When I watched the PBS documentary called ILLICIT I became increasingly saddened. And I wondered why so many people are using all kinds of methods to fill their pockets with millions and millions, at times billions, of dollars at the expense of human beings and our planet? I watched an hour’s worth of talk on money laundering, copied goods transported around the world (including medicines), killings for profit, people used as slaves with no apparent means of freeing themselves, And I thought “the truth hurts” can be applied here. Then I got really antsy as I saw all the confiscated stuff being destroyed, and began wondering about the earth with all the destroyed confiscated stuff being thrown at it. So much was going on in this PBS documentary that it started to become difficult to watch.
The documentary was based on Moises Naim’s book ILLICIT which was named “One of the Best Books of 2005” by the Washington Post. www.moisesnaim.com .
It’s been said many times that the BIG rule of life is to not violate ourselves or others. And though some think that lining their pockets with money gotten by illicit means is okay, it would seem that the Intelligence of the Universe will one day catch up with them. It’s amazing that some think the whole purpose of life is to satisfy their needs with ludicrous amounts of consumption. If they were to look around and see the earth and its beauty, and the way the Energy that created and guides it does so in harmony, tranquility, peace, joy, and if they were to go off by themselves for a time, and recapture the other part of themselves, maybe they’d understand that “conspicuous consumption” is a substandard way of living, and one day they just might have to pay the piper.
The simple truth is that more and more is not the answer. If our hearts are empty, and we don’t allow the beauty of the world, and its people to enter, then no amount of stuff will help.
It’s true that, on a small scale, many of us are guilty of using, or purchasing, copied goods. We think it’s only a small offense, or, it’s so easy, we don’t think about it at all. But . . . “One illicit . . . transaction always leads to another.” -Burke