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.

Population & Compassion

At a conference today I was talking to a speaker. He said the economy is slowly going to get better simply because the population is continuing to grow. He said the foreclosed property is beginning to get sucked up and new construction is emerging again. According to the speaker, we'll see a long span of growth followed by another sharp recession. My only response was, "I hope I retire before that happens."

Really, right now I am just hoping to stay employed until I can grab on the government safety net. At least I'll be able to buy food, and I'll have Medicare! I know the Big Hand that's providing these things is slowly going bankrupt, but maybe I can eat from Uncle Sam's trough just long enough to meet the Grim Reaper.

I do know the current world economic system is totally unsustainable, and sooner or later the entire thing will come crashing down. My hope is that humanity will enjoy a soft landing, but more likely we'll see a lot of starvation and extreme violence. All the while, we'll still get to switch on our TVs and see pastors with bad haircuts, who will be waving Bibles and muttering something about Armageddon.

Population

Back in 1997 I had this crazy idea that I would try to save the world. I did some research and felt that slowing the human population explosion was the best way to help the Earth. So, for years I became a tireless population activist. Last year, for instance, I tabled at a population event and gave three slide shows. On average, I do one population event per quarter.

But you know what? I don't worry about it any more. I know that humans are a fragile species and it won't take much to hinder our reproduction. Fresh water and oil are already a scarcity, and we need both to support the 7 billion of us. Plus, more people means more demand for essential items, which creates higher prices and scarcity. As prices go up, the general cost of living goes up, and kids must stay at home longer. Plus, in a super-expensive world, young couples wait longer to have children, or they don't reproduce at all.

Add to this the past-due acceptance of women as equals. As women are treated with more respect and given more equality around the world, they have more options than motherhood. Many will choose careers, while others will still prefer to be stay-at-home moms, but ultimately, there are less babies.

Compassion

Population sustainability is an emotional and controversial issue. I've come to think of it as a beautiful humanitarian effort. As an activist, all I advocate for is universal access to contraception. This simply means that poor women who WANT to have no children, have FEWER children, or who want to SPACE their children farther apart, can have the power to do so. Contraception gives a woman freedom and the ability to choose her destiny. But this freedom threatens the old world order. Many men prefer that women stay subservient, and they use religion or tradition to keep women "barefoot and pregnant," as they say. Religious groups scream that contraception kills babies, but remain silent on all the trillions of potential babies killed every day by, yep, the masturbators. What the religionists are really doing is practicing "womb control" on women.

For years, I've fought the religionist in the United States and their elected officials in Washington. I've gone to our nation's capital several times to lobby. Republication politicians seem to feel that their constituents are so dumb that they'll confuse "contraception" with "abortion," and, thus, they fight against domestic and international family planning. After years of banging my head against the right wing wall, I got tired and gave up. YOU WIN, GUYS!

Cynicism

So, by around 2003, after 6 years of activism work, I was slowly getting jaded and sinking into cynicism. I wanted to say, "Okay, I told you so, see for yourself what happens." However, in my heart I know that cynicism is just an excuse to give up. It's easy to be a jaded cynic, but what I really need to do is keep ramming my head into the conservative wall until little cracks develop. If anything, I owe it to the millions of women in the world who cannot afford or cannot easily access contraception. I also owe it to the world, which is rapidly being polluted and stripped of resources and tree cover.

One of the biggest myths, hell, I mean LIES, is that contraception is bad. To the contrary, it saves the lives of women who are at near exhaustion from having children in rapid succession. The pills or shots are simply giving the woman a rest and a break. Despite the misinformation coming from Rome or Redstate.com, contraception is not "population control" and it is not "abortion." Rather, it is an act of humanity. It is using technology to give women freedom, power, and more control over their destiny. I think this is only fair, moral, and just.

Photo credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Pondering Humanity

As I grow older, human society seems crazier and crazier to me. I'm wondering if I'm changing, or becoming more aware, or if people are just becoming more dysfunctional.

The biggest and saddest comedy act is the U.S. Congress. I like the idea of democracy, but our elected officials have shown us that it's all a facade, a big joke, and an idealist's pipe dream. Has our government always been so broken and corrupt? I know that in the old days people like Teddy Roosevelt actually fought the greedy political bosses, but now everyone's in the same bed.

Then there is the total brain-screwing on climate change. The Big Oil-funded think tanks have done a splendid job of confusing the public and throwing doubt in people's minds. In reality (whatever THAT is these days) the evidence that humans are warming the Planet is overwhelming. But every time there is a cold snap people start screaming, "Global warming is a hoax."

Food Supply

I have this theory that our weakening food supply is what is melting down the brains of our elected leaders and the general public. Instead of eating nuts, veggies, fruits, and wild meat like our ancestors, people today are stuffing Little Debbie's in their mouths. We are becoming a nation of giant people who spend countless hours watching reality TV and reading gossip tabloids. Our brains are weakening, and our test scores are falling. At least the Romans could blame it on incest and lead in their pipes, but for Americans we have nothing to blame except for our laziness and lack of discipline. As the nutritional quality of our food weakens, so do we. And so does our will.

Gay Marriage

The Christian fundamentalist surge seems to be weakening, foaming, and receding back into the sea. Gay marriage laws are being passed around the country. I am delighted. It shows that all the pew hoppers aren't jumping much any more. I thank Westboro Baptist Church, the Rev. Harold Camp, the Rev. Terry Jones, and all the other nuts for showing us what religion really is — just absolutely nuts. Of course, if you're nuts and rich, you can be a Scientologist, which will increase your "cool factor" in Hollywood.

Trash

The other thing that's nuts is our throwaway society. We absolutely can't be throwing all the trash and plastic in the landfills indefinitely. It's a simply unsustainable practice. If all that plastic you throw away takes 500 years to deteriorate, people 500 years from now are going to hate you. There is going to be plastic buried everywhere by then. And as that stuff does slowly rot away, do you think it just disappears? Nope. It turns into methane gas and rises into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming. Every plastic cup you toss makes the Planet a little warmer, and a little nastier. At least recycle the damn thing.

I'm totally tired. I've been blogging now for nine years, almost to the day. I've written about 380 some entries. Think of them as my gift to future generations and my contribution to society. One day people will read my posts and say, "Wow, the Green Goose really had his head screwed on nicely." But, then again, maybe not. I'm convinced that no one really cares about anything, except maybe their little pet causes. Where's the love, baby?

Photo credit: seanmcgrath / Foter.com / CC BY