Health is Political
There’s the common saying that “health is wealth”, but more importantly, health is power. The single most important and powerful tool at your disposal is your energy and your body. Every person is born with this tool, and it is free. However, this tool requires active care, maintenance, and development as you use it throughout your lifetime. Your whole human energy system—your mind, your body, your senses, your soul and energy—is the tool in which you are able to manifest and create in the material world. And the health and quality of this tool determines what you are able to actually do, have, create, and acheive in the world. Your body and the energy that occupies its space, is your source of power. And when you have your source of power, you do not need to ‘get’ any power from anyone or anything else.
Our “modern”-day capitalistic belief and value system prioritizes scarcity, competition, productivity, and maintaining an illusion of power and control over one other, for, the sole purpose of monetary profit via consumption. Our political systems, religious systems, healthcare systems, “wellness” systems, living environments, communities, and institutions are aligned with this philosophy and way of being. Through the systematization of capitalism, humankind has turned what was once free to all human beings—natural resources—into commodities that must be paid for with your energy. This includes your health and body.
Systems, structures, governments, economy…are all put in place to ensure order. But like everything in the world, it too *should learn, adapt, evolve, and improve to better serve the wellbeing of the ecosystem as a whole. But currently it does not. We’re beginning to emerge from an old order and way of doing things. Realizing the long-term consequences of humanity’s decisions. What, over the course of our existence, we have invested in and spent energy on creating. In the older order, the competitive game for external power has weaponized the human health and body as a means of suppression and control. If one is weak, depleted, malnourished, disconnected, low in energy, injured, traumatized, and repeatedly violated, then they are easier to control, manipulate, influence, and harness. We’ve seen this throughout recorded history, from the rise of ancient civilizations, to the Christian crusades and conquests, to colonialism throughout the world, to our modern-day reality. Every race and culture of people on this planet and throughout human civilizations have a deep history of inflicted trauma in order to stifle out their way of being, for a new one. But it is both the victim and the victor that both suffer the consequences of this barbaric game for control. This shared energy, dynamic, impacts everyone and is charged within our collective consciousness and energy field. In the end, we must all take responsibility for the role we play to perpetuate this dynamic. A dynamic is nothing more than an energetic agreement. For it to play out, it requires the participation and consent (including nonaction) of all. To break a dynamic that doesn’t serve us as a whole, that creates more trauma instead of reconcilliation and healing, it requires everyone to be brave and courageous. To speak up, to say no, to feel and think differently, to be unique and do what you truly desire, to believe that something else is possible.
The effects of trauma is energetically imprinted in every human being. Which results in the unconscious choice to disconnect from soul, energy and nature. But it does not stop there. The larger movements of society have been moving full force with the continued disconnection and numbing of humanity. Aiming to turn humankind into living robots. We can see this plainly in the everyday life of human beings. People consent to sitting inside all day in their concrete boxes without fresh air and sunlight in artificial environments and HVAC systems, staring at a computer for 8+ hours a day, constantly processing enormous amounts of data—around 74GB per day (the equivalent of watching 16 movies per day), eating energy-less and nutrition-less processsed food made of artificial ingredients, and further numbing themselves with endless scrolling of social media / the internet and watching Netflix to “relax”, and smothering themselves in toxic chemicals and petrochemicals to “clean” themselves.
This way of life is why globally, we have a human health crisis and a planterary environmental health crisis. Humans are generally unwell, unhealthy, disturbed, depressed, and chronically stressed and anxious like never before. At least half of Americans have a reported and identified chronic health condition, with the average disease rate set to continue increasing at over 20% over the next 15+ years, with some diseases increasing at much higher rates than others.
Paralleling the rise in capitalism over the last 80+ years, we have seen a meteoric rise in noncommunicable diseases (diseases originating within the individual, such as cancers, inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases), now representing 76% of all deaths and increasing to 86% of all deaths by 2048 (World Health Organization). A majority of noncommunicable diseases are deemed ‘unexplainable’ or ‘incurable’ by western medicine, and symptoms (or warning signs) are suppressed with pharmaceuticals. Over 80+ years ago, communicable diseases (contagious and originating from outside sources) were the majority.
Additionally, we have seen a a meteoric rise in mental health illnesses over the last 80+ years. At least 50% of the world’s population will experience at least one reported mental health disorder in their lifetime (World Health Organization), with rates increasing with every generation. 90% of the public think there is a mental health crisis in the United States today, and 1 out of 3 people are unable to get the mental health support they need (APA).
Around 40% of Millennials (ages 28-43) (now representing 75% of the workforce) report having a mental health condition, and 1 out of 3 report having a behavioral health condition (APA).
8 in 10 Millennials experience burnout (Gallup).
57% of Millennials reported symptoms of depression and anxiety (Mental Health Foundation).
40% of Millennials admitted to seriously considering suicide in the past year. (Mental Health Foundation).
50% of Millennials and 75% of Gen Zers left their jobs for mental health reasons, compared with 34% of respondents overall (Mind Share Partners/SAP/Qualtrics).
Around 90% of Generation Z (ages 12-27) experience at least one physical or emotional symptom because of stress, such as feeling depressed or hopeless, and suicide is now the second leading cause of death among 12-27 year olds (APA).
In addition to the suffering and costs of human wellbeing, humankind has also created a sixth mass extinction event. At current rates, it is projected that at least 50% of the entire world’s living species will be extinct by 2100. Current extinction rates are already 1000-10,000 times the natural extinction rate, and we are consuming 175% of the planet’s resources and what it can regenerate in one year.
Meanwhile, global GDP has also seen a meteoric rise and exponential growth since 1945 post WWII, from $11 Trillion to over $166 Trillion, over the last 80+ years. But also consider that half of the world’s wealth belongs to 1% of the world’s population.
So, where does that leave us? In today’s cultural climate of ‘health is wealth’, we are trained to literally believe that health requires wealth. And in the way we are programmed to understand wealth, is to correlate it with money. To be healthy, well, beautiful, fit, and have all the physical markers of this, one must be monetarily wealthy in order to ‘afford it.’ Quality healthcare, quality products and services, quality food and nutrition, quality home and living standards, and access to clean air, water, and natural resources are for the few and the wealthy. So in the game of capitalism, if you want to be healthy and well, you must play the game and work for the money. However that is the false promise, the illusion. We can plainly see that the highest rates of chronic diseases, noncommunicable diseases, mental health illnesses, depression, stress and anxiety are among the wealthiest countries in GDP. Suicide rates are higher in “first-world”, westernized countries. And the need for and profits of pharmaceuticals to “manage” these chronic diseases are therefor higher in first world countries. The U.S. accounts for half of the world’s pharmaceutical consumption. The country that prides itself as the wealthiest nation in GDP is also among the sickest. If we are so wealthy, then why are we so sick? So much of what we are told, marketed to, and programmed to believe is that health is wealth, and that you must pay to get it, and it comes externally in the form of tangible physical things.
Health is political. The weaponization of human health and body literally feeds the illusionary system of power and control. The status quo system of capitalism is fed and makes more money when people are unwell, unhealthy, sick, and in need of products and services that promise the illusion of health. And the status quo political (and business) systems are better able to control, manipulate, influence, and harness people when they are unwell, depleted, malnourished, and low in energy.
At the highest level of truth, human health and wellbeing is very much tied to our inherent connection as energetic, natural beings to the energetic, natural world. Humans need to be natural beings, immersed in nature, eating nature’s nourishing food, and enjoying nature and natural resources. Because as energetic living beings, we need high quality energy to sustain ourselves. This is true health and wellbeing. It is very simple. It is peace and quiet to sleep and rest in order to replenish and recharge our energy. It is eating responsibly and lovingly grown food from the Earth to replenish our energy and nourish our bodies. It is moderate work towards something we find fulfilling and meaningful to ensure our energy is going towards something that actually serves us. It is being in nature to remain connected to higher intelligence to guide us.
At the most basic level, human beings require clean water, clean air, clean space and land, clean natural food, nature and clean natural resources to be well. But much of what our natural bodies inherently need have and continue to be destroyed, depleted, and polluted. There are so few places in this world where you can get all of it. And anything that comes close to ‘natural’ and ‘real’ comes at a high price. Our water systems, rivers, lakes, and oceans no longer are pure, clean and healthy. We must artifically remove toxins while stripping away natural minerals, and storing in plastic in which microplastics leach into the water. Our air is no longer clean to breathe in and are deemed toxic and harmful in many parts of the world, which are circulated throughout the planet. Our land has been eaten up, destroyed, and paved over, in which we lack public space and peace to be in nature and feel free and alive. Our food system is toxic, nutrition-less, and filled with chemical pesticides and fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics, toxic chemicals, and artificial ingredients. 85% of our agriculture is toxic. Only 15% of our our agriculture is regenerative, meaning soil is actually replenished to provide food with nutrients. Without any of these basic needs, and the overload of toxins to filter out, no wonder why human bodies and the ecosystem of our planet is in such disorder and dysfunction.
The more that we violate and deprive ourselves of these fundamental needs, the more people suffer in health and wellbeing. It is the responsibility of everyone to advocate for, demand, and create the fulfillment of these basic human needs if they so desire to be healthy and well. It is not about the consumption of commercial products and services. Health and wellness is advocacy. It is incredibly political. It is something to fight for.
We can no longer remain ignorant in the belief that one person’s health does not affect another. The false belief that we are separate and so therfor an inconvenient excuse to not care about other people is a lie. As energetic beings, we are constantly and unconsciously influencing each other’s energetic fields. The effects of global unwellness, trauma, disease, depletion, stress, anxiety, and depression are felt by all. As one complete ecosystem, the energy circulates among each other. We can no longer continue to close our souls, hearts and minds to perpetuate and live the lie that everything is “fine”, when in our hearts and deep in our souls we know, it is not.
Every decision you make, every purchase you pay for, every thing you consume is poltical, because it either gives power to the existing way of being, or it gives power to a healthier alternative. In your day-to-day decisions, that is where we affirm which beliefs and values are reinforced. Again, for a dynamic to exist, it requires the participation and consent (including nonaction) of all. Do not expect to get credit for doing what is fundamentally right and true. Because that’s not the point. We don’t do things to get external validation, we do things because it is what’s true, natural and healthy. Because you will feel better and healthier, and ultimately, more powerful. And your actions will unconsciously influence another. You don’t even need to tell anyone, you just do it, and its energy will ripple out to your loved ones and community. And where we can all start, and take personal responsibility for, is our individual health and wellbeing. Which is connected to everything in life. Every decision we make is constantly influencing our overall health and wellbeing, all all times. Because our health and wellbeing is ultimately about the decisions we make and the values and needs we reinforce.
Our individual bodily health, our connection to energy and nature, our support of regenerative food systems, our voice and protection for our land, water, air, natural resources, space and peace is something we must all fight for because it is our most precious resource that impacts the health and wellbeing of our entire population and planet. For therein lies the antidote to everything. We heal, we reclaim our energy and power, we stop feeding the sick and toxic belief and value systems of the world, and slowly, we transform our collective reality into a healthier one.