An Open Letter To Aliens

Dear Aliens,

First off, I'll say that your anal probes, crop circles, and cattle mutilations are a little annoying. But I know it's what aliens do, so I'll roll with it.

The purpose of my letter is to let you guys know what it's like to live in a stage 4 industrial society. See, neither you nor I can escape the laws of evolution, and where we humans are at now is a pivotal point.

I don't know the outcome of my species yet, but whatever happens we all win. Despite all the people who deny climate change the fact is that we've been putting tons of carbon into the air since the Industrial Revolution began in 1760. All this carbon is taking its toll and in the next 100 years our world is going to change drastically. Maybe there are some in our species who can adapt to a hotter world, but most will die. And even if humanity is wiped out, other species will evolve to take our place.

It's quite possible that with all our air and water pollution, carbon releasing, and even nuclear war may make our planet uninhabitable, but that's okay too. The earth is going to die anyway when the sun supernovas, and it's quite likely that an asteroid or comet will smash into us, break our planet apart, and allow us to seed our area of the galaxy. What I mean by that is our planet is loaded with organic matter, and once in space it will be frozen, and once it hits a habitable planet you've got the building blocks for life.

If we do survive the current warming crises, or if another species takes over, there is nothing to stop us — we will keep evolving. Technology is integral with evolution because every species wants to meet its needs for food, comfort, and safety. Our greatest technology that completely changed us was fire, which we learned to control 1 million years ago. Fire gave us warmth, better food, protection, and light. It allowed us to separate from the other species and become more intelligent bipeds.

It is ironic that the same technology that allowed us to evolve into intelligent beings, and led the way to our consciousness, is now destroying us. And if we humans fail, I believe only bipeds with opposing thumbs can make use of fire, but sooner or later another species will come along and conquer it. Believe me, we have plenty of time for other species to evolve.

The problem with our technological evolution is that evolution requires challenges to allow for adaptations. We humans are genetically modifying our food to make it more efficient and we are continually conquering diseases. We have machines to do most of our work for us. Soon, we will have droids to clean our homes. When I walked into the grocery store tonight two things struck me: First, nearly every food item I saw was junk, but I know the sugary, processed foods taste good. Second, I noticed almost everyone in the store was overweight, if not obese.

We have made our lives so much easier and more comfortable, but the problem is we are trapped in our hunter-gatherer bodies, which don't know how to respond to the modern world. Our bodies simply do what they did a million years ago -- store the sugar as fat.

In our society it will soon become apparent that bodies are no longer needed. Brains can be hooked up to machines. We don't even have to go out — any experience we want can be sent by signals into our brain. We can have all the sex we want, eat all the food we want, and live in opulent mansions. Perhaps this is what Heaven is, and the streets of gold and mansions, that are referenced in the Bible.

For a while we will be a mixture of organic and machine, but hell, who needs a brain any more? Soon, our computers will capture our consciousness. The computers will keep getting smaller until they are little dots floating around in the Universe. But, heck, who needs hardware? We will be engineered to become fabric within the Universe, and we'll live forever. Civilizations before us could be the ghosts and spirit guides that we see now.

But, right now, as much as we'd like, we cannot escape death. The brain is a mixture of chemical and electrical impulses, and once oxygen is cut off everything in our being deteriorates rapidly. There is no technology that can conjure up who we are and put it on a flash drive — not even advanced civilizations can do that. But, maybe the spirit guides can, and then put us into another body, so that we will keep learning.

Unless an older civilization in an invisible form can help us, death is the end. But we can have peace knowing two things: First, our dust will be used for a few more iterations of stars until the Universe runs out of hydrogen. And, secondly, we are helping a future generation get to heaven. What I mean by that is that our mere existence in this society is indirectly helping the handful of scientists who are helping future humans reach immortality. 

I assume all of you aliens out there are from more advanced societies. And the point of my letter is to say that you may look down on us now, but even if we fail, we still live on in various ways. When our Universe goes dark, there may even be some way to move our life energy into a neighboring Universe. This is the immortality that we all want, right?

And, looking at the vertical spectrum, there is no limit to small because matter must always be something, and even when you get down to the molecule, atom, and quark, there could be entire civilizations existing at the subatomic level (by the way, watch the 1983 movie The Big Chill). What you see in us now may be a collection of billions of smaller civilizations.

The point, my alien friends, is that you can't stop us and we can't even stop ourselves. Even if we nuke our planet there is enough buried organic material to one day give life again.

We give a lot of lip service about the gods we created and reincarnation, but unless you aliens are the spirit guides there is no technology in the Universe to give us life after death. The Universe is mechanical and no being can beat the laws of physics, and the laws, mixed with matter, are what keeps everything moving along its inevitable path, whatever that may be.

Another irony is that in a couple of weeks we celebrate a holiday, where a lot of our children will dress up like you. They will go door-to-door, collect sugary candy, and get fat. I know, it's a little crazy — don't let this freak you out too much.

Respectfully,

Todd Daniel

Human 3,002,433,659

Photo: Donald Giannatti

Sustainability Summit: My Green Epiphanies

Last Thursday I had the honor of serving as moderator for the Cobb County Sierra Club's Sustainability Summit. Being around the hard-working and visionary panelists gave me a much-needed lift.

First of all, the following famous quote ran through my head: 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Two of the themes for the evening where mass transit and clean energy. I am in awe how local activists and groups are working with the City of Atlanta to create green initiatives. Atlanta is the largest city in the Southeast and their sustainability efforts are setting an example for the entire region. This is an example of how the Sierra Club and likeminded organizations can make a difference with far-reaching results.

Jump Into Politics

Modifying corporate behavior was another theme for the evening. The speakers discussed plans for getting our local electrical utility to commit to more solar energy. Of equal importance is the need to campaign for good political candidates and lobby government bodies to push for positive public policies. Regulatory boards like the Public Service Commission hold tremendous power and it's important that their boards have green representation. Wind, solar, and other clean energy sources need to be continually promoted.

After the meeting I was talking to a woman who had been apolitical most of her life, but the election of Trump motivated her to get involved. She recently went door-to-door campaigning for a green candidate, which greatly touched me.

NAACP

We had the president of the local NAACP on the panel and I learned a lot of interesting and exciting things about this organization. I did not know that the organization was founded by white people, that it is nonpartisan, and welcomes all races. Right now the organization is focused on voter registration and has a wonderful campaign going on called the Power of Five: Register 5 new voters. Ensure that 5 people get to the polls. Volunteer – 5 minutes, 5 hours or 5 days — between now and Election Day.

I love this initiative. Already, our local Sierra Club group has been building connections with the NAACP through our participation in the annual Juneteenth festival, which celebrates the freeing of the last slaves in 1865.

Gerrymandering

My greatest takeaway for the night was the importance of getting the right governor in place in the upcoming election. The reason is that after the federal census is conducted each decade states are required to create new congressional districts. Gerrymandering is where the dominant political party draws the boundaries in a way that gives them a political advantage. The most common technique is to "pack" voters of a certain type into a single congressional district, thus they can't influence other races. You can look at a map of nationwide congressional districts and quickly tell which states gerrymander and which states do not. Although in a gray area, right now gerrymandering is legal. I see it as a disgusting attack on our democracy. And, I will be blunt by saying it's mostly an effort by Republicans to pack minorities into single districts, where they can only elect one representative instead of maybe two. 

While the courts may take some action on gerrymandering cases by far the most effective way to stop this practice is to elect a governor that would veto an unfairly developed plan. So, in red state Georgia, campaigning for a Democratic governor is probably the most effective use of my volunteer time.

Conclusion

The overall linking theme for the evening is the importance of getting the right people into political office. I am deeply inspired by Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson who were able to push massive civil rights initiatives through Congress. Lincoln did it by one-one-meetings and Johnson did it by spending full days on the phone talking to Congressional members. What was their secret? They used their personal connections, they pleaded, they bargained, and they did everything they could to get the votes needed to pass their initiatives. We need more leaders like this who will not only continue the drive for social justice but also for green initiatives. I find that conservatives ALWAY focus on immediate gratification even when that means everything else is slowly sinking. What we need are progressive politicians who emphasize the long-term, even if it means the short-term will be a little less comfortable. Yeah, this means sacrificing for the betterment of our grandchildren and planet. To me, that's the way it should be.

The Iroquois native Americans followed the principle that when a decision is made its impact seven generations into the future should be considered. To survive as a nation and as a global community we need politicians who will do the same.

I strongly applaud all the outstanding panelists, organizers, and the audience at last Thursday's event. Thank you for deeply inspiring and motivating me. 

Panelists and organizers at my local Sierra Club's annual Sustainability Summit.

Photo credit (at top): Noah Silliman

A Twist to My Population Thinking?

Hmm, this article was written by a Sierra Club staffer for World Population Day in July 2016, and I just came across it. I served on the Sierra Club's Population Committee for many years, both as a member and as a volunteer. I was surprised to recently learn that they changed the name to the Gender Equity & Environment program. My first impression is that once again, political correctness is running amok. It wasn't that long ago when my other favorite nonprofit, Zero Population Growth, changed their name to Population Connection. And, I guess I shouldn't complain because the National Audubon Society and National Wildlife Federation used to have good population programs, which seem to have faded away.

A couple of things in this article trouble me:

• Apparently the Worldwatch Institute did a study that finds that there is no proof that "wider use of family planning promotes environmental sustainability." My immediate thought is that government and nongovernment agencies can only meet a small percentage of the global need, which is why researchers are not seeing an impact. But as the article points out, the issue is complicated, and there may be other factors in play.
• Item 2 in the article below is disturbing because it makes it sound like the human population crises will solve itself at the end of the century, so why worry? So, to me, the vibe of this article is that we shouldn't worry about population, but we should focus on gender equity instead. Certainly, gender equity is a key component, but being too afraid to mention "population" is ridiculous.

Anyway, I won't dwell too much on this now. I've lost contact with my fellow population committee members, but I hope to reach one at some point and learn what's going on. For the most part, I believe excessive political correctness is just another nail in our planet's coffin, but that's a blog post for a different day.

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3 Things You Didn’t Know About Global Population and Climate Change

The question “What is the impact of family planning on the environment?” does not have a simple answer. In fact, it depends.  

Experts often promote increased rights-based access to family planning as a key to environmental sustainability.  However, just last week, the Worldwatch Institute released a study of more than 900 peer-reviewed articles and found support but no confirmation for their hypothesis that “wider use of family planning promotes environmental sustainability.” These findings show that we need more research on the topic to increase our understanding of the nuanced relationships between family planning and the environment. The story of our global population and our environment is one that requires a more comprehensive look at all aspects of sustainable development. 

Yesterday was World Population Day, to commemorate that, we took a look at global demographic trends and how they affect people and their environments.

1. Consumption plays a large role in contributing to climate disruption.Often, when people talk about the impact of population on climate change, it is about the number of people. More people, more degradation. While this may carry truth for natural resources on a local level, the vast majority of climate emissions are a result of a handful of largely high-income countries. The United States for instance, while only five percent of the global population, produces 25 percent of the emissions. The average person in the United States produces 42 times the emissions of the average person in Bangladesh. On a national scale, that means the U.S. is producing 92 times more emissions than Bangladesh. The wealthiest 20 percent of people in the world consume 86 percent of its goods, with the poorest 20 percent consuming only 1.3 percent.
2. Population growth has dramatically slowed.  While population continues to grow, the rate of that growth has dramatically slowed. Today, our population is growing by 1.13 percent per year, nearly half the rate during peak growth in the late 1960s. While experts predict we’ll have 9.7 billion people by 2050, that represents a slowing of the population growth rate to an estimated half a percent growth.Most of the continued growth we’ll witness through 2100 is based on population momentum. This is due to a lack of balance in births and deaths, largely attributed to a younger population. On  global scale, more than half the world’s population is under the age of 30 and as youth  enter reproductive years - even with a replacement rate of two children per woman - our population will grow. With these estimations, population will stop growing before the end of this century.
3. Climate disruption has increased impacts for women and girls.Climate disruption is not gender neutral. It’s impact on women and girls is disproportionate. Women are an estimated 14 times more likely to die from a natural disaster, which fueled by climate disruption are growing in frequency and intensity.  Women constitute up to 80 percent of global refugee and displaced populations, and typically in emergencies 70 to 80 percent of those needing assistance are women and children. As women, they are often the target of systematic rape, violence, and terror.
   
   Widespread gender inequity impacts women and girls not just when disaster strikes, but also on a daily basis. Climate disruption induced changing weather patterns can wipe out crops and decimate a family's livelihood. In places like Bangladesh, in order to feed their families, fathers are marrying off their daughters early taking girls out of school, continuing the poverty cycle, and increasing gender-based discrimination. In 2015 alone, more than 700 million women in the world were married before the age of 18, including around 15 million girls who were forced into marriage.

What does this all mean?

Simplifying people’s role in climate disruption to one of numbers is a false comparison, because some of us play a much larger role in nature’s destruction than others. A growing population puts less stress on our climate than high consumption by the few. And this heavy consumption is putting women and girls at risk. That’s why we are fighting coal and trying to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

With a better understanding of the problem comes a better understanding of the solution. Providing access to family planning and increasing gender equity is about climate adaptation and resilience -- not about climate mitigation. By increasing access to reproductive rights and healthcare, education, energy, and economic opportunity, women are better able to adapt to the immediate effects of climate disruption. That’s why the Sierra Club advocates for policies and organizations that are standing up for women and girls. Join us in advocating for investment in women and girls.

About the author: A. Tianna Scozzaro is the Director of the Sierra Club's Gender Equity and Environment Program.

The Metaphorical Jesus

I often think that Jesus Christ was the first great sustainability activist. Now, first, let me say that American Christianity has absolutely no relation to 1st century Christianity. Rather, what we see in the U.S. are people treating religion as a political movement or worshipping the dominant culture.

Now, on to my point. If you study Christ's three-year ministry you'll see he devotes a lot of energy into simply saying "follow me," but he doesn't go into much detail. He kind of turns me off because he teaches elitism and exclusivity. But if you take his "kingdom" to the metaphorical level it makes sense — the "kingdom" are the people who follow his teachings, and in that sense I'm a Christian.

If you look at His teachings, Jesus lays down a good blueprint for a sustainable world. Both by his lifestyle and messages, he sets the example for humility, loving one another, and a simple lifestyle. He criticizes wealth.

Some of my favorite things about Jesus:

• His followers wanted a rebel leader who would kick out the Roman occupiers. Jesus wasn't political and his vision was far greater and beyond a simple military action. 
• Jesus respected women. He made Mary Magdalene an important part of his ministry.
• He spoke out against religious, self-righteous hypocrites. He spoke out against the wealthy.
• By his examples and teachings he opposed violence.

When I see Christians in America supporting Donald Trump, that's when I agree with them for once — Christianity is cold dead in this country. Jimmy Carter is the only true Christian I've ever met.

Capitalism

It's interesting that our so-called wonderful economic system is based on the primitive human instincts that Jesus spoke out against — selfishness and greed. To me, the whole message of Christianity is to rise above our basic animalistic nature and to behave at a higher altruistic level. It continues to amaze me that any Christian can be a Republican, which is a political party infested with money grubbing moguls who manipulate the laws and the citizens to allow them to acquire more wealth.

More Jesus Teachings

The holy Christians in the U.S. are so busy bashing immigrants, Muslims, and gays that I don't think they read their Bible much. Here are some more of my favorite teachings from Christ. These are summarized by my fellow blogger Steve Kimes of Portland, Oregon:

• He sort of rehashed the 10 Commandments — don't murder, steal, defraud, or commit adultery. And honor your parents.
• Don't serve other gods, like the money god.
• Respect God.
• Pray.
• "Clean the inside of the cup" — I love this one. Our intentions and motivations should be pure.
• "Seek first the kingdom" — Hey, Jesus constantly used parables, which are metaphorical, so I interpret the "kingdom" as metaphorical too. The kingdom is the family of likeminded believers.
• Love your neighbor and the Golden Rule. These are the things completely forgotten in the new Trump America.
• And more: Love your enemies, reconcile with others when you've done wrong, don't judge, love one another, be at peace, wash each other's feet, and sell your possessions and give to the poor.

Summary

My idea of a church is where you get with fellow believers and focus on the above. It takes a lot of peer support to elevate yourself beyond basic human instincts. There are Bibles everywhere and you can pick one up and read this stuff for yourself.

As I've said in earlier posts, I don't believe Jesus was supernatural. However, he could have been an alien or influenced by some higher-evolved force in the Universe. For Jesus to make such incredible statements so early in our human history is uncanny. I do not believe in miracles without technical evidence, and I believe there must be a form of technology for every action. Technology simply facilitates physics in some way that brings us a benefit. Thus, I don't believe Jesus brought Lazarus back to life because that would require a technology to restore millions of damaged cells. Once oxygen flow stops, those cells begin to deteriorate immediately. It's over. But, like I say, it's possible that there are evolved species in the Universe that no longer even need a physical body. They are out there, and one could have been inside Jesus.

Some one, somewhere, and for some reason felt it necessary to send Jesus as a messenger to our world. Jesus taught us a better way to live that is sustainable and nondestructive. His ideas immediately caught on around the world. But rather than creating true Christian institutions, his teachings were immediately politicized and used as a source of government power and social control. Before long we humans created "Christian" institutions that became exactly what Jesus taught against. The lesson learned here is that getting away from our human nature is harder than one would think.

If you are saving trees, helping animals, living a simple lifestyle, and doing something kind for your fellow human, then you are a true Christian, at least to me. If you are consumed by church busybody activities, obsessed with material things, and living for your own pleasure, then you are not.

So, maybe you should put your Trump banner in the closet and befriend a gay, Muslim, or someone who is different from you. Only then will you begin to see what you can't see now. 

Photo: Diana Vargas

Balloons, Fish, and Fireworks

Every time I blog I feel like I am shouting in a giant, dark room. There's no one to hear me. I guess I do it because I have a lot of thoughts inside me that I want to get out. I am mystified at how humanity continually spins its wheels in the mud. While our technology moves forward, little else does. We are the lost species.

One thing that frustrates me is how people get locked into behaviors that are harmful to themselves, others, and the environment. If you confront them with something they brush it off with comments like, "it's not that bad." They can't grasp that what they are doing is hurting someone or some thing and they go one doing it.

Here are a few pet peeves I have. As the comedian Carol Burnett says, "this just burns my grits."

Catch & Release

I know several fisherman who enjoy catching fish and releasing them. This is torturing the animal. They swallow a hook, are yanked out the water into the air, and then some redneck is sticking fingers down their throat to get their hook back. The traumatized and injured animal is then tossed back into the water, where it has a good chance of dying. And this is called a sport? Fuck. A search on the web shows that only PETA takes a stand against this form of animal abuse. I guess I am now an animal lover extremist. Oh well.

Balloon Releases

It's so pretty to let balloons go into the air, but all you are doing is littering and endangering wildlife. One day I noticed a large balloon had landed on my house, with a note on it. It was part of a balloon release at an elementary school in Alabama, 90 miles away. Are you kidding? I wrote an unpleasant letter saying I had to get out the ladder and climb on my roof to get the dastardly thing.

On several hiking trips I have seen balloon scraps high in the trees. To see something shiny in a forest really gets your attention. I immediately think of the alien crash site in Roswell, NM. Is it debris from a UFO? Or is it a signaling station for a spy network? But as I get closer to the shiny object and look up I notice that it's, oh, a balloon.

The fallen balloons are sometimes mistaken by animals as food. And in the water they cause entanglement issues for sea life. If you must buy a balloon for a festive event, please don't let it get away.

Fireworks

During one major holiday the loud fireworks made my neighbor's dog go crazy, and he tore up the basement ductwork trying to get away from the noise. At my house, things went far worse. It was New Year's Eve, and the loud noise made my two dogs burst through the gate and run blindly down the street. One dog, my beloved friend Tripp, was smashed by a car. So, I hate fireworks. During New Year's and Independence Day the fireworks go off for days before and after the event. They terrify wild and domestic animals alike. If you must celebrate a holiday with burning objects, use fireworks that don't make noise, like sparklers.

One positive trend are the drone light shows, which I hope will soon replace fireworks at public events.

Conclusion

So, I'm sitting at my local grocery store parking lot and I notice that I'm the ONLY one who brings in my own canvas bags for groceries. Now, if I was in a yuppie area at one of those organic grocery stores, I know that far more people would have their reusable bags. Why is that? I live at the edge of the Atlanta suburbs in Georgia. Why don't less educated and country folk care about the environment? Why don't they just take a little extra effort to obtain some reusable bags and bring them to the store? Maybe because their religion doesn't show much interest in the environment? Or maybe they are too ignorant or isolated to understand the harmful impacts of plastic bags? The same hold trues for the love and care of animals -- it's just not mentioned much by the fire and brimstone preachers. I really don't know the answers, but it makes me sad.

Nihilism, Animalism, and Me

Someone today called me a nihilist, which is furthest from the truth. The statement was made in response to my comment that humanity is only a few years away from extinction.

Okay, maybe we have more than a few years left, but our end is inevitable. When I said that I wasn't trying to be negative or pessimistic. Rather, I was thinking about how fragile human life is, and how scientists keep coming up with better ways to destroy it. North Korea uses nerve agents and Russians use radiation poisoning to kill people they don't like. More troubling are the sonic weapons under development by the U.S. and other nations. In the next war we will be destroying each other's brains with inaudible sonic blasts. As technology progresses, researchers will find even more ways to take the life out of our delicate bodies. So, yeah, sorry, I'm not seeing a rosy future for humanity.

Meaning

A nihilist is someone who believes life has no meaning. I've never, ever felt that way. Life is full of meaning. To me, the meaning of life is to help others, animals, the planet, and, lastly, ourselves. The meaning of life is to continually learn and to take action on our knowledge in a positive way.

A nihilist is someone who rejects all religious and moral principles. That's not me at all. When I take those "What religion are you?" tests I'm told that I'm either a Reformed Jew or Unitarian Universalist. In both religions, there is a continuous search for the answers — and that is me. I wouldn't say that I don't believe in God, it's just that I haven't found any proof yet. The case for God is no stronger than the case for fairies. Maybe one day I'll find proof. But in the mean time, I see all religions as part of my culture and I'm free to learn from the good things they have to offer. As for faith, I don't understand why believing in unprovable things is so important to God. It sounds like a convenient social control mechanism for keeping people in the flock.

Animals

My ultimate life meaning and dream for humanity is for us to view ourselves as caretakers of this remarkable and beautiful planet. The meaning of life is for us all to be zookeepers, except that we should live in cages (our houses and cars) and let the animals roam free. I do not understand the obsession with guns, secret weapons, and killing one another. Why do people kill in the first place? Usually because the victim is threatening someone's wealth or power. Why do we have to be rich? Why do we have to be powerful? Why can't we all just live in green friendly huts and care for the wild animals? Most of what we humans do is such a total waste. Who cares about Game of Thrones or how far you can toss a javelin?

It's at this point where my appreciation for religion goes out that window. Currently, the predominant religions don't seem to give a fuck about animals. Some religions even tell you to murder animals to atone for your sins! When you think about it, that's utterly insane. So, at least with the Christian religion, God sent himself to Earth, and had himself tortured and executed, so that animals don't have to be sacrificed any more. So, we thank you for that Father God.

But the lack of respect for animals and the earth is one of the many things I find troubling about conservative religions. These religious people invest a tremendous amount of time on things that don't really matter, such as maintaining their steepled entertainment centers, music programs, and leading people to Christ. Metaphorically, leading someone to the example set by Christ is a good thing, but all the talk about the Man in the Clouds straightening your crooked toe or curing you of chronic bad breath is wasted energy.

Summary

Life is short, fleeting, but full of meaning. Humans really need to change their values and thinking quickly, or we will all be extinct. When I see entire countries run by oligarchists or religionists it's easy for me to start losing hope. Again, humans appear obsessed with hoarding wealth and power, at the expense of less fortunate people and the environment. I am actually the complete opposite of a nihilist, I am a vain and hopeless idealist.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Reflecting As I Walk Through the Forest

All alone I begin the one hour hike through the forest. My brain is racing. Today I'm thinking about all the chemicals that people flush down their toilets. In Georgia, most people live on septic tanks, so hundreds of chemicals go straight into the ground. Even if you are on a sewer system, the filters don't catch everything. All the Prozac and Zoloft goes straight into the water supply, which will maybe help my depression.

I hold up simple hiking objects in my hand. My water bottle, flashlight, poncho, and side bag. All of these products took a massive industry to produce, and during this process more chemicals and waste products were released into the atmosphere.

Gosh, and not to mention if you buy a car. Cars are nasty, environment-destroying machines, yet we love them. They get people to the forest so that they can hike on the trail and throw their water bottles on the ground.

I pick them up. I risk my safety pulling trash out of the creek. Since I got into this weird funk and decided to retreat into the woods, my hiking companion and I have taken out many bags of trash.

We also recycle everything. The plastic and tin containers that hold pet food smell awful. So, I let them soak in water for a day to clean them out. Then I dry them and place them in the recycling bin. It's like some sort of religious ritual. All the glass, paper, cardboard, tin, and plastic we use is carefully sorted and placed in the container. But I still live with guilt. Even if I consume little and recycling everything I still do more damage to the Earth than an Ethiopian living in a hut. Then I have to think of the futility of it all because any good that I do is offset when I just into my car and drive to the grocery store. It's also offset by the human population explosion, which is adding people to our planet by the BILLIONS.

As if that's not enough, I worry about all the human-made chemicals that are being released daily into our soil, water, and air. I guarantee you that every one of these chemicals was created to make our lives better in some way, but instead they are slowly killing us and future generations. We are turning our home planet into a giant toxic waste dump. Plus, all these chemicals mix together in ways we don't understand yet. Every time I spit out my toothpaste and it goes down the sink, I'm thinking about what it's doing to the groundwater. Yeah, toothpaste is mainly made out of baking soda paste, which seems harmless, but if you read the ingredients you can't even pronounce the names of all the chemicals. Toothpaste contains abrasives, whiteners, silica, phosphates. God help you if you actually swallow the shit. Yes, every day, I'm spitting it into my septic tank.

The Last Idealist

I realize that I'm among the few people who worry about chemical pollution. Most people give it little thought until they have a baby born with seven legs, or they realize they are being poisoned by the chemical plant up the street. But don't worry because when you get sick the United States has a massive, dysfunctional, money-grubbing healthcare system that will continue to drag you through hell as they shake down your insurance company. And your insurance company will use this as a pretext to raise rates, and more healthy people will get sick, and a vicious circle will continue. Yeah, I actually worry about things like this. As I've said many times, I'm way too idealistic for this life, so I just prefer to walk in the forest.

The Question Behind the Question

I have learned to take EVERYTHING I hear with a grain of salt. When someone tells you something or you read a report in the media, question it, research it, and give it some thought. Don't ever just "drink the Kool-Aid" unless you're sure that your drink doesn't contain poison.

Also, like your car side mirror says, "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear." Or, better said, "objects are NOT as they appear." Whenever there is a major issue in the news I encourage you to "ask the question behind the question" and examine root causes.

Syrian Civil War

Okay, let me give a random example. The violence in Syria has dominated the news for months now. We are led to believe that the common people are trying to overthrow their tyrant leader, the monster known as Bashar al-Assad.

More confusion is added to the mix because we are told that Muslim extremists and Al-Qaeda may take over the country and make things even worse.

But what we're not told is the following:

• Global climate change is real, and is responsible for extreme drought conditions in parts of the world, including Syria.
• The human population of Syria, just like other Middle Eastern nations, has skyrocketed.

What we are really seeing in Syria is a habitat collapse, followed by extreme social unrest. It is a precursor for things to come in other nations, including the United States.

And for the record, Al-Qaeda is an extremist, violent splinter group of Islam, which is trying to force order into chaos. If life was more tolerable and sustainable in the Middle East, and if young men had jobs, and if young women had opportunities, then I believe the influence of Al-Qaeda would be nominal.

Okay, let's get back to the two bullet points above. The drought makes it impossible to successfully farm in the countryside. Desperate people move to the cities to find work. These cities are already burdened with Iraqi refugees. So, what you have is crowded, urban areas, with lots of young men who have no jobs and nothing to do. The government does little to help. What you have are the ingredients for a disaster.

The Syrian conflict is NOT a simple civil war. It is a fight for resources and survival.

By 2010, roughly one million Syrian farmers, herders and their families were forced off the land into already overpopulated and underserved cities. These climate refugees were crowded together with one million Iraqi war refugees. The Assad regime failed to effectively help any of them, so when the Arab awakenings erupted in Tunisia and Egypt, Syrian democrats followed suit and quickly found many willing recruits from all those dislocated by the drought.
— Thomas Friedman, NY Times

So, what are the answers to Syria's crisis? The answers are the same as what I've been blogging about for years:

• Universal access to contraceptives.
• Complete social and legal parity between men and women.
• Cease and desist burning fossil fuels into the atmosphere.

These are huge goals but we have to do them, or we will continue to see weaker states like Syria wobble out of orbit, crash and burn, and disintegrate.

In addition, we need to work with the Syrian people to teach them sustainable agriculture. We need to provide whatever infrastructure we can and educate them about surviving in drought-plagued environments.

One Monster For Another

In regards for the recent call of keeping the Assad monster in power because he is a better monster than the militant Islamists, I say HELL NO. We must always push for democracy, for without democracy there is not freedom. Freedom is one of the things I value most in life, and without freedom I don't think you can ever achieve true sustainability. As a Sierra Club leader once said, "If it's not fun it's not sustainable." And if someone has to live under the yoke of an evil, power-hungry tyrant, then that can NEVER be sustainable. So, to add to my bullet points above, we need to promote democratic reforms in Syria. While there are some bad groups on the rebel side, there are some good groups too, and these individuals need positive support.

Last May 9, The Times of Israel quoted Israeli geographer Arnon Soffer as observing that in the past 60 years, the population in the Middle East has twice doubled. “There is no example of this anywhere else on earth.”

And, finally, one more point. If the world's more stable nations like the United States are constantly dealing with extreme weather events caused by climate change, like Superstorm Sandy, how can we ever help our less stable fellow humans in nations like Syria.

“In the future, who will help a country like Syria when it gets devastated by its next drought if we are in a world where everyone is dealing with something like a Superstorm Sandy,” which alone cost the U.S. $60 billion to clean up? asks Joe Romm, founder of ClimateProgress.org.

Summary

Right now Iran and Saudi Arabia are throwing money in Syria to create a nice little proxy war between the Sunni and Shiite/Alawite sects of Islam. But, as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman says, "All I can say is that you're fighting for control of a potential human/ecological disaster zone. You need to be working together to rebuild Syria's resiliency, and its commons, not destroying it. I know that in saying this I am shouting into a dust storm. But there is nothing else worth saying."

Well, Mr. Friedman, you are sounding exactly like me. Maybe this is why I'm a huge fan of your columns and books. No one listens to me when I rattle off this crap, but maybe they'll listen to you. I'm just a lowly blogger from a small suburban town in Georgia. What the heck would I know. I mean, really....

Sources

WikiLeaks, Drought, and Syria, Thomas Friedman

Syria Demographics, Wikipedia

Photo credit: Foter.com / Public Domain Mark 1.0

Hate Is the Absence Of Love

As I look around at many people, one thing I'm thankful for is that I am not a prisoner of hate. Hate is the absence of love. People often package their hate as "righteous indignation" or "hate the sin, not the sinner" crap, but the fact is that hate is hate.

These days most American hate tends to focus on Muslims, gays, and immigrants. In the 70's and 80's the hate appeared more directed at African-Americans and commies.

The worst part about hate is that often people don't even realize they are hateful. They somehow justify it through their religion or don't even think about it.

Before you stereotype and hate on an entire group of people, allow me to share a few thoughts:

• Don't trust the garbage you hear from your radio or TV talk host. Take the time to find out facts for yourself.
• Find a member in your "hate group" and get to know them. You might find that they are good people like yourself, with feelings, needs, and dreams, just like you.
• Do not stereotype because every time you do the next person you meet will defy that stereotype. Humans are complex creatures and do not line up by race, creed, or any other attribute. People are beautifully unique.
• Everyone deserves RESPECT.

Of particular concern is all the Muslim and gay bashing I've been seeing and hearing lately. It is disgusting, especially since it is often done by members of the faith community. Allow me to say a few words about these two groups:

Muslims

• Get to know a Muslim. Befriend them. Listen to their viewpoint. I've done this a few times and although I am still a long way from "walking in their shoes" I do have a better understanding of their perspective.
• The vast majority of Muslims are good, kind people, just like you and me. Give them RESPECT.

Gays

• Before making judgmental comments, befriend members of the gay community. I am deeply grateful for my gay friends. Had I been a bigoted and pious ass I'd only be cheating myself from meeting some of the best people I've ever met. Oh, and if someone calls me "gay," I don't take that as an insult as all, although I'm quite straight. So, you'd better come up with something crappier to call me, like, "socialist." Oh, but I don't take offense to that either.
• Don't be swayed by all the cleverly disguised hate talk you hear in the media, and even from the pulpit. Get to know the gay community and give them RESPECT.

Crazy Lie

What's most disturbing is how people will go to extremes to bend facts to force them into their religious views. Perhaps the greatest example of this is that "homosexuality is a choice." Of course, this myth must be perpetuated because if it is NOT a choice, how can it be a sin?

Scientists are now closing in on the "choice" fallacy, despite the best efforts of the conservative bullies to breed confusion on the topic.

There is no "gay gene," but the answer is found in the study of epigenetics. This field is the study of chemical switches that turn parts of the genome on and off at various times during an organism's life. Epigenetics, genetic overlays, and tags are something that I've just started reading about recently and I find it all fascinating. 

So, OF COURSE people do not control their sexual preference. They have NO control over who or what they like, just like I can't control being bald or left-handed. So, if the electric switches in someone's DNA is a little different WHY DO WE HAVE TO KEEP THEM FROM GETTING MARRIED? Despite whatever crap Vladimir Putin or whoever says, the fact is that sometimes the little switches make people bisexual or homosexual.

Summary

Challenge yourself to embed into groups that are different from yourself. Keep an open mind and listen to other viewpoints. The other person will appreciate being heard and you will gain new insights and perspectives. Hang out with Wiccans, Buddhists, Sikhs, Republicans, New Agers, disenfranchised teens, and punk rockers. It's the diversity of humanity that creates a strong fiber that makes us all strong. Ask questions, engage in dialogue, and, most importantly, LISTEN. And listen a lot.

Photo credit: _Hadock_ / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

We Are Special

In my 53rd year of life on Planet Earth, I acknowledge that I am just one of 7 billion humans, cooperatively destroying an organic world, which is flying through space.

But, oh hark, our plant is one of hundreds of millions of stars in hundreds of millions of galaxies. Yep, the Universe is a big place. So far, we have yet to find life beyond our planet. At this point, I must assume that life is an extremely rare occurrence. Heck, we may be the only life in our universe. But that's no big deal since space is endless and there may be only one living planet per universe. There could be hundreds of billions of universes.

We Are Special

I'm going to take the pompous position and say we humans are rare. It took millions of years on the Earth just for the first living cell to evolve. And that was the easy part. The hard part was getting that cell to reproduce, with nothing to help except for organic resources and plenty of time. Of course, we needed a few supernovas first to turn all the hydrogen and helium in our vicinity into the rest of the elements in the Periodic Table.

So, a lot had to happen before we could even be here. But once that living, reproducing cell was born the heavy lifting was done. From there the rest of the work was relatively easy as evolution progressed from single-cell organisms to the massively complex animals we have today.

Us

Then there us humans. This is where things got particularly tricky. Over time the single-cell animals in our oceans clustered and became more sophisticated. Brains slowly emerged to manage the processes of finding food, avoiding predators, and reproducing. Slowly, the brains got bigger and the animals became more complex.

As early as 7 million years ago early forms of humans begin appearing in the fossil record. Over the years we evolved into the creatures we are today. During the evolution of our species, something really odd happened. For some reason we acquired far more intelligence than what we needed for simply collecting food, reproducing, and fending off predators. Why is this so, and how did it happen? 

Evolution happens both slow and fast, and I'm guessing a series of mutations gave us bigger brains. Immediately, all those extra neurons were put to good use. I'm speculating that during this process the second amazing thing happened — we acquired self-awareness.

Game Changer

Now, it's this self-awareness or consciousness, that radically changed the Universe. With our ability to reflect, ponder, and appreciate its awe, the Universe suddenly becomes alive. Oh, sure, yes, we are rapidly poisoning and polluting our little planet, and killing ourselves by population overshoot and an overall disregard for our habitat. But in the brief moment that our species is here we make the Universe alive, through our philosophy, music, art, and reverence to the wonder of the stars.

It is our intelligence and consciousness that are the two great results of billions of years of planet creation and organic evolution. We humans are the end result, or perhaps only the next step. Now, we have the ability to study the mass cosmos through telescopes and even spacecraft. In effect, we are going back to the place where we were created — outer space.

Brains

Rivaling the greatness of the Universe is the incredibleness of our brains. I see the brain as a little universe in itself. Just the complexity it takes for me to get into an automobile and safety drive somewhere requires massively elaborate functions in my head. As I drive, my five senses are feeding me information, which translates into actions and decisions, which gets my body to some destination. All the while, in addition to my hundreds of functions like breathing and turning the steering wheel, I am also thinking. As my motor skills do their thing my brain is playing scenarios, pondering issues in my life, and so forth. Our very existence is mind-boggling.

Lessons To Learn

Now, the point of all this rambling is to say that you and I are special. It took billions of years of cosmic and evolutionary work to make us. But why did the cosmos and evolution want us? There seems to be a natural law out there that drives things from the simple to the complex. On the organic side, it has something to do with the more efficient use of energy. On the galactic side, it has more to do with gravity and stellar nucleosynthesis, which is where chemical elements assemble in the cores of stars. So, stars and supernovas are engines of life — they are busy creating the elements that we need to be, well, us.

Summary

If the universe and nature have gone through so much trouble to create us then we owe it to the universe and nature to do something worthwhile with our lives. First and foremost, our bodies and brains are absolute miracles and we owe it to ourselves to treat our lifeforms like a temple. It should be our duty to exercise, eat healthily, and to exercise our brain as well, through learning and exploring. I believe that the first step to saving the environment is to save ourselves. Every day when you wake up, acknowledge that you are an incredible creature, and live your life accordingly. Strive to make your habitat better and always dedicate part of your life to helping other humans, for they are miracles too.

Photo credit: dek dav / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Saving the World

It was 2004 when I first started blogging and now I'm about to hit my 400th post. I remember dedicating entire evenings to a single post. It was a time in my life when I needed to sort things out. I had spent the year before doing deep research on religion in the hopes of, one last time, trying to find the Magic Bullet — the one thing that would let me know that religion is real. I never found it.

In 1997 I had this crazy idea that I would save the world, and I joined several environmental organizations and literally spent 20 hours a week attending meetings, working in political campaigns, and even going door-to-door to promote green causes. By April 2003 I was feeling the burn. I wanted to change the world but realized I was accomplishing nothing. My first blog post was in May 2004. In October of that year I joined a group called Atlanta Leavers, which studied the works of author Daniel Quinn. Mr. Quinn had written a groundbreaking book a decade earlier called Ishmael. It became the most influential book in my life. The book starts with some guy who responded to a newspaper ad about saving the world — that was me.

Next Steps

But when you want to save the world you have to dig deeper and start asking questions like, "WHY do I want to save the world?" and "Is the world worth saving?" And by "world," what do I mean? So, I would say this: Humans are this beautiful and amazing species, but we are animals, not too far removed from apes. Just like any other animal we multiply like crazy when there's plentiful food and we foul our habitat not only by our numbers but by our indulgence. Humans take the path of least resistance and before you know it we have powered garage door openers, automatic dishwashers, electric locks, and so on. In all these cases when we could be burning calories we are letting machines do work for us. We falsely think this is making our lives better but all it's doing is making us fat and lazy. So, this appears to be the course of a species with plenty of food and clever gadgets. So, again, I must ask myself is all this worth saving?

Reinvention

The answer is "yes," the species is worth saving. Not so that we can populate the Universe, like I once thought. Absolutely not because we are a foul and dirty species, and I don't want us screwing up the galaxy — we have already trashed one beautiful planet. But, I think we are worth saving because we are a fascinating and wonderful species. It took 15 billion years to create us, and I think we owe it to the Universe to preserve ourselves. We do this by learning how to live sustainably and becoming a more peaceful animal.

Politics

Sorry, but I not a liberal or conservative, nor a libertarian. I'm a progressive and I learn from examining all viewpoints. Everyone has something good to say and I look at every issue and evaluate it on a case-by-case basis. My politics are all over the map. I bring this up because the partisan deadlock in Washington is draining the life out of our country. But I believe we are deadlocked because at this late stage it's too late to stop the runaway train. So, politicians can't agree on anything because they can't effectively DO ANYTHING. It's just too late. The United States is in a vicious, downward spin.

For one thing, as the economy goes down there's more poor people and more resources are required to feed the poor, so we get caught in a destructive loop. The Roman Empire fell and there was a subsequent period of absolute chaos and hell, but humanity survived. What I'm trying to say is that everything operates in cycles, and when we are able to accept that the cycles themselves are easier to accept. So, in my desire to "save the world" my job is to move the cycles in a forward direction, and not all downhill.

End Game

But what's the end game? If I have some roll in moving humanity toward utopia, we simply become soft. We stop evolving mentally. If we are not challenged, we don't grow. The violence of the evil helps the good people to draw closer together. Disease makes the healthy people appreciative, and maybe even encourages them to live a better lifestyle. Adversity in our relationships helps us to grow emotionally. So, what am I trying to accomplish?

People assure me that even if, as a species, we blow ourselves out the planet will recover and survive. But I don't believe that for a second because I know the balance of the biosphere is sensitive. If the CO2 or other gases get out of whack, the atmosphere implodes and there is "sudden die off." I've seen this happen in our fish aquarium several times. So, maybe my goal is to preserve this living botanical garden in the galaxy? But why? Who's going to look at it and who's going to care? Am I doing this just so aliens can one day visit and say, "Wow, cool place?" I mean, it's a hollow and empty Universe. There's nothing out there but rocks, ice, and a lot of burning hydrogen balls. I mean, what the hell.

So, all this takes me back to square one. I can just take the easy way out and do nothing, and let the "cycles" take their course on our nation, our species, and our planet. Seriously, I'm not sure what I'll accomplish any way. Maybe if I do SOMETHING I'll feel better. Maybe I'll leave a legacy, but I won't be around to enjoy it. Maybe I can create a better world for my children, or maybe I can make life a little less miserable for someone else. Maybe that big tip I leave my server will make her smile. Maybe one of my dumb jokes will make someone laugh and have a better day. Maybe that is my function and purpose in life.

Yeah, a religious theology package could help me justify all this better, I mean, that's the purpose of it. But, it's not reality because reality is a blue and green marble flying through space in a vast, cold Universe.

Maybe I'll just join a rock-in-roll band. Not really sure. But I'm pondering ... I'm pondering, man.

Photo credit: Philerooski / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Compassion for the Hypocrites (Because I'm One Too)

In my travel through life I regularly come across people who share my feelings and state them more eloquently than I ever could. I'm a regular reader of The Archdruid Report, and I recently found this post from a guy named Nathan. With his permission I'm reprinting an excerpt. I wanted this to be entered into The Green Goose blog, so that when I need reminding, when I need inspiration, and when I decide to write my book, well, I will have a fresh spring of ideas. Thank you, Nathan.

From Nathan, an organic farmer:

I'm an environmentalist. By that I mean someone who's internalized that humans are animals wholly dependent and limited by natural systems. As a result I've gone the path of small-scale organic farmer; resiliency and community building being my chosen preoccupations. 
It's taken me a while to get to that place though and it doesn't take much to be drawn into a frenzy about something like near-term extinction. The work of daily life and the slow, non-digital pace of real world accomplishment cannot compete with the instant flash, bang and excitement of all the ideas flowing from the internet into my brain. 

I'd like to bring up your point about the hypocrisy of those who challenge the status-quo. By many people's measure I've chosen a life that's closer to living within Nature's limits than some. I still have a car, still eat chocolate, still participate in the global economy. Each year I do better, each year I'm able to create more behavior that is healthy and more exciting than the deleterious ones associated with the consumer economy. Eating locally and in-season is the only option for me, not because of some ideological stance but because local, in-season food is just SO MUCH better than the alternative provided by the industrial economy. When I ask myself, "what more can I do? What is right?" The answer is invariably - "Quit and create something better." Meaning: quit your job, quit money, quit 'consuming,' quit industrial economy. "...And create," meaning: create community events, create music, create food with integrity, create debt strike, create a new possible way of being for those around you.

My internal answer seems impossible to live up to and I feel this is the same problem that everyone living INSIDE industrial civilization comes to. "It's too hard." "I can't. I have X responsibility." Industrial civilization is killing our future off and yet we cannot walk away, like addicts in full knowledge of their addiction, still helpless.

I have compassion for the hypocrites because I'm one too. Degrees of difference in our choices do matter in a tangible way for the planet - biking is better than driving for instance. But we will never "arrive" at "perfection." We are like fish in water, we swim in our culture, our context and even when we realize it's all around us, all an illusion we cannot extricate ourselves from it. We become Cassandras, lamenting and being derided for moral imperfection. 

All I am left with is my daily choices: Can I drive? Can I walk? Do I need this purchase? Do I WANT it and damn the consequence? Sometimes I choose well, sometimes I fail but I also choose to have compassion for myself. Tying your personal choices to the broader choices of society as a whole is an awful burden, maybe a trap. 

I'm not sure what my point is but I know there's something important for me to explore here. Thanks for the space to share.