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The Critical Choice That Will Shape Our Future, narrated by Charles Eisenstein, explores humanity’s pivotal moment: will we continue down a path of survival at all costs, or will we embrace a future of flourishing and connection? This powerful video challenges the dominant narrative of mere survival, inviting viewers to reimagine what’s possible for our planet and ourselves. Through vivid imagery and compelling insights, Eisenstein paints a vision of a world where life thrives in harmony, abundance, and beauty.
The video delves into the stark contrast between two possible futures: a concrete world where technological substitutes attempt to replace the natural wonders we’ve lost, and a flourishing world full of thriving ecosystems, vibrant oceans, and abundant wildlife. It asks, “What kind of world are we choosing to create?” Eisenstein emphasizes that the decisions we make today will shape the experiences of future generations, inspiring viewers to reflect on the legacy they wish to leave behind.
At its heart, The Critical Choice That Will Shape Our Future is a call to action. Eisenstein reminds us that the goal of life isn’t just to survive but to create something meaningful and beautiful. By shifting our mindset from “how do we survive?” to “how do we contribute?” we can unlock our collective potential to heal the Earth and ourselves. It’s an invitation to align our gifts with a vision of a thriving planet.
This video is perfect for anyone seeking hope, inspiration, and a deeper sense of purpose in today’s challenging world. Whether you’re passionate about environmental restoration, personal growth, or collective transformation, The Critical Choice That Will Shape Our Future offers a profound perspective on the possibilities that lie ahead when we choose to act with intention, courage, and love.
It’s not your imagination that there is less bug splatter on the window than when you were a kid. My father said there used to be clouds of insects. We would have to turn on our windshield wipers sometimes driving at night.
And there are other books too that bring up these accounts from the first Europeans to come to North America of just how abundant life was. We look out today and if we see a pod of whales that is pretty exciting. But there are accounts of looking out and seeing thousands of whales, whose spume filled the air with mist, of oysters a foot across in the Chesapeake Bay, of going fishing by putting a bare hook and catch a fish in seconds, of horses going through the brush and their bellies stain with the berries, like that amount of wealth.
This depletion of life – JB MacKinnon calls it a ten percent world.
And what if a 10% world becomes a 1% world in another few hundred years and we continue to survive on a concrete world substituting for all that’s lost with technological substitutes, making oxygen with vats of algae, drawing down the carbon to maintain atmospheric equilibrium with machines, enclosing our cities with bubbles.
What if we could survive in a totally poisoned world if we have the right filters, if we have the hydroponic factories to make the food or vat grown meat?
Do we want the concrete world where nature is dead but its okay because we have VR with content rich experiences and high resolution digital displays of those nature scenes. Is that what we want? Maybe we can do that. Do we want to do that? What world do we want to create?
I can see a more beautiful world, a flourishing world, where the deserts are greening, and the species are coming back, and the oceans are full of fish, and flocks of birds cover the sky. I can see that world and humans living peacefully on it. That world exists, which one are we going to experience in our future? Which one are our great great great grandchildren going to live in?
The dominant narrative that I am hearing today is that we have to change or we aren’t going to survive. We’ve already overshot the ability of Earth’s ecosystem to support human civilization and we better do something about that right away or we are going to have a catastrophe, massive human population collapse, maybe even human extinction.
I would like the conversation to turn away from can we survive? How will we survive? On a personal level, that’s not the goal of life. The goal of life is not to survive it. It’s not to make it to your death bed in tact. The goal of life is to create something beautiful, meaningful, to give your gifts in service to something much bigger than ourselves.
And collectively, we are the same way. We’re not here to survive this. We are here to contribute. We were created by Earth to contribute. We are not an accident. There’s an evolutionary purpose that resides in the gifts that we’ve used to make such a mess. And when we ask why are we here and what world do we want to live in, we reorient those gifts towards that world.
And its so much more empowering to say what world do we choose rather than how do we make it? How do we survive? That is the mindset that has gotten us into trouble. How do we make sure that humanity makes it? Seeing the world as an instrument of some narrow conception of human well being.
There are things that we need to do on earth right now that only make sense if they are part of a mass movement to do those things. They only make sense if we understand ourselves collectively as why we are here right now is to contribute to the healing of the earth. And then you know you are not alone. You know that it is not fruitless. You know you are doing your part.
Charles Eisenstein is an American public speaker and author. His work covers a wide range of topics, including the history of human civilization, economics, spirituality, and the ecology movement. Key themes explored include anti-consumerism, interdependence, and how myth and narrative influence culture. According to Eisenstein, global culture is immersed in a destructive “story of separation”, and one of the main goals of his work is to present an alternative “story of interbeing”. Much of his work draws on ideas from Eastern philosophy and the spiritual teachings of various indigenous peoples. Eisenstein has been involved in the Occupy, New Economy, and permaculture movements. His work has also been popular with countercultural and New Age audiences. An advocate of the gift economy, he makes much of his work available for free on his website.
“Awesome and thoughtful video.”
“Because humans are conscious, having the ability to care for other humans as well as other species, could it be that our purpose may be to protect all life, since we now see, as did indigenous peoples throughout the millennia, that we are intertwined and inseparable from the natural world. To help rather than hurt our E-air-th.”
“Yet another incredible video. Thanks”
“Yes, we all need to stop for a moment and vividly imagine the world as we would like it to be. We all need to adjust our personal lives in alignment with that vision. Unfortunately, not all of us are capable of doing this. In particular, the mega-rich ruling elites who now control our electoral cycles, the paid-for congress, the appointed judiciary, the corporate mass media, and so on, are quite incapable, I believe, of imagining a cooperative world. And they’re not going to give up their control without a fight. Many if not most of these people exhibit characteristics of psychopathy: lack of empathy, narcissism, compulsive lying, social manipulation, etc. In other words, characteristics that will not help us get to the world we want to achieve. I’m afraid the path to our better future will involve some uncomfortable struggles in the streets in addition to the formation of beautiful cooperative communities and so on. Just be prepared.”
“Beautiful… powerful… thank you for this. We can see that world too. Let’s all (re)create it together – the time is now <3”
“Charles is brilliant. We truly need an anarchy-based system of self rule and the natural law mixed with a RESOURCE AKA ABUNDANCE based economy. Charles called it the Gift Economy. We can use technology to free us and make all needs abundant to all people, rather than make humans destitute, fighting and losing jobs. Great vid!”
“You made me think of the movie “Wall-E” which is easily one of Pixar’s best films. The strength of that movie isn’t so much that the Earth needs humans to repair it and stop destroying it like so many other films with environmental messages—as the film demonstrates, the Earth is healing itself without human intervention. No, the important message is that humans need to leave the cosseted Buy N Large world and go back to Earth for their own sake, that this artificial world keeps its humans in a stunted state of perpetual infancy and pales in comparison to the wider real world outside it. All those memes about how humans are inherently destructive to the planet and can’t be anything else, ignores how indigenous peoples had managed to live in the same place for thousands of years without rendering the place a polluted ruin. Then the Europeans show up with their One-Size-Fits-All standard of living and the Production for the Sake of Production mindset, refusing to listen to the advice of people who have lived there for several millennia, and suddenly, animals are going extinct in droves and entire swathes of land become polluted, spent wastelands.”
For more from this speaker, visit his website.
Music Credits:
The Critical Choice That Will Shape Our Future, narrated by Charles Eisenstein, explores humanity’s pivotal moment: will we continue down a path of survival at all costs, or will we embrace a future of flourishing and connection? This powerful video challenges the dominant narrative of mere survival, inviting viewers to reimagine what’s possible for our planet and ourselves. Through vivid imagery and compelling insights, Eisenstein paints a vision of a world where life thrives in harmony, abundance, and beauty.
The video delves into the stark contrast between two possible futures: a concrete world where technological substitutes attempt to replace the natural wonders we’ve lost, and a flourishing world full of thriving ecosystems, vibrant oceans, and abundant wildlife. It asks, “What kind of world are we choosing to create?” Eisenstein emphasizes that the decisions we make today will shape the experiences of future generations, inspiring viewers to reflect on the legacy they wish to leave behind.
At its heart, The Critical Choice That Will Shape Our Future is a call to action. Eisenstein reminds us that the goal of life isn’t just to survive but to create something meaningful and beautiful. By shifting our mindset from “how do we survive?” to “how do we contribute?” we can unlock our collective potential to heal the Earth and ourselves. It’s an invitation to align our gifts with a vision of a thriving planet.
This video is perfect for anyone seeking hope, inspiration, and a deeper sense of purpose in today’s challenging world. Whether you’re passionate about environmental restoration, personal growth, or collective transformation, The Critical Choice That Will Shape Our Future offers a profound perspective on the possibilities that lie ahead when we choose to act with intention, courage, and love.
It’s not your imagination that there is less bug splatter on the window than when you were a kid. My father said there used to be clouds of insects. We would have to turn on our windshield wipers sometimes driving at night.
And there are other books too that bring up these accounts from the first Europeans to come to North America of just how abundant life was. We look out today and if we see a pod of whales that is pretty exciting. But there are accounts of looking out and seeing thousands of whales, whose spume filled the air with mist, of oysters a foot across in the Chesapeake Bay, of going fishing by putting a bare hook and catch a fish in seconds, of horses going through the brush and their bellies stain with the berries, like that amount of wealth.
This depletion of life – JB MacKinnon calls it a ten percent world.
And what if a 10% world becomes a 1% world in another few hundred years and we continue to survive on a concrete world substituting for all that’s lost with technological substitutes, making oxygen with vats of algae, drawing down the carbon to maintain atmospheric equilibrium with machines, enclosing our cities with bubbles.
What if we could survive in a totally poisoned world if we have the right filters, if we have the hydroponic factories to make the food or vat grown meat?
Do we want the concrete world where nature is dead but its okay because we have VR with content rich experiences and high resolution digital displays of those nature scenes. Is that what we want? Maybe we can do that. Do we want to do that? What world do we want to create?
I can see a more beautiful world, a flourishing world, where the deserts are greening, and the species are coming back, and the oceans are full of fish, and flocks of birds cover the sky. I can see that world and humans living peacefully on it. That world exists, which one are we going to experience in our future? Which one are our great great great grandchildren going to live in?
The dominant narrative that I am hearing today is that we have to change or we aren’t going to survive. We’ve already overshot the ability of Earth’s ecosystem to support human civilization and we better do something about that right away or we are going to have a catastrophe, massive human population collapse, maybe even human extinction.
I would like the conversation to turn away from can we survive? How will we survive? On a personal level, that’s not the goal of life. The goal of life is not to survive it. It’s not to make it to your death bed in tact. The goal of life is to create something beautiful, meaningful, to give your gifts in service to something much bigger than ourselves.
And collectively, we are the same way. We’re not here to survive this. We are here to contribute. We were created by Earth to contribute. We are not an accident. There’s an evolutionary purpose that resides in the gifts that we’ve used to make such a mess. And when we ask why are we here and what world do we want to live in, we reorient those gifts towards that world.
And its so much more empowering to say what world do we choose rather than how do we make it? How do we survive? That is the mindset that has gotten us into trouble. How do we make sure that humanity makes it? Seeing the world as an instrument of some narrow conception of human well being.
There are things that we need to do on earth right now that only make sense if they are part of a mass movement to do those things. They only make sense if we understand ourselves collectively as why we are here right now is to contribute to the healing of the earth. And then you know you are not alone. You know that it is not fruitless. You know you are doing your part.
Charles Eisenstein is an American public speaker and author. His work covers a wide range of topics, including the history of human civilization, economics, spirituality, and the ecology movement. Key themes explored include anti-consumerism, interdependence, and how myth and narrative influence culture. According to Eisenstein, global culture is immersed in a destructive “story of separation”, and one of the main goals of his work is to present an alternative “story of interbeing”. Much of his work draws on ideas from Eastern philosophy and the spiritual teachings of various indigenous peoples. Eisenstein has been involved in the Occupy, New Economy, and permaculture movements. His work has also been popular with countercultural and New Age audiences. An advocate of the gift economy, he makes much of his work available for free on his website.
“Awesome and thoughtful video.”
“Because humans are conscious, having the ability to care for other humans as well as other species, could it be that our purpose may be to protect all life, since we now see, as did indigenous peoples throughout the millennia, that we are intertwined and inseparable from the natural world. To help rather than hurt our E-air-th.”
“Yet another incredible video. Thanks”
“Yes, we all need to stop for a moment and vividly imagine the world as we would like it to be. We all need to adjust our personal lives in alignment with that vision. Unfortunately, not all of us are capable of doing this. In particular, the mega-rich ruling elites who now control our electoral cycles, the paid-for congress, the appointed judiciary, the corporate mass media, and so on, are quite incapable, I believe, of imagining a cooperative world. And they’re not going to give up their control without a fight. Many if not most of these people exhibit characteristics of psychopathy: lack of empathy, narcissism, compulsive lying, social manipulation, etc. In other words, characteristics that will not help us get to the world we want to achieve. I’m afraid the path to our better future will involve some uncomfortable struggles in the streets in addition to the formation of beautiful cooperative communities and so on. Just be prepared.”
“Beautiful… powerful… thank you for this. We can see that world too. Let’s all (re)create it together – the time is now <3”
“Charles is brilliant. We truly need an anarchy-based system of self rule and the natural law mixed with a RESOURCE AKA ABUNDANCE based economy. Charles called it the Gift Economy. We can use technology to free us and make all needs abundant to all people, rather than make humans destitute, fighting and losing jobs. Great vid!”
“You made me think of the movie “Wall-E” which is easily one of Pixar’s best films. The strength of that movie isn’t so much that the Earth needs humans to repair it and stop destroying it like so many other films with environmental messages—as the film demonstrates, the Earth is healing itself without human intervention. No, the important message is that humans need to leave the cosseted Buy N Large world and go back to Earth for their own sake, that this artificial world keeps its humans in a stunted state of perpetual infancy and pales in comparison to the wider real world outside it. All those memes about how humans are inherently destructive to the planet and can’t be anything else, ignores how indigenous peoples had managed to live in the same place for thousands of years without rendering the place a polluted ruin. Then the Europeans show up with their One-Size-Fits-All standard of living and the Production for the Sake of Production mindset, refusing to listen to the advice of people who have lived there for several millennia, and suddenly, animals are going extinct in droves and entire swathes of land become polluted, spent wastelands.”
For more from this speaker, visit his website.
Music Credits:
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