I read this today on Slashdot:

James Lovelock, the planetary scientist famous for his Gaia Theory, writes in today’s Independent of his belief that it is already too late to divert an environmental catastrophe which will see much of human civilisation destroyed. Fearing it too late to be green, he instead suggests communities plan for survival in a Mad Max type world with limited resources ruled by violent warlords. “We have to keep in mind the awesome pace of change and realise how little time is left to act, and then each community and nation must find the best use of the resources they have to sustain civilisation for as long as they can.” He suggests we should be writing a practical guidebook printed on long lasting paper containing “the basic accumulated scientific knowledge of humanity.”

I went to the video store last week to try to rent Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome, while I was thinking about the issues that I wrote about in my recent post on Global Warming. Unfortunately the movie is so old school that they don’t have it on DVD, only VHS.

Let me recall something that Srila Prabhupada said to Tamal Krishna Goswami, over 30 years ago: “The mission of this Krishna Consciousness movement is to be recorded in the annals of history as having saved the world in its darkest hour.”

On the one hand you can read news stories of impending environmental disaster and crisis conferences convened by national governments. On the other hand you can read about ever-growing markets and profits for industry and further development of superfluous consumer items, all touted as the “progress” of civilization. The pace of economic development proceeds unabated, even accelerating. First world nations such as the US are insatiable consumers and promiscuous producers, devouring energy and converted raw resources as processed goods at a phenomenal rate. Developing nations such as Iran demand access to the same levels of energy consumption that developed nations have.

It seems that no-one can see the contradiction, no-one can draw the link. No-one can give it up.

By averting the catastrophic apocalypse that humanity is calling upon itself, by rebuilding a sane human civilization on the basis of sustainable values, the Krishna Consciousness movement has a grave responsibility. This movement is responsible for the preservation and propagation of the Vedic knowledge that gives human beings the principles by which society can be organized for peaceful, sustainable, and spiritually progressive existence.

Jesus talked about the man who built his house on sand, and the man who built his house on rock, and how when the rain came, the house built on sand collapsed completely. As a civilisation, the global civilisation that was glorified recently by one commentator for having given Iraq free access to global markets, we are building our house on sand.

Individually, what are you building your house on?

What eternal, fundamental values undergird your personal lifestyle? How much of your identity is tied up in this culture that is rushing brashly and irresponsibly toward a precipice?

I know that most people are simply swept along with the prevailing currents and tides of society - but there are some among you who can see this, but feel powerless to do anything about it. You feel frustration in that you can see clearly where this is heading, but seem impotent to stop it. Know that this Krishna Consciousness movement exists, and that it is dedicated to stopping this madness on an individual and social level, and effecting a return to sanity.

Our strategy has two prongs: the formation of urban spiritual communities which provide a network of support and shelter from the hostile socio-economic forces that currently prey upon the increasingly vulnerable, alienated, and isolated inhabitants of modern cities, and the establishment of self-sufficient farming communities working on bio-dynamic principles of sustainability.

The entire program is guided by the timeless principles established by Krishna, explained by sages throughout history, and recorded in the oral tradition of the Vedas.

Join now, and help save the world!