On Health. We know for a fact that our public hospitals are usually full, and most patients are poor. The good news is, we can actually put our health in our hands. There are health practices that empower the patients, regardless of their economic status. One such modality is Anthroposophic Medicine.
Anthroposophic medicine is a form of medical practice developed by Rudolf Steiner that combines spiritual insight with practical diagnosis and healing to address the body as a whole. Conventional and complementary practices are integrated with homeopathics, plant medicines, and natural remedies to create holistic treatments. Over time, other therapeutic disciplines such as art, music, massage, and movement therapy have developed within the broader anthroposophic practice. This is not yet widely popular in our country, but it is available if you look for it.
On the Climate Crisis. Yes, dear friends, we are in a global climate crisis. Instead of “climate change” the preferred terms now are “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown” and “global heating” is favored over “global warming”, although the original terms are not banned. This is now considered scientifically accurate and scientists are talking about itas a catastrophe for humanity.
The good news is, there are youth movements around the globe that radically but constructively meet the challenge head on such as the Sunrise Movement.Sunrise is a movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. They are building an army of young people to make climate change an urgent priority across the world, end the corrupting influence of fossil fuel executives on politics, and elect leaders who stand up for the health and wellbeing of all people.
They are ordinary young people who are scared about what the climate crisis means for the people and places we love. They are gathering in classrooms, living rooms, and worship halls across countries.Everyone has a role to play to influencepublic opinion. According to them, if we unite by the millions we can turn this into political power and reclaim our democracy. They are not looking to the right or left. Instead, they look forward together to change country by country and this world, sure as the sun rises each morning.
Another very significant movement is the Extinction Rebellion, an international movement that uses non-violent civil disobedience to achieve radical change in order to minimize the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse.At the core of Extinction Rebellion’s philosophy is nonviolent civil disobedience. They promote civil disobedience and rebellion because they believe it is necessary to ask people to find their courage and to collectively do what is necessary to bring about change.They organize in small groups. These groups are connected in a complex web that is constantly evolving as they grow and learn. They are working to build a movement that is participatory, decentralized, and inclusive.
On poverty and the economy. Elections come and go, but the majority of our people are still poor. This drives us to despair. But if we dare to imagine, a new economy is actually possible. They are doing it in Costa Rica. Costa Rica’s Banco Popular or BPDC is perhaps the most democratic bank in the world, with its highest governing body, the Assembly of Workers, which represents nearly 1.2 million savers, or 20% of the population. Effective control over daily operations is exercised by the National Board of Directors, which is composed of four representatives of the Assembly and three of the Government. Presently, there are four women and three men on the Board, fulfilling the requirement that it be at least half women.
As Costa Rica’s third largest bank, BPDC operates with a triple bottom-line: economic, environmental, and social. A quarter of its returns are channeled into a series of ‘special funds’ to meet the social needs of those typically excluded from the banking system, yet its earnings are greater than the average private bank. It has developed specialty green and sustainable lending facilities, with loans for solar energy panels in residential settings, and the provisioning of safe local water supply systems. The bank has begun tracing its own consumption of energy; the pensions division, for example, has been certified as ‘carbon neutral’ for the last four years. Isn’t this a shining example?
On Agriculture. It is now known that the average age of farmers in our country and province is 58. Meaning, none of our young people are into farming. We will starve soon in a few decades if nothing is done to alleviate this trend. It was therefore music to our ears when we heard a reelected member of our provincial legislature who said, “Farmers must be supported. Governor-elect Yap is right in making agriculture the number one priority in our province. We must support this prioritization of farmers”.
But if nothing else succeeds, we shall not be worried. Instead we take comfort in the words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin when he said: “Throughout my life, through my life, the world has, little by little, caught fire in my sight until, aflame all around me, it has become almost completely luminous from within. Christ, his heart a fire, capable of penetrating everywhere, and gradually, spreading everywhere.”