We need spiritual guidance
Let's all get on the same page
No one has all the answers. There is no central headquarters somewhere which can be relied on to know what to do. Each of us disagrees about whether we are in a planetary environmental emergency or not, and about the degree of the danger.
Among those (myself included) who think we are in an immediate emergency (not one in the future), there is disagreement about the cause or causes of it. Some think there's nothing that can be done. I think we are in a period of abrupt climate change, caused in large part by humans. Some of us may survive - but only if there is a worldwide understanding that we have a whole system emergency which must be addressed by the most drastic measures.
What do I mean by drastic measures? Get ready for this. You're not likely to like it because it entails too many changes. I would have everyone stop mowing their lawns. We need all the plants we can get growing. I would stop the use of poisons against rats and replace that with encouraging a proliferation of those species which eat rats - such as hawks. I would have rats inoculated with beneficial microbes just as raccoons are now. I would have poultry and other livestock inoculated with beneficial microbes rather than hit them with antibiotics. I would encourage the capture and composting of rats. I would (contrary to what the health department currently recommends) encourage the PROPER, SAFE return to the soil of meat and manures of all types - via composting in large expertly monitored bioreactors to make sure they are culturing good bacteria and other organisms rather than those creatures we've already got enough of like flies, mosquitoes, diseases, rats, woodchucks (groundhogs), squirrels, chipmunks, cats, mice, raccoons, etc.
Were I a benevolent dictator able to tell everybody in the world what to do
(not to worry, that's not likely to ever happen), I'd say stop spending money on sports and get with the program - all hands on deck to save the ecosystem. I'd make public transportation free and tax those so anti-social they drive alone in cars that can hold 4 or more. If you can't face the fact that the whole surface of the Earth is in an emergency, then you're part of the problem rather than being part of the solution. If you see the worldwide emergency but are just too full of grief over the suffering, then grieve; those of us who are in gear will do without you till you recover.
But if you are one of those who - knowing that abrupt climate change is upon us - choose to pretend otherwise for your own selfish interests, I must say I can't help but react emotionally and wish you the warmest spot in a global warming hell.
Why am I so passionate and extreme about changes I think we should make? Maybe it's the claim I read the other day that some scientists are worried that the entire Amazon forest could get caught up in a feedback loop of increasing warming which causes even more carbon dioxide release via more forest fires which cause even more carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere...till the whole forest is destroyed by fire. Maybe it's that the oceans are becoming more acidic and are being overfished at the same time. Maybe it's that I read the CLAIM (being a good researcher I never assume that what I read is true) that the permafrost in Siberia and the Arctic is already melting sufficiently to allow the organic matter underneath to start biodegrading and so provide yet another source of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. Maybe it's that I know that our military is arming space with new types of weaponry in the continuing refusal to understand the basic lesson that war does not solve problems, only causes more.
Were I the new Big Cheese, I'd put all our military research capabilities to use the same advanced technology that's made ours the world's most powerful to gearing up to manufacture clean vehicles and power stations. I would take away the subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear power, and use subsidies and other encouragements to promote renewable fuels. I would eliminate gambling except by old ladies who just can't stop going to bingo. I would make all drugs legal under prescription and so put the gangsters out of business. I would insist that all those whose incomes are related to sports either organize backyard games for free or go out and get a real job. Sports is by definition entertainment - something you do to lighten up when the work is done. I'll be for people spending their whole lives playing sports or computer games the day after we get the problems in the world solved.
No one has all the answers. There is no central headquarters somewhere which can be relied on to know what to do. Each of us disagrees about whether we are in a planetary environmental emergency or not, and about the degree of the danger.
Among those (myself included) who think we are in an immediate emergency (not one in the future), there is disagreement about the cause or causes of it. Some think there's nothing that can be done. I think we are in a period of abrupt climate change, caused in large part by humans. Some of us may survive - but only if there is a worldwide understanding that we have a whole system emergency which must be addressed by the most drastic measures.
What do I mean by drastic measures? Get ready for this. You're not likely to like it because it entails too many changes. I would have everyone stop mowing their lawns. We need all the plants we can get growing. I would stop the use of poisons against rats and replace that with encouraging a proliferation of those species which eat rats - such as hawks. I would have rats inoculated with beneficial microbes just as raccoons are now. I would have poultry and other livestock inoculated with beneficial microbes rather than hit them with antibiotics. I would encourage the capture and composting of rats. I would (contrary to what the health department currently recommends) encourage the PROPER, SAFE return to the soil of meat and manures of all types - via composting in large expertly monitored bioreactors to make sure they are culturing good bacteria and other organisms rather than those creatures we've already got enough of like flies, mosquitoes, diseases, rats, woodchucks (groundhogs), squirrels, chipmunks, cats, mice, raccoons, etc.
Were I a benevolent dictator able to tell everybody in the world what to do
(not to worry, that's not likely to ever happen), I'd say stop spending money on sports and get with the program - all hands on deck to save the ecosystem. I'd make public transportation free and tax those so anti-social they drive alone in cars that can hold 4 or more. If you can't face the fact that the whole surface of the Earth is in an emergency, then you're part of the problem rather than being part of the solution. If you see the worldwide emergency but are just too full of grief over the suffering, then grieve; those of us who are in gear will do without you till you recover.
But if you are one of those who - knowing that abrupt climate change is upon us - choose to pretend otherwise for your own selfish interests, I must say I can't help but react emotionally and wish you the warmest spot in a global warming hell.
Why am I so passionate and extreme about changes I think we should make? Maybe it's the claim I read the other day that some scientists are worried that the entire Amazon forest could get caught up in a feedback loop of increasing warming which causes even more carbon dioxide release via more forest fires which cause even more carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere...till the whole forest is destroyed by fire. Maybe it's that the oceans are becoming more acidic and are being overfished at the same time. Maybe it's that I read the CLAIM (being a good researcher I never assume that what I read is true) that the permafrost in Siberia and the Arctic is already melting sufficiently to allow the organic matter underneath to start biodegrading and so provide yet another source of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. Maybe it's that I know that our military is arming space with new types of weaponry in the continuing refusal to understand the basic lesson that war does not solve problems, only causes more.
Were I the new Big Cheese, I'd put all our military research capabilities to use the same advanced technology that's made ours the world's most powerful to gearing up to manufacture clean vehicles and power stations. I would take away the subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear power, and use subsidies and other encouragements to promote renewable fuels. I would eliminate gambling except by old ladies who just can't stop going to bingo. I would make all drugs legal under prescription and so put the gangsters out of business. I would insist that all those whose incomes are related to sports either organize backyard games for free or go out and get a real job. Sports is by definition entertainment - something you do to lighten up when the work is done. I'll be for people spending their whole lives playing sports or computer games the day after we get the problems in the world solved.
posted by St. Jim the Composter at 2:49 PM
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