling those who we care about how important they are to us or how much they impact our lives. We throw the word love around so much we tend to forget how to show love to others, both those we like and those who are strangers. Taking anyone or anything in life for granted tends to lead to the loss of those people and things. We get so hung up on our daily routine and sometimes even our own problems we forget those people and things that are important to us. We need to slow down and smell the roses as well as share a positive thought or a caring action with others as we go through our daily lives.  Compassion does not mean to have pity, it means to have concern and love towards all living things. Charity does not mean throwing money at a problem, it means helping those in need with not only physical needs but to educate them in ways to help themselves as well. It may be natural to focus upon yourself and those close to you, but it is supernatural to care about everyone and everything in this big world. We tend to get hung up on one thing or another to the point we can not see the whole picture. We either become self-centered or apathetic to the problems in our world around us. We need to wake up from our foggy self-centered apathetic dream state and see that as a world community we can overcome and achieve almost anything. Only if we can set our differences aside along with finding tolerance for each others cultural differences. In the end we all want the eradication of starvation, the end of all homelessness and a brighter future for our children.

This world needs a change of direction as well as a change in heart, we can not take anyone or thing for granted nor can we go on being in a foggy state of denial. We must find compassion, tolerance and love for one another as well as a less self-centered view of the world around us. We need to see that every living creäture big or small is an important part of our world and its ecosystem. No one person is greater or lesser than the other, they are equal though different. The differences between each and every one of us is what makes humanity a wondrous species and an unstoppable force when we work together. We should strive towards a world of love, equality and peace as we rid ourselves of the greed and hatred that plagues us as a species.

Just some random thoughts to ponder on. Right or wrong they are here for all to see.

Raymond Barbier

Related articles
Posted on

Work together to better our communities and our world


062 Every one of us has a story, each one of us influences the world around us. How we influence and how much we contribute is up to us. But there is no such thing as an unimportant person, we all are important, special and unique to God. We all are a part of the great machine called life. We as individuals can change our little worlds and as a group can influence change on a global scale. This is one of the unique qualities of human beings, we can change our environments to suit our needs as well as change the course of our worlds destiny / fate.  Protests, revolutions, grass root projects and just plain speaking up can cause political, social and even cultural changes. I prefer the non violent methods of enacting change, usually the violent path only brings suffering and brings either temporary or negative results.  There are of course some circumstances that violent action is the only path but it should be the last resort.

I blog quite often about how governments tend to be out of touch with the needs of the citizens and are more focused on the rich or the powerful. How the governments fail at actually coming up with solutions to problems due to party politics and the interest groups lobbying them. We can not rely on our governments to carry the weight and should as a nation and or global community start dealing with some of the problems ourselves. Poverty, hunger, homelessness and the environment are things we as citizens can make a difference in. If we organize and work together to better our communities and our world we can achieve almost anything. Some can give money, some can just volunteer time or their expertise as well as doing grass-roots education. So much we can do on our own and probably do a far better job of it than the government could do. It is the right way to do it and almost every religion supports the idea of taking care of our fellow human beings. We can put aside our religious and cultural differences to make this world a better place if we chose to do so.

 

Just some thoughts, Right or Wrong there here for all to see.

 

 

“Love, Compassion and peace are the keys to a better world.”

Raymond Barbier

Related articles
Posted on

The Blogosphere is the gathering of sages, artisans, elders and intellects.


IMG_0054   One of this worlds greatest assets is the blogosphere, which is composed of people who are everything from artists,poets,philosophers,economists and pretty much any other profession and/or art form you can think of. Some of the most creative and innovative minds exist in the blogosphere, bloggers are not scared to think inside or outside the box which gives them the ability to reach levels of creativity needed to solve the problems of our modern world. There is such diversity in the blogosphere that it gives us a plethora of viewpoints to consider when looking for answers. If the governments of the world were smart they would look to the blogosphere for ideas as well as for answers to the problems the world is facing. For the blogosphere is but the gathering of sages, artisans, elders and intellects from across this great planet. To overlook such creativity, wisdom and intelligence would be a grand oversight by the leaders of the world governments.

 

Just an observation and an opinion that I wanted to share.
Right or wrong it is here for all to see.

Raymond Barbier

Related articles
Website Built with WordPress.com.