*Editor’s Note: Elephant Journal articles represent the personal views of the authors, and cannot possibly reflect Elephant Journal as a whole. Disagree with an Op-Ed or opinion? We’re happy to share your experience here.

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We all want to make money.

Well, our government is run by a banking cartel. In fact, it’s pretty mobster how everything is set up.

There’s the EPA gang. The FDA gang. The CIA crew. And the Fed.

So, the egg-and-bacon breakfast you enjoy with a glass of juice that so nicely costs you roughly 10 dollars to get actually costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to get to you.

For the last 100 years in America, we have been careless about resources and have gone to several wars over the acquisition of energy.

Through technology, we are breeding narcissism, apathy, and sociopaths at an alarming rate. No wonder thousands of teens are killing themselves. We have created an ecosystem not worth living for.

This leads me to the burning and destruction of one of our greatest natural resources. Furthermore, that is a f*cking arrogant thing to write, because what about the jaguars, the monkeys, and the millions of unique species that call the Amazonas home? Not only are we ruining things for them so that we can drink soy milk and have our coffee every day, we are making the world completely uninhabitable.

Over eight billion people are run by roughly 3,000 billionaires with lobbyists. Now, I’m being cursory in my reporting because it is more important that we as a collective move toward solutions instead of blame.

Farmers are burning the Amazon to clear space for crops. It’s greed-driven and survival-driven.

What this has to do with you, dear reader, is that you have a choice. You can go into overwhelm and ignore what is going on with the climate. Or, you can start to get to know your neighbors and break down the walls of separation.

The blocks we live on can use one lawnmower and have dinners at each other’s homes. We can foster community and cooperation. We can eat less meat. We can consume less digital information and go back to reading books. It’s actually really easy to make a difference.

However, we have created a culture of entitled bitches in America who think they should get what they want now. So, let’s shift our mindset.

There isn’t an “in-group.” Change is made one household at a time. And that happens by being fearless and introducing ourselves to everyone we come in contact with. Then leverage social media to stay in contact.

I’m not yet sure what impact the Amazonas fires of 2019 will have on a global scale. But right now, there is genocide of plant life happening, and we can’t ignore it any longer.

We must start by telling the corporations what we want in how we spend our dollars.

Thrift instead of buying new.

Bike.

Set up community events.

Host people in our homes that would otherwise be on the street.

Rail against fear with love.

Now is the time.

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