The Systematic Destruction of Beauty In Our World

Is jealousy at its root?

A 7-minute audio version of this article is below.

The increasing utilitarian assault on our world in the name of climate change, safety and technological advancement by government, corporations and a handful of billionaires has had a devastating effect on the earth and human aesthetics alike. With beautiful trees, ancient cities, landscapes and the human form undergoing grotesque transformations, one can see clearly where it will end if we do not stop what is going on before it is too late.

Visual beauty is integral to the wellbeing of our human spirit, which is why we seek it out, travelling across continents to admire architectural feats, taking restorative walks in pristine nature, and treating one another with floral bouquets.

Let’s not be Jealots…

In efforts to exploit and control humanity, anti-human globalist forces have used a very effective tool against us: our own jealousy. Through fostering interpersonal jealousy by maintaining inequity and upholding money as a measure of worth and status, they have ensured that we can always find someone “better off” than ourselves.

No-one is exempt. Even (or particularly) the most affluent are prone to it. Our jealousy of one another, though seemingly innocuous, can have very evil consequences. Prioritising and accruing material possessions comes with a cost. Keeping up with the Jones’ - requiring constant elevation of material development and never being “good” enough due to over-identification with “goods” - often leads to a de-prioritisation or subjugation of spiritual development and self-improvement. So let’s not be Jealots (yes, I made this word up). Let’s develop and value our inner worth instead. And let’s restore value to true Beauty, which is priceless.

Choose Beauty over the Beast

Without exception, beauty was once held in high regard in all cultures: beautiful women, beautiful men, beautiful boys and girls, beautiful fabrics, beautiful artworks, beautiful crafts and handiwork, beautiful towns and cities, beautiful rivers and unspoilt landscapes held value for all.

Thus, on my recent week away in Wales, I found myself pondering whether the original sin was not jealousy? Perhaps the devil was so jealous of pure natural beauty, combined with limitless human creativity, on the Earth that he had to corrupt it. In Wales the devil’s work is manifest in the ubiquitous giant wind turbines that litter the landscape in various poses at standstill, in the loss of community industry and businesses such that only supermarkets thrive, and in the once thriving villages turned to ghost towns of well-appointed holiday lets occupied just a few months a year, among other things. New building developments, euphemistically called homes, are carbon copies of new-builds elsewhere - grey or black boxes, usually close to a 5G mobile phone tower, to ensure data harvesting, sales and surveillance.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and, ironically, jealousy often begins as admiration. Take artificial “intelligence” for example. As a tech geek’s attempt at mimicking Nature’s intelligence, AI will never be able to copy the infinite creative possibilities manifest in my small garden or the intricacies inherent in the human hand. It will only ever be capable of a poor reproduction of living things. However, through the jealousy and avarice of those deploying it, artificial technologies are causing destruction of human culture, health and wellbeing - and life on Earth - at a phenomenal rate.

It is easy to blame unscrupulous developers, uninspired architects, intrinsically amoral corporations, and billionaires for the wholesale desecration of our Earth and Heavens – but how much are we also responsible for the destruction, obliteration and diminishment of Beauty?

When one sees a beautiful tree, one can think, “I feel so enriched by witnessing this tree in all its majesty and beauty. I will protect this tree for a lifetime”; or one can think “This tree is so big if I cut it down and chop it up, it will keep my fires burning for a lifetime.“ “Perhaps I should do the latter before someone else does it, after all, if I don’t do it, someone else will.” And so the tree gets chopped down.

Through feelings of jealousy we often seek to reduce beauty to the lowest common denominator, to own it, and/or to commodify it, i.e. change it. Through manipulating our jealousy, and related emotions like avarice and lust, we human beings can end up doing the devil’s work without even realising it.

Have we become blind and deaf to perceiving Beauty?

Another example that comes to mind and begs reflection is the diminishment in beauty of the living human form, which in the past inspired many artists to try to capture on canvas, in bronze and in stone. Pondering the human forms we see today, I often wonder whether people have lost their appreciation of beauty. Or perhaps we been so conditioned to embrace and celebrate ugliness that we are embarrassed when we notice it and look away? Witnessing modest, uncontrived wholesome beauty these day is a rare treat in my home town, which is awash with drunken hen and bachelor parties at this time of year.

A rare occurrence

The other day I saw a slender, fresh-faced, young woman with straight and long brown un-dyed hair, lightly applied pink make-up enhancing her cheeks and lips, in a cream-coloured mid-calf, broderie anglais dress and, on her feet, simple beige pumps. She was breathtaking as she was remarkable, not least by virtue of the fact that she was walking upright, with her head straight on her neck and shoulders, daring to make her way through town without a mobile phone in hand or ear pods stuffed in ears. As she approached me, I smiled and said “You look so beautiful today!” She received the compliment with surprise, gratitude and delight, walking on with encouraging confidence.

When we see Beauty we have a choice – we can covet it, undermine it, destroy it….or nurture, protect and celebrate it!

How about we start doing more of the latter?

I have yet to find a fleshy, moustached man in floral frock and size 12 high-heels beautiful, but perhaps that’s just me.

What is Beauty to you?

Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts in the comments below.