[News today: Gold at $700 per oz, oil at $71 per barrel, gas
prices at fuel pumps around the world at record highs. Brazil's
solution to the end of the oil empire gives a whole new meaning to
"drunk driving." But suppose tomorrow our government were to switch to
ethanol, just think what would happen to the price of sugar on store
shelves? With sugar
cane-based ethanol significantly more economically viable than
corn-based ethanol, how long before Americans once again would hear
that
Cuba, a major sugar cane producer, is overdue for regime change? One
solution begets another problem. The fact is that we're addicted not so
much to oil and gas or alcohol or coal or
hydrogen or electricity generated by nuclear power as we are addicted
to consumerism, fed by the accelerating
pace of industrial expansion, taking us ever farther
away from "plain living, high thinking," a life in rhythm with nature,
by the grace of God.]
When
Brazilians say fill it up, they're not getting the oily mix
Americans see at the pump, which is 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent
ethanol.
They get pure ethanol, as Brazil now produces 5 billion gallons of the
sugar-cane distilled fuel annually. That's enough to power
three-quarters of the nearly 2 million cars South America's largest
country makes every year.
Guest: The
members of your movement seem to have a penchant for criticizing modern
technological society.
Hansadutta: For every
technological advantage there is also a
disadvantage, and that disadvantage obliges us to create another
technological program to counteract it, which creates still another
disadvantage, which obliges us to create another technological program.
We are caught up in a chain of programs to counteract the technological
disadvantages. For the original advantage of the automobile, we have to
suffer the resultant congestion, pollution and accidents.
It is best to be satisfied with what God gives us an meet the
necessities of life in the simplest and most expedient way, thus using
the time we save to make spiritual progress. That is the permanent
solution. Material progress is only temporary.
Guest: But there is a
tremendous possibility that we can solve our
problems through technology.
Hansadutta: Which problem has
technology solved?
Birth, old age,
disease and death are four problems common to everyone. Thousands of
years ago, people became old, diseased and died, and today they still
become old, diseased and die. Every man, whether rich or poor, black or
white, has these four problems. Has technology saved anyone from these?
Guest: Not as yet.
Hansadutta: Then what is the
advantage of
technology?
Guest: Technology makes life
easier.
Hansadutta: When we do away
with old age, disease
and death, then life
will be "easier." Life is a struggle to counteract birth, old age,
disease and death. With all the advancement of technology, these
problems still exist, and we are still struggling to counteract them in
different ways. Technology has made life more complicated.
Guest:
I'm not sure you can convince anyone to revert to a completely
nontechnological society.
Hansadutta: We are not
proposing a nontechnological
society; we are
proposing that technology be used for spiritual advancement.
Guest:
How can you use technology for spiritual advancement?
Hansadutta: We are using a
tape recorder to record
our conversation.
The tape recorder aids us in editing, preparing and publishing the
conversation. By using technology in Krishna's service, we can
spiritualize technology. Instead of printing naked pictures, we are
printing pictures of Krishna and His devotees. Instead of recording
mundane songs, we are recording Krishna consciousness.
Guest:
Could you decribe your plan for the world, as you would really
like to see it? For instance, what you do with the Empire State
Building or the World Trade Center?
Hansadutta: We do not object
to buildings; we
object to the way people
are using them. Everything must be employed in Krishna's service.
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