“We fear the cold and the things we do not understand.  But most of all we fear the secret misdoings of the heedless ones among ourselves.”

—Eskimo shaman as quoted in The Star Thrower by Loren Eisley

I read this many years ago and for some reason it has stuck in my mind.  Because never since has its warning been more appropriate for the United States as in these days of uncertainty, polarization, and endless wars.  Loren Eisley was a naturalist and poet who died in 1977. I would say he was also a prophet. His essay quoting the Eskimo shaman speaks directly to our deepest fears and concerns as we enter the third decade of the 21st century.

He argues that we can’t simply dismiss the Eskimo as an “ignorant remnant of the Ice Age.” Because we today also fear. In fact, “We fear more deeply than the old man in the snow. It comes to us, if we are honest, that perhaps nothing has changed the grip of winter in our hearts…We do not fear ghosts but we fear the ghosts of ourselves. We have come now in this time to fear the water that we drink, the air we breathe, the insecticides that are dusted over our giant fruits.  Because of the substances we have poured into our contaminated rivers, we fear the food that comes to us from the sea…

“We fear the awesome powers we have lifted out of nature and cannot return to her.  We fear the weapons we have made, the hatreds we have engendered. We fear the crush of fanatic people to whom we readily sell these weapons. We fear for the value of money in our pockets that stands symbolically for food and shelter…

“…We fear, and never in this century will we cease to fear…The old Eskimo spoke well. It is the winter of the heedless ones…”

And who are the heedless ones in our midst?  They are faceless corporations and their executive managements that enrich themselves at the expense of all others and the earth. They are our political leaders whose secret misdoings circumvent our laws, put our country deeper into debt and kill innocent people in wars without end.

They are the heedless ones because they take no responsibility for their deeds, nor do they accept accountability for the consequences of their actions. They exhibit hubris—the greatest sin of the Ancient Greek world— an exaggerated self pride, arrogance or self-confidence (overbearing pride), often resulting in fatal retribution. With little or no perception of the damage they cause—they destroy, heedless of the deep damage they have inflicted on individuals, on our society, and our environment.  Worst of all, we’ve allowed them to do it…and we have to be the ones who stand up and demand change.