human-made miracles
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I remember the miner/farmer I worked for years ago fondly saying to his daughter "You think you're pretty blame smart, don'tcha?" That's how I feel about the human species right now. As a whole we're a pretty daggone successful animal. I mean, look, we got, what, 6.8 or so (give or take maybe a coupla million) billion of us on the surface of the Earth; we're eating, burning, and crowding out many other species; we're going miles under the oceans, down into mines, and up into the sky, even as far as the Moon (though I knew another farmer that didn't believe that). Yeah, we're pretty smart alright, painted ourselves into one helluva corner this time. Thought we could control everything - the crops we grow, bugs, disease, traffic, the economy. Some of us even think we can control the weather now.
Most people are too involved with their daily lives to have the time to find out about how much in danger the whole world is in. But I ask you to take the time to watch this video conversation with Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DXVgTD2F6ZQ&feature=player_embedded . If you want to call me hysterical for the opinion that we're on the edge of a catastrophe larger than anything humanity has ever seen, first be open-minded enough to sit down for a half hour and listen to this expert talk about our problems, from population to rapid climate change to pollution to poverty and war and all the other interacting changes that is making this moment in history one of Earth's most important.
What gets me up in the morning is not scaring the hell out of people about how bad things are, but the opinion that the situation is not hopeless. But things are not going to get better (in fact they're going to get much worse) if we do not wake up to the need to make very drastic changes. VERY drastic changes. We're going to have to have a change of heart, or, to put it another way, our hearts are going to have to grow bigger. We're going to have to expand each of our circle of loved ones to include all life. The Earth's ecosystem is collapsing, and we human beings have played a large part in that destruction. Now we've got to regenerate it. It's long past time to turn away from any type of violence as a strategy. We are throwing away our future by fighting, and God or Science or whatever you want to call the power in the Universe is not going to allow our (I think fear-based) destructiveness to continue forever. Our economy is falling apart. The weather is getting more violent. Some (myself included) even think there is an increase in accidentally human-caused earthquakes, whether or not there is an increase in earthquake activity in general (which some also believe).
So, by our actions, we as a species have played a part in causing this current hell on Earth, and by our actions we can each play a part in creating a heaven on Earth also. Each decision you make, think about it's consequences.
To the extent possible, stop burning things, because combustion makes carbon dioxide. Grow plants, because plants take co2 out of the atmosphere. Even one celled algae growing in a container of water in a window is using co2 and making oxygen. A simple indoor water ecosystem that doesn't need an aerator pump and doesn't require cleaning once its stabilized will help break down pollutants and please the eye. Put anacharis water plants with snails and some kind of fish like goldfish that will eat mosquito larvae in a tank in the sun. The anacharis (and algae that will appear) will provide the fish and snails oxygen, and the snails will eat the algae and so keep it from becoming overbalanced. To the extent possible, stop using gasoline, or natural gas-, coal-, or nuclear power-derived electricity. Grow as much of your own food as possible. Learn about edible weeds like lambs quarters and purslane; these things are only called weeds because we're not used to eating them, and because they come up without having to be planted.
Get with experts turning empty lots into edible food forests full of fresh organic fruits, berries, edible flowers, and herbs both medicinal and culinary.
Don't stick your head out the window and holler, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore." Lean out and sing "I LOVE y'all, ever last crazee one a yens!" That's the only way we're going to make it through these wild times - enjoying the unpredictable vulnerability of life dancing with others we don't understand. It's clear things are not going to remain the same, might as well enjoy the ride. And if you graduate to your next life (in whatever time and space and dimension and parallel universe that is) having had made this particular world a wee bit better, you can look back and feel good about it (and you'll be moving to a better life).
for HazelwoodHomepage.com
I remember the miner/farmer I worked for years ago fondly saying to his daughter "You think you're pretty blame smart, don'tcha?" That's how I feel about the human species right now. As a whole we're a pretty daggone successful animal. I mean, look, we got, what, 6.8 or so (give or take maybe a coupla million) billion of us on the surface of the Earth; we're eating, burning, and crowding out many other species; we're going miles under the oceans, down into mines, and up into the sky, even as far as the Moon (though I knew another farmer that didn't believe that). Yeah, we're pretty smart alright, painted ourselves into one helluva corner this time. Thought we could control everything - the crops we grow, bugs, disease, traffic, the economy. Some of us even think we can control the weather now.
Most people are too involved with their daily lives to have the time to find out about how much in danger the whole world is in. But I ask you to take the time to watch this video conversation with Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DXVgTD2F6ZQ&feature=player_embedded . If you want to call me hysterical for the opinion that we're on the edge of a catastrophe larger than anything humanity has ever seen, first be open-minded enough to sit down for a half hour and listen to this expert talk about our problems, from population to rapid climate change to pollution to poverty and war and all the other interacting changes that is making this moment in history one of Earth's most important.
What gets me up in the morning is not scaring the hell out of people about how bad things are, but the opinion that the situation is not hopeless. But things are not going to get better (in fact they're going to get much worse) if we do not wake up to the need to make very drastic changes. VERY drastic changes. We're going to have to have a change of heart, or, to put it another way, our hearts are going to have to grow bigger. We're going to have to expand each of our circle of loved ones to include all life. The Earth's ecosystem is collapsing, and we human beings have played a large part in that destruction. Now we've got to regenerate it. It's long past time to turn away from any type of violence as a strategy. We are throwing away our future by fighting, and God or Science or whatever you want to call the power in the Universe is not going to allow our (I think fear-based) destructiveness to continue forever. Our economy is falling apart. The weather is getting more violent. Some (myself included) even think there is an increase in accidentally human-caused earthquakes, whether or not there is an increase in earthquake activity in general (which some also believe).
So, by our actions, we as a species have played a part in causing this current hell on Earth, and by our actions we can each play a part in creating a heaven on Earth also. Each decision you make, think about it's consequences.
To the extent possible, stop burning things, because combustion makes carbon dioxide. Grow plants, because plants take co2 out of the atmosphere. Even one celled algae growing in a container of water in a window is using co2 and making oxygen. A simple indoor water ecosystem that doesn't need an aerator pump and doesn't require cleaning once its stabilized will help break down pollutants and please the eye. Put anacharis water plants with snails and some kind of fish like goldfish that will eat mosquito larvae in a tank in the sun. The anacharis (and algae that will appear) will provide the fish and snails oxygen, and the snails will eat the algae and so keep it from becoming overbalanced. To the extent possible, stop using gasoline, or natural gas-, coal-, or nuclear power-derived electricity. Grow as much of your own food as possible. Learn about edible weeds like lambs quarters and purslane; these things are only called weeds because we're not used to eating them, and because they come up without having to be planted.
Get with experts turning empty lots into edible food forests full of fresh organic fruits, berries, edible flowers, and herbs both medicinal and culinary.
Don't stick your head out the window and holler, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore." Lean out and sing "I LOVE y'all, ever last crazee one a yens!" That's the only way we're going to make it through these wild times - enjoying the unpredictable vulnerability of life dancing with others we don't understand. It's clear things are not going to remain the same, might as well enjoy the ride. And if you graduate to your next life (in whatever time and space and dimension and parallel universe that is) having had made this particular world a wee bit better, you can look back and feel good about it (and you'll be moving to a better life).
posted by St. Jim the Composter at 10:35 AM
1 Comments:
good words St. Jim... thanks for those
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