Let's come down to Earth

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hazelwoodhomepage.com
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Ending war - the ultimate green issue

I had originally intended to title this month's article Celebrate Earth because I believe that ultimately the beauty of life is stronger than destructive times such as the one we are living in now. But the present world emergency must be confronted in order to get to a future I'm convinced could be wonderful beyond belief.

We are in a period of quantum change. We human beings have at this moment in history the capacity to use our mushrooming technology to: clean up pollution; restabilize the weather; feed everybody; dramatically reduce disease; and put Planet Earth on a sustainable economic path. But we won't have this chance for long.

We need a sea change - in our hearts and in Washington, D.C.

I don't know about other residents of this neighborhood and city, but I have been struggling with panic. I believe it's a mistake to act on fear, but the feeling has been getting harder to defeat lately. I can't and won't pretend I think things are hunky-dory in the world and we're going to be okay as long as we just "keep on keepin' on." I'm sorry, but that's just not going to happen. We're in trouble and we have to change what we're doing. It's not good to panic, but it's not safe to bury your head in the sand either.

We are inevitably a part of the world system, and most of that world is pretty unhappy with the behavior of the government of the United States right now. The entire country gets blamed for the decisions of those at the top. Think about that. Should you become collateral damage just because your neighbor is making trouble? Just as non-combatants in Iraq and elsewhere are becoming victims of wars, so also are we non-participants in our federal government's decisionmaking paying for their decisions - big time now that the economy has become unstable. Our government has deserted us. Maybe it's time we started acting like what we are - citizens of the world. Here's an example:

Remember the hullabaloo at the revelation that toys from China were made with toxics? Well, guess who sold the Chinese the materials they recycled into toys? Some of our companies sold some of it. Now, if they had been acting like citizens of the world they would never have done something so inhumane. We wouldn't sell toxic materials to our near neighbors, why would it be okay to sell it to neighbors on the other side of the world? And why would we be surprised when they treat us so badly also?

Everyone has someone to blame, some individual or group to designate as evil. The majority of the citizens of the United States, for instance, view the Second World War as good having defeated evil - failing to see that the Germans and Japanese were both perpetrators and victims in world affairs - repeating the cycle of violence which is as old as humankind.

Yes, I celebrate Earth this Spring. You might say God takes our rotten decisions, composts them down, and grows gorgeous new flowers with them. Enjoy.
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Jim McCue
composter and biotech researcher