I start each day with the IChing, the 3000-year-old Chinese Book of Changes that considers nature the teacher. Most days, it tells me that I lack awareness of the big picture and encourages me to cultivate balance, harmony and humility. Studying it quiets the space between my ears.
After breakfast, I get the news.
Since Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took 253 hostages on October 7th, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 29,000 Palestinians, including at least 10,000 children. Israel holds 5,200 Palestinians in its prisons. A cease-fire appears unlikely. In this situation, what does balance mean? Do Israel's military leaders know the Talmudic law (Mishnah Sheviit 6.1) that forbids warriors from enclosing an enemy--because enclosure endangers the trap-maker?
NPR reports that with Russian opposition figure Alexi Navalny's sudden death, European countries at the Munich Security Conference realize there's no deterrence to aggression and no support for defending themselves.
In other words, nations facing aggressors cannot locate support.
When corporations eliminate landlines; build new mines and utility-scale solar, wind and battery-storage facilities on pristine ecosystems; market mobile devices for children; and record our voices to simulate them for AI--where can individuals and households find support?
Solar energy developments proliferate on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land around the West. What does harmony with the Earth mean given the extractions, solar PVs' cradle-to-grave energy use, water use and toxic waste?
I take a break to schedule a doctor's appointment. The receptionist tells me I'll need my health insurance company's permission.
My car insurance's robot can't help me pay my bill.
I find myself at the mercy of digitalized systems (electricity, access networks, data centers, satellites, the "smart" grid, artificial intelligence). Digitalized systems are vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, hacking and outages. Don't we need to shrink our dependence on the technosphere? Don't we need to grow food locally, make communities walkable and limit manufacturing to locally-sourced materials?
By mid-morning, I have enough fury to fuel a rocket launch. The humility I had while reading the IChing feels like a lost wallet.
Meanwhile, I learn about more complex additions to our technosphere:
DATA STORAGE CENTERS and POWER LINES
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