My page for the planet:
"Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish has been caught - only then will you find that money cannot be eaten" - Cree Indian proverb
"Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, we fell them down and turn them into paper, that we may record our emptiness" - Kahlil Gibran
"To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug" - Helen Keller
"The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives" - Chinese Proverb
Island Earth
As you can see, we live on a spaceship. A tiny island of life drifting through an unimaginably vast ocean of space. There is only a few thousand feet of air between us and the big Hoover in the sky - air created by trees, the lungs of the Earth. Centuries of human expansion and foolishness have decimated the planet-wide forests that created this Eden planet. We now need to replant the Earth to survive.
Coolest Spaceship in The Universe
Our spaceship is built from a treasure trove of exotic life forms unique to this place alone. Nowhere else will you find a Rhinoceros, a Redwood, a Humpback Whale, or a Monarch Butterfly. Not one of Earth's life forms will you find anywhere else in the entire Universe. We are unique. Our planet and all of it's lifeforms are utterly priceless.
3 billion years of living diversification has led to our island's astoundingly varied and interdependent weave of life. Our human thread has long been an integral and balanced part of this weave. We share the DNA of each and every other living thing on this island, both plants and animals. Evolving side by side in this co-dependent embrace, we and nature are undeniably one and inseparable.After mastering the use of tools, the human race was on - we began expanding exponentially, cutting down the world's forests, and dramatically changing Earth's evolutionary processes. In our folly we continue to eliminate thousands of threads from Earth's complex fabric of life. As John Muir said, "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world"
Fools call our subduction of the planet 'survival of the fittest' and say our domination over other life forms is simply evolution. Maybe, but when has a single species ever caused a planet-wide mass extinction of both plants and animals? When has one species ever altered the climate of the Earth? This type of 'evolution' is perverted and unprecedented, and if allowed to continue, unsurvivable.
Oily bastards, genome perverts, and politicians
The politicians and corporations who promote Earth-destroying oil, coal, and nuclear power would do the planet a great service by volunteering for a nice long trip to Mars - breathe deep arse-holes, and you'll know just how precious the environment is back home on your little island. It is not impossible to make the Earth's atmosphere and climate like that of Mars, and some seem bent on making it happen. Exxon-Mobil for example is funding a mass disinformation campaign about global warming. Lying about something that could destroy most of the life on Earth is a moral crime of unparalleled scope. If you drive, RUN OUT OF GAS before filling up at Exxon-Mobil!
Some corporations are altering and perverting the DNA of Earth's life forms - the very building blocks of life. Incredibly irresponsible and dangerous.
Some corporations profit by removing huge chunks of Earth's ancient living skin - replacing a billion years of evolution with dead, heat-producing scars.
Oil companies punch holes in the Earthto suck up their poisonous goo which, when used as directed destroys our atmosphere and causes the global temperature increase which now threatens life on Earth. Clean, safe technologies already exist which could provide power for the entire planet without pollution. However, oil, coal, nuclear, and their puppets in government (mostly Republicans, let's face facts) will do anything to keep us from adopting these technologies. These Goober mechanics are tinkering with the very engine of our existence, and they must be stopped. Time grows short and we must act."The Earth is not dying -- it is being killed. And the people who are killing it have names and addresses..." U-tah Phillips
.."How long can men thrive between walls of brick, walking on asphalt pavements, breathing the fumes of coal and of oil, growing, working, dying, with hardly a thought of wind, and sky, and fields of grain, seeing only machine-made beauty, the mineral-like quality of life?.." - Charles A. Lindbergh
.."Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time..." - Motto of the Baltimore Grotto
.."One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.." - William Shakespeare
.."Why should man expect his prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him when he shows no mercy to what is under him?.." - Pierre Troubetzkoy
.."Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect..." Chief Seattle, 1855
.."Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another. - Juvenal.."We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.." - Albert Einstein
Living Skin of Earth
Look at this beautiful picture of Earth...
See the hazy hair-thin blue line at the very edge of the planet? That's our entire atmosphere. All that keeps us alive is there. It was pure a few centuries ago. Now it contains car emissions, smokestack fumes, pesticides, nuclear accidents, you name it... all we create stays right there. Ours is a closed system. The Global Warming studies have been exhaustive and unless you believe Exxon-Mobil, the jury is in: We are warming our planet. Looking at how thin our atmosphere is, is it really so hard to believe? This thin cocoon of air is created by our planet's living skin - it's forests, plants, and animals. This skin is the only thing that separates Earth from planets like Mars or Venus.
'Economic Growth' - One Huge Ponzi Scheme
Have you noticed that the world's economic system revolves around the principle of endless human expansion? "Economic Growth" they call it. Since live on a planet with finite dimensions, it is unsustainable, yet we continue to ignore the elephant pooping in our living room, and grow, grow, grow. Our current economic system amounts a huge pyramid scheme, and as with all pyramid schemes, the game ends when there is no room left at the bottom - we are there. Our planet can't support further human expansion. Monsanto (these are some evil pricks) will tell you the Earth can comfortably hold 15 billion people. Ya, right. There is no reality in the view from the top of the corporate pyramid... all they see is profit, as far as the eye can see.. no life, no trees, just dollars, rupees, and yen. The Orwellian turd factory uses the words "Growth" and "Development" to hide the truth as they dismantle our planet's life-support system. Cancer is a stupid disease. It races to suicide by multiplying until it kills it's host thereby killing itself. Are we smarter than cancer?
6.5 Billion, and ... .."Growing?.."
Birth control is not rocket science. We should be dropping condom-bombs all over the planet. Why do corporations and the media they own make no mention of population control? Because more people make a bigger pyramid to sit on top of. More pop-up neighborhoods means more Wall-Marts, Exxon-Mobil stations, and mill-grist to feed their Matrix. Ask yourself - is the ever-increasing number of people needed to feed this runaway corporate train going to make this a better world? Do Wall-Marts give us air? Do trees grow in cement?
A Progressive Revolution
As progressive minds have done through history, we need once again to awaken the consciousness of a sleeping world and battle once again the forces of ignorance and greed. Progressive thinkers brought us out of the dark ages, ended slavery, and constitutionally stopped church-state unions, but the forces that created those institutions did not die - they still fester and grow, and while we slept corporate greed has ran completely amok and hijacked our government, our airwaves, and our minds - the results of which we are now seeing. Many good-hearted people are STILL hypnotized and taken in by the skillful and subtle manipulations of the corporate talking heads on that insidious boob tube. Many are too overworked to research facts, and too brainwashed to act when a fact hits them in the face. This must change.
Same Forces - Different Stakes
One thing is different in today's battle against the bad guys. For the first time in history the survival of Earth hangs in the balance. If we fail, the forces of ignorance, greed, and fear will ruin this planet. This isn't Star Trek - there will be no other planets to move to, no rescue ships from outer space... we have but one planet, and there will be no second chances. This is our test. What would Ben Franklin do in our shoes?
Albert Einstein told us:
"A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'Universe.' He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole [of] nature in its beauty"
.."When a man wantonly destroys one of the works of man we call him a vandal. When he destroys one of the works of god we call him a sportsman.." - Joseph Wood Krutch
.."You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell yourchildren that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.." - Native American Wisdom
.."The victory of Christianity over paganism was the greatest psychic revolution in the history of our culture. By destroying pagan animism, Christianity made it possible to exploit nature in a mood of indifference to the feelings of natural objects.." - Lynn I. White
.."A wee child toddling in a wonder world.... I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens where the voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers. If this is Paganism, then at present, at least, I am a Pagan.." - Zitkala-Sa
A World of Possibilities
Is it so hard to imagine an economy based on sustainability instead of endless "growth?" Human qualities over human quantity? Green planet over green paper? If we decide to focus our considerable creative powers on healing the damage we have done, we may yet avert global disaster and redeem ourselves as the caretakers of a priceless planet. In exchange for our efforts, we will save millions of life forms unique in the universe (including our own), and extend indefinitely our stay on this Eden of the heavens. We can easily switch from an oil economy to an Eco-nomy, utilizing clean energy resulting in clean air to breathe, clean drinkable water flowing in every river once again (yes, that's what I said), truly healthy forests, and a reduced and sustainable human population once more in balance with the Earth.
Solutions?
Logic would dictate putting back that which has been taken - pretty radical huh? Since the problem was caused by cutting down all the trees, overpopulating, and pumping our air and water full of pollutants, does it not make sense that reversing course will solve the problems? Too late you say? No!
Humans: Stewards of the Earth.
Overpopulation is the root cause of most of our environmental problems, yet is incredibly easy to fix if we would simply address the issue honestly. If the world simply embraced a two-adult, two-child policy, we could immediately halt human population expansion! Want more than 2 kids? Wonderful - Adopt! The simplest of mathematics tells us that we are no longer free to procreate without limits within the confines of this once finely-balanced ecosystem.
Trees: The lungs of our planet.
Did you know:
It takes between 2 and 5 tons of fuel oil or liquid petroleum (propane) to heat an average home in the eastern United States for a year. It takes only 6 one-foot diameter trees to do the exact same job - cleanly. .."Burn wood.." you say? How primitive! Burning non-renewable pollutants like oil and coal is much more primitive. Burning just one pound of dried wood gives off 7,700 BTU's of heat / power. Trees and other biomass fuels like hemp are completely clean and cyclical energy sources - you burn them, and the next generation of growth takes the gases back in and gives us oxygen in return. The ashes from the burn are returned to the soil as fertilizer. There is no waste. There is no pollution, and it's 100% free - you can grow this fuel in your backyard, and hang your hammock under it besides. Tell Exxon to kiss your ashes... grow some trees!!!
The money America has spent invading Iraq would have purchased enough wind generators and solar panels to power our entire planet, and a state-of-the-art wood furnace for each and every home in the United States. If we had a government that wasn't run by corporations they would immediately issue a call for action to the nation's people to address global warming, and we would rise to the challenge. We can quickly do some very simple things to save ourselves, as well as the sorry bastards who will fight us every step of the way (dittoheads, etc..). First, the governments and people of the world must start a planet-wide re-planting campaign. Aerial seeding could potentially re-cover the world with trees in just a few short years, and the planet will again be able to breathe. Planting programs would cost a fraction of our collective military budgets, and what a superb paradigm shift - imagine using the world's warplanes to seed the Earth, uniting the world in the last war.. a war on ignorance and self destruction. Besides fueling the new clean-burning furnaces our Iraq money just bought us, these new trees would create huge amounts of habitat for wildlife, and replace most of our current uses of coal. Trees can be harvested for fuel without being cut down - you simply take half the limbs, and leave the rest. This method allows 10 times the growth rate over new trees, as a newly trimmed mature tree will suddenly have twice the root system - ie food supply - it needs for it's remaining branches, allowing for a phenomenal re-growth rate.
Water:
Once hydrogen, solar, wind, and biomass (wood/hemp etc) are adopted as the world's power sources, the need for hydroelectric dams will completely disappear.The rivers can be reverted back to their original state, allowing them once again to function as the unclogged arteriesthat bring this precious lifeblood to ecological sub-systems all over our island.Fish will again be able to swim upstream, and the health and vitality will again return to the areas that have been robbed of their natural heritage of free flowing water.
Animals:
The thinking, breathing, playing, feeling, mobile miracles of our world.
Those that remain can be rewarded for surviving our profound shortsightedness by being re-introduced to unfenced and growing - not shrinking - wild places. Where neighborhoods exist, indigenous flora and fauna can be re-introduced, re-creating to some degree what evolved there. Even in the cities we could do wonderful things if we put our minds to it. If having trees and animals in our yards will help save the planet, wouldwe do it? It would require an end to the demonetization of nature and animals. It is laughable that the planet's most dangerous creatures are terrified of almost everything in nature - spiders,bees, bats, wolves, you name it... the list of our animal phobias is nearly endless. Hey Hollywood - quit making crappy movies about killer animals. Fact: Total human deaths by venomous animals in the United States was 68 in 1996. Total non-venomous deaths caused by animals was 201. Contrast this with 20,634 homicides in the same year, and it becomes pretty clear who the dangerous animals are
Weak minds, and the corporate powers that pollute them will certainly tell you you're nuts when you espouse progressive and sustainable world ideas. They will call you .."environmental wacko,.." or .."tree hugger..." Wear them proudly, as the future will know the truth and smile upon you for what you do today. One need only look at the global destruction caused by corporate interests, and it .. becomes immediately apparent who the true environmental wackos are. We lose our way when we try to separate ourselves from nature. .."The old Lakota was wise. He knew that man's heart, away from nature, becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans too..." - Luther Standing Bear.
We must .."come home..." We must re-integrate with the natural world from whence we came. Many of the ills of modern society can be traced directly to the severing of our ties with our natural roots. Anyone who has ever walked in a forest can attest to the power of peace and healing to be found there. Would it not be wonderful to make that weekend get-away into nature as simple as walking out your back door?
We can easily make these changes. It will take enlightenment, world awareness, and a permanent mindset of co-operation and peace. Borders and flags must be retired and left to an ignorant past. All that has been damaged can be healed. All that can be dreamed can be done. As one world-changing progressive mind told us so eloquently in song, .."there are no problems, only solutions..."
Corporate Person-hood
Pollution and a slew of other problems will be largely solved the minute corporations are forever removed from the halls and pockets of our governments. Corporate influence on public policy maker's decisions is the cancer eating our democracy.
At the heart of the problem are Corporate Person-hood Laws. Please read about them and write, demand, picket,surround, shut down - whatever it takes! Our lives and a 3-billion year miracle hang in the balance.
More voices for the Earth
.."Those who wish to pet and baby wild animals .."love.." them. But those who respect their natures and wish to let them live normal lives, love them more.." - Edwin Way Teale
.."A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule.." - Michael Pollan
.."In some mysterious way woods have never seemed to me to be static things. In physical terms, I move through them; yet in metaphysical ones, they seem to move through me.." - John Fowles
.."Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.." - Henry David Thoreau
.."The mind, in proportion as it is cut off from free communication with nature, with revelation, with God, with itself, loses its life, just as the body droops when debarred from the air and the cheering light from heaven.." - William Channing
.."To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life..." - John Burroughs
.."Zoos are becoming facsimiles - or perhaps caricatures - of how animals once were in their natural habitat. If the right policies toward nature were pursued, we would need no zoos at all.." - Michael Fox
.."When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves..." - David Orr
.."There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet..." - Brooke Medicine Eagle
.."The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in their way.." - William Blake
.."Only to the white man was nature a 'wilderness'..." - Luther Standing Bear
.."If we once -- and for so long -- lived in balance with nature and each other, we should be able to do so again..." - John Zerzan