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