Streetwise: Blame our karma for our predicament

If you believe in the Buddhist theory of karma, human beings are now seeing the results of their own bad karma.

Since the dawn of industrialisation, people around the globe have been living more comfortable lives. Cars and planes have replaced ox- or horse-driven carts. When we're hungry, a convenience store is always nearby, as are shopping malls, which offer a variety of food and non-food items. (Certainly, not everyone can enjoy these things, but it has become obvious that this is the lifestyle preferred by all.)

Global wealth is driven largely by this lifestyle. People want their own cars. When they are old, they buy new ones and less-wealthy people buy up the second-hand units. Some buy a few shirts each month, saying the bought items are cheap. Certainly, they are oblivious to the manufacturing process, which requires plenty of resources.

Some fill up refrigerators with food, much of which simply sits there past its expiry date. Just ask yourself: In the past year, how many expired cans of food did you throw away?

Indeed, the crisis is a result of only one kind of bad karma. However, the consequences are so great that we think it is the most important. Years from now, when the crisis is over, we will have to deal with the consequences of another, which has been going on for years.

Yes, it also started with industrialisation. As people consume more, we have depleted the Earth's natural resources. Astonishingly, some scientists estimate that 90 per cent of large predatory fish - big ones like tuna, swordfish and sharks - have disappeared. Some 85 per cent of large whales have disappeared and nearly 60 per cent of the smaller ones.

As the atmosphere fills with greenhouse gases, and the ice shelves melt, there are fears that large areas of land will be flooded. Astonishingly, more than half of the world's 6 billion people live within 100 km of the coast.

Can we change anything? Yes, but only through drastic and quick measures. Indeed, it is good that we can amend bad karma in this lifetime, and not wait for the next, as many Buddhists believe.

It's time to live a sufficient way of life!