Space for Healing from War Stress

The last couple of years have been rocky for so many people because of COVID-19 and now the new war in Ukraine. Amid the spin, few have noticed that technology has continued at nearly a frenetic pace. According to Steve St. Angelo, speaking at Geopolitics & Empire last December, the Great Reset as envisioned by the World Economic Forum may never get off the ground—or last for very long. The reason is how energy interdependent all global manufacturing has become. Personal computers are comprised of copper and platinum from South America, wafers fabricated in North America and Germany, assemblage in the Philippines and China, and shipped using petroleum from Nigeria, Arabia, or Russia.

Bitcoin manufacturing also requires a huge energy toll in manufacturing and maintaining in hypercycles of “mining.” Factor in the huge growth base and dwindling critical resources, and humans face a growing crisis in just the basics, such as having adequate drinking water and healthy food, let alone thriving on the energy-consumptive, hyper-connected, virtual-life-style envisioned by Wall Street speculators and Big Tech.

But hardly any reports on the trillion-dollar industry of space-technology is reaching much of the public. Traveling across the country last winter, AGN did notice that some of the StarLink satellites are indeed visible in the night desert. These low-orbit satellites emit a reddish glare with connecting links also glowing. Free internet is a blessing, but typical of our entropic existence, it comes at a cost. Each rocket guzzles a huge amount in gas and contributes to the junkyard of discarded materials floating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). According to GNspace4peace, there are now over 6000 tons of materials in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), with the amount increasing yearly from space debris, pieces of spacecraft, discarded rocket parts, and abandoned satellites. The LEO is transforming itself into a potentially dangerous floating similacrum, full of flotsam and jetsam, posing a danger for future missions.

Just as with Earth’s oceans, the tragedy of the commons happens when there are no international laws to remove space junk. A recent attempt by China to remove one of its junk satellites to a different geospatial trajectory was viewed by the West as akin to criminality, according to Reports on China. However according to Donald Kessler, NASA Orbital Space researcher, NASA is studying and modeling the accumulation of junk in space especially because of the multiplier effect that happens when the the fragments collide repeatedly: the collisional cascading effect produces an unnavigable cloud, called the Kessler Syndrome.

Just as on Earth, with China and U.S. trapped in the Thucydides death-struggle of superiority complex, with starvation happening around the world due to stalled grain shipments, with rich men planning their escape from Earth while their workers slave away in sweatshops, homo-sapiens is creating contradictions everywhere they go, often with devastating results. Must we wait till a Space Shuttle Columbia disaster happens again? Can we promote more peace, diplomacy, and harmony? Perhaps if we work on resolving our problems here on Earth, we will not have to carry our wars into space!

Here is one solution to the problem of peace, which is working on peace within oneself. Theoretically, true peace is antithetical to all forms of war, but even symbolic platitudes can still be useful in promoting a harmonious atmosphere. AGN firmly believes that what one chooses to listen to and associate with profoundly shapes one’s perspective in life. Music informs one’s consciousness even when one cannot understand all the words. Peaceful melodies help one relax—and appreciate the chirping of birds.

“Love and Peace” is a live music-performance from Fo-Guang Shan Malaysia. The Fo-Guang Shan Buddhist Temple is currently celebrating its 56th Anniversary and there have been special events globally this year at various centers. What is awe-inspiring is how the FGS provides decent community development programs for all ages, including classes, festivals, musical events, lectures, camps, retreats, books, and art. For Asian-Americans, it is quite beneficial because AAPI have such a built-in sensibility of models and appreciation separate from the exclusionary tendencies of contemporary American media. The irony is that the internet is allowing AAPI to rediscover their identity and roots from overseas media channels and contemporary culture; at a time when waiting for America’s entertainment industry to cure itself of its moral and abusive depravity may take many more decades.

Screen capture from “Love & Peace” event