Visions of Apocalypse

Friends,

I have requested my publishers to make all of my books -ebook versions- free during this pandemic. Some of my books are primarily entertainment, others have information that could be helpful, perhaps critical, to our heath and. well-being. Meanwhile, here is an excerpt that you might find useful. If you do, please pass it on and ask others to do the same.

Excerpt from the afterword of The Tao of Survival. If you want the ebook, please wait until I receive permission from my publisher to provide it without charge:

Living in the Twenty-first Century

Visions of Apocalypse, a Return to Eden, a Time of Possibilities
By
James Morgan Ayres

In our globalized world, the butterfly effect—when a small change in one location affects the entire system—is a reality. An animal in one country passes a disease to people and they die. A pandemic develops. The world changes. A country becomes a failed state and many of its inhabitants flee to another country, precipitating a crisis in their new country. A small change in banking regulations in the United States creates a loophole for criminals, and the economy of the entire world is affected. A chemical company sells its pesticides to farmers in Indiana and within a few years this deadly poison is in use around the world, stimulating evolutionary adaptation of the targeted pests and creating new resistant forms of pests.

In our bones we sense that our species is headed for the edge of a cliff if we do not change course. Unconsciously or consciously, whether in denial or acceptance, we sense catastrophe looming in our near future. The worldwide popularity of the epic science fiction movie Avatar, and to a lesser degree the popularity of television wilderness survival shows, is due to a form of escapism and driven by a profound desire to return to a simpler time, or go to a greener world—to Eden. The center is not holding. Does that rough beast now slouch towards Bethlehem?

Excepting the global nature of the new century, our situation has similarities with the Warring States Period in ancient China, when kingdoms fell and people were forced to flee their enemies with little more than what they could carry—when they were ready at all times to leave through the eastern gate. But our enemies seem to be ourselves. From whom do we flee? Where is our eastern gate? To where will the survivalists with their bug-out bags bug out?

As the Tao shows us, darkness is balanced by light—eventually. This is also a time of great possibility. If you have learned anything from this book, I hope you will have learned to hold to your true center, see the world as it is in all its ugliness and splendor, and to be fearless. We live in dark days, and returning to the light will require fearless people and much work. The butterfly effect, combined with our connectedness, allows the rapid spread of information, informing millions of people of these new threats and enabling us to counter them. Little by little, informed people
are beginning to assume powers formerly left in the hands of governments and assuming personal responsibility for making a better world. Therein lies the yang to the yin of possible apocalypse.

In addition to being inhabited by trolls and troglodytes, the Internet is also bringing people from around the world into closer contact and fostering greater understanding. Many of us are reaching out to others without waiting for the creaking machinery of government. We are forming organizations to improve the quality of life for all of us, to save and nurture the planet’s resources, to support artists, writers and entrepreneurs, to educate disadvantaged people in many countries. New sources of energy are being developed, and we are waking up to climate change and the reality that we either educate people to control old tech industrial expansion and population growth or we will overrun the world’s resources and create a dystopian future where each will be
against all. Investigative journalists, independent scientists, individuals and groups work to counter the influence of corrupt corporations and governments by informing the public, raising awareness and creatingmovements in opposition. Others are building new kinds of organizations to solve problems that our governments have proven to be inept at solving. We now see that politicians are like band majors who wait to see where the people are going then run to catch up and get in front of the parade, and that there’s little use in waiting for a politician to make things better. The wizards of our world have no more power than the Wizard of Oz, and we know now that wizards can do nothing
more than show us our own power. It’s up to us to change what needs to be changed.

In the universe great acts are made up of small deeds.
—Tao Te Ching