|
i
The Tragic Consequences of Moving from Rites-of-Passage to Coming-of-Age
This month our editorial is about the idea of growing up. There's physical maturity and emotional maturity; there's the sense of responsibility to self and to society and the future, as well as the ability to make appropriate decisions - so many angles to look at in deciding whether a person is an authentic adult.
The tragic consequences of our lack of adulthood initiation rites (to "teach" us that there are personal consequences of wrong actions), combined with our modern history of measuring success only in monetary/economic terms is now apparent. What else could account for the miserable state of the planet, where collective human action is getting us closer to annihilation - if not directly by nuclear war, then indirectly by mismanagement of our entire ecosystem: the human population has reached nearly unsustainable proportions; we lose an estimated 3,000 species a year; and our direct, collective actions have polluted air, water and land nearly beyond repair. Today, we are in danger of not just losing one civilization in the world; we are in danger of losing all civilizations on planet earth.
ARE ADULTS BORN, OR MADE?
In our collective tribal past, many cultures around the world - from Africa to Australia, from Greenland to South America - used very traumatic and elaborate rituals to turn children into adults. But modern cultures mostly expect "adulthood" to just happen when we reach a certain age.
The most recognized marker of adulthood in developed nations seems to be graduation. For some it is graduation from high school or secondary school; for others it is graduation from college or university.
Schools help us develop our intellectual abilities, teach us some life skills and maybe even a profession, but do nothing to prepare us to enter the world with a full understanding of who we are, and what we are capable of doing. In our modern world, visceral truths are often overlooked because we were never expected to see them in the first place.
The other rights and privileges of full-fledged-adulthood that we begin to accrue beginning in our teenage years - the right to drive, to vote, to drink, to get married and start our own families – don’t require any modicum of self-awareness either; none have to do with introspection or self-knowledge. Adulthood sometimes seems to have only to do with the manipulation of things external to us: we've come to define "being adult" as being able to stay alive and earn our keep. Nations measure their success on the basis of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
DOES HAPPINESS "JUST HAPPEN?"
In the late 1960s, King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck of Bhutan set about establishing a model of development in line with his country's Buddhist tradition; it sought to look beyond the country’s GDP. The King assured his people of Gross National Happiness (GNH) by insisting on development that takes into account four complementary goals: economic prosperity, environmental protection, cultural promotion and good governance.
Since 1992, the United Nations has been working towards a model of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) that, like GNH balances economic development with the need to develop a healthy society and environmental well-being and a respect for cultural differences.
But it has become apparent to everyone now that in our rush to be economically powerful, we have put destructive habits in place: a habit of economic expedience over thoughtful planning; a habit of cutting corners in the rush to market; too much activity; too little of substance; everyone just trying to get a bigger piece of the economic pie.
Who are the grown ups in our world today?
Is it worth it to work 18 hour days if you don't enjoy what you're doing?
Would you trade happiness and contentment for a bigger paycheck, a faster car, a bigger house?
What is happiness, and do you know what makes you happy?
These are just some questions you might want to answer before you get caught up in making a lavish living ...
Margaret Chen
Editor in Chief
iCUBED.us
|
Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
