We give away our power and become dependent upon faceless entities with whom we have no contact. Disconnection becomes a way of life. We must rethink the way we educate our youth. What if all curricula at all levels of teaching contained some of the following principles. Teach children that no life form is better than another.
All forms of life are part of a larger web of life.
Getting students out into nature, even if it just to a patch of grass in the parking lot, to observe the endless connections can help develop a reverence for all life. If they feel a part of something larger and quite tangible, the need for the preservation of individuality at all costs disappears. Teach children that they don't need to buy anything to feel happy. In other words, children must be taught to love themselves or they will spend the rest of their lives trying to fill a hole that cannot be filled. And society tells us that we can fill those voids with consumer goods and toys.