To My Brother, I Say Farewell

Ed Arnold, an extraordinary activist and human being.


On Saturday I lost a great brother -- Ed Arnold, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Georgia Chapter. Like myself, and like the purpose of this blog, Ed focused on the environment and world peace.

An amazing activist, Ed was into so many causes, including health issues and nuclear proliferation. I regularly ran into him at events around Atlanta.

He always thought it was interesting that I was a Southern Baptist turned environmental activist. Ed's story was similar -- he was once a Presbyterian. Both of us, one day, had an awakening.

Ed died of leukemia at age 69. The last time I saw him was last December, when I was giving a population presentation at his church. Whenever we ran into each other, he was always glad to see me, and always had something positive to say to me. He knew exactly where I was coming from — he could see straight into my heart.

I thank Ed for inspiring me, and I mean REALLY inspiring me. I only wish that I could better deal with the depression that constantly haunts me -- it is this constant grief, jadedness, and cynicism that will prevent me from ever being half the activist that Ed was. I'm not sure how Ed managed the negative side of the work we do, but he did, and he kept on going until the very end.

Ed, you were the greatest of activists and the greatest of humans. I will ALWAYS remember you. You taught me and led all of us by your faithful example. You NEVER gave up.

Sincerely,

Todd

Change From Within

Well, this letter to the editor has been hanging on my bulletin for months. I checked out the name of the author and she's an anti-war activist in North Georgia. She's an older lady with a lot of kick.

Anyway, the letter, which was published in the Atlanta newspaper, has stuck in my mind these past five months. So, here it is:

Want Change? Start Actively Looking Within

Thank you for the op-ed article about unrecognized attitudes that lurk in the subconscious ("We don't know what we think," @issue, Jan. 23) I have been a citizen activist for many years. When I first becamse involved in public policy, I thought problems should be addressed from the top down. That is, lobby Congress and the administration. However, after writing letters, attending hearings, lobbying my representatives in Washington and seeing little if any change, I realized we have to work form the bottom up. We have to change ourselves.

Humanity seems to have an infinite capacity for self-delusion. We pray for peace and vote for war. We do more than allow our leaders to manipulate us; we encourage it.

Joan O. King
Sautee, GA, USA

Changing Culture

You can jam the culture, you can conform to the culture, and you can attack the culture but you won't succeed. What we must do is LEAD the culture.

It it incumbent upon each of us to redirect our course to a path of peace, harmony, and long-term sustainability. I believe the evolutionary tools are already built into us. For instance, if every woman in the world were given 100% equal rights, empowerment, and education, I firmly believe that world population would stabilize. To achieve this goal, we must challenge the isms, memes, delusions, fairy tails, lies, and myths that are preprogrammed into our culture to achieve short-term, self-serving objectives.

Each of us, must lead in the way we are called to lead -- authors, poets, movie producers, politicians, educators, tree-huggers, company presidents, etc... We must acknowledge that what we know in our hearts is our destiny -- we must listen to our DNA and do what we are genetically programmed to do -- to be alphas and LEAD the human packs.

If we have children, nieces, or nephews, etc... we must educate, empower, and inspire our young people to be leaders. We must equip them with the education, experiences, exposure, and perspective they need to make wise decisions.

We must also battle the demons inside us -- cynicism, depression, and the feeling of hopelessness. We carry on even in the face of long odds.

We must also inspire, encourage, and be bold. Look at the example of Interface Corp. -- someone turned founder Ray Anderson onto Daniel Quinn and Paul Hawken, and now this is a super-green company that is setting an example for ALL COMPANIES around the world.

Or think of the great work that Southface is going! They are providing a future road map for zero footprint homes and businesses. Right now our country is wasting $200 billion a year on a pointless war in Iraq. Imagine if those funds were rediverted to home insulation programs or energy efficiency research, or solar panel credits.

But to get back on my bandwagon ...

Everything we do or say in life may positively influence someone else in a totally unexpected but wonderful way. Thus, we must follow what Ishmael taught us, and we must teach others with gentleness, patience, and without judging.

Believe me, I would rather not lead -- I would rather hide under my desk in my fetal position. But to do nothing is the easy way out. To declare hopelessness is too convenient. To fight for our planet's honor and dignity is hard -- perhaps the hardest thing we will ever do. But in the end we will have peace knowing that we tried to do what we were put here on this Earth to do.

Yes, world population may grow to 10 billion (it's 6.7 billion now). And when it costs more to extract the oil than the energy the oil produces, yeah, the worldwide crash will come down big and hard. But it will be absolutely beautiful because humanity will enter a new era. Maybe a slower, quieter, more loving era where we live in little huts surrounded by nature. Maybe we will realize that technology is just another illusion that enslaves us. Maybe we can still have our laptops and hydrogen powered cars -- but there just needs to be a lot less of us and more room for nature to flourish. We just need to eat lighter and we each need to have our own solar station to produce our own hydrogen. We just need to have one or two kids tops. We need to redirect our lust for materialism and redefine what happiness is -- perhaps it is a spiritual awakening or a realization that we are happier when we are a servant to nature, rather than a master.

Sincerely,

The Goose

Carbon-based mammal born 1960 - Human number 3,020,353,734

The Destiny of the Righteous

Here we are, a lonely band of over-educated, idealist, intellectuals who are trying to save the world. Opposing us are those who wish to destroy us. It's war, man — it's a war between the righteous and the unscrupulous.

And here I am, just standing here in utter amazement over the fact that humanity has chosen to self-destruct. For every good righteous soul, there are 100 lazy, self-centered slobs who care about nothing but themselves. So, I say, "kill us. KILL US ALL!" Throw the baby out with the bathwater.

So, I go down with my principles intact. So, I crash and burn with my soul, my dignity, honor, and righteousness all INTACT. So WHAT? Who cares. I am writing a blog that can be seen by the whole world, yet know one reads it or cares. I am writing in an empty room and I have no way to call out to the millions of people around me because I don't know how.

People hold on to their delusions, their fairy tales, their myths, their stories ... and I can't reach out to them because I don't know what to say. Burn the fossil fuels people, burn it!

Those sitting in their white churches with their pretty steeples are sending all the gays, Muslims, and hippies to hell. But why go to the trouble when you can just create your hell right here? Maybe that's just what you're doing as your Hummer idles at the McDonalds drive-thru.

Maybe, YOU, my fellow American are the one who is nuts. Maybe your destiny is not to lead, but to follow.

Oh hail the righteous ... and why do you hate us so? WHY?

The Beauty in the World

All my life I've been in total awe of the beauty of nature. All my life I have been perplexed on why humans are so anxious to destroy it.

All my life I've seen the beauty in other people. All my life I have seen humans destroy what is good in other humans, both physically and mentally.

All my life I've seen the good destroyed by the bad. What little beauty remains in this world is slowly being destroyed.

So, I know I am supposed to be happy and whistle, and I know I'm suppose to kick a few rocks as I make my way to the fishing hole, with my fishing pole over my shoulder. But I am not.

I've read and studied the story of Easter Island. That story, from what can be pieced together, tells about competing lords and how religion created irrationality — even to the point of self destruction. Nothing has changed today — we are simply seeing a repeat on a grander schedule.

Sometimes I see beauty in the form of a little bug crawling across my desk. I stop what I'm doing and grab a magnifying glass. I watch the little creature continue on its way, and I am amazed by it. What makes this little animal be alive? What is it doing? Where is it going? What is its purpose?

I see sunsets that are so beautiful, which explode into an array of beautiful colors. I hear geese "honk" as they fly overhead. When I hear them I run outside and look up to see their "V" formation high in the sky. I am AMAZED. I am truly amazed at these birds flying over my head. It is in them that I see beauty.

I see beauty in the hearts of young children. They are totally innocent and they are put on Earth under so many difficult situations. Suddenly, they are on this planet and they must learn to survive like the rest of us. Their innocence, pureness, and inquisitive all makes them beautiful.

Yet, the children, the geese, and the little bugs are all under assault by this strangely beautiful yet violent and ever growing species called humans. We deceive ourselves, rationalize away all logic, and then we continue destroying that which is beautiful in a hundred million little ways.

Why?

The Goose

Columbine

I remember attending my big church in 1999 shortly after the Columbine massacre. A guest band was performing on stage. The lead singer told us that at the time of the murders they were performing at the National Rifle Association convention in Denver.

The lead singer said that at an NRA prayer breakfast, "They just held each other's hands and prayed for the victims."

Hello, you idiot, CAN'T YOU SEE THE IRONY?

If I had to do it over again I would have stood up and disrupted the service. I would have screamed, "ARE YOU FREAKING NUTS?"

It is the NRA that ensures that guns are easily accessible to any wacko who wants to slaughter people. And they hold prayer breakfasts at their conventions? And they pray for the people that their lobbying efforts help to slaughter???

Let me just say that this is a sick, twisted country -- where a "loving Christ" is so beautifully intertwined with the violence and evil of guns.

It is to the point that when I read about a multiple shooting in the newspaper, I don't even care any more. This is what Americans want! This is what the NRA wants! It is apparently what God wants!

So, let the murders, slaughter, and violence continue as the Sunday worshipers pick the lint off their suits and dresses .... and go to church to learn about the beautiful love of God ... and then come home and clean their weapons. Oh, to feel that smooth, cold, barrel, which can help to fling a slug of lead into a human's flesh at great speed, doing massive damage to human body tissue. Oh, it must be the love of God.

Winners & Losers

The Loser:

Uuugh, my sister gave a copy of Glenn Beck's book to my brother for Christmas. I warned him to take it with, shall I say, a GRAIN OF SALT. The title of the book is "An Inconvenient Book - Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems." While I try to keep an open mind I totally disagree with most everything he says. His manipulation of facts in the name of "truth" is most interesting. I'm glad the political right has a new hack — they need all the help they can get to perpetuate their fear-mongering, distortions, and downright lies.

So, tonight, I present to Glenn Beck the Golden Poop Award for twisting and manipulating "truth," in the name of truth.

The Winner:

Hurray! It made my week to see one of my heroes in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Ray Anderson, head of Interface, a Georgia-based carpet business. He is a national leader in the corporate sustainability movement and is working to reduce his company's impact on the Earth to zero.

As the story goes, in 1994 he read the book "The Ecology of Commerce" by Paul Hawken and then had a life-changing epiphany.

"It was like a spear in the chest," he says. "I had never given a single thought to what we were taking from the Earth ... I was convicted as a plunderer of the Earth, and I've spent the last 13 years as a recovering plunderer."

In recent years he has transformed his carpet company into a sustainable firm and a role model for all companies around the world. Unlike other businesses, he is doing more than just recycling — his firm is into restoration. In other words, "Let's put back more than we take. let's do more good than harm."

WOW, I love this guy. And for his great work I bestow upon him not the Golden Goose Award, but the Platinum Goose Award — the highest honor that I can give to any Earth-Saver.

Bless you Ray Anderson, for you give me and my family hope.

Oh, let me finish with another of his great quotes. This is how he defines sustainability:

"At Interface, [sustainability] means operating our pretroleum-intensive company in such a way as to take nothing from the Earth that's not naturally and rapidly renewable and do no harm to the biosphere. On the equity side, it means treating people fairly."

Awesome — that says it all. I LOVE IT!

The Goose




Ray Anderson, a great leader in the Sustainability Movement.

Two Goose Friends

Yes, Nero continues to fiddle while Rome burns. But let's take a break from all that. Tonight I'd like to give a "shout out" to two fellow Earth-Savers:

Growth Busters
http://www.growthbusters.com/

And another one:

Growth Is Madness
http://growthmadness.org/

These two sort of go together and are both operated by fellow Earthians from Colorado. Oh, and the GrowthBusters guy is working on a documentary that sounds excellent:










At this point (I'm totally exhausted) I should offer some rambling commentary about why we exist and why we are so determined to pollute and foul the planet just so that we can make money and be comfortable. Well, you know, I can't say anything about it because it's just plain stupid. Yeah, I know, I'm part of the problem. But I work from home and am laying off the meat, so my carbon footprint is pretty low. I really just need to give up electricity, grab some bear skins, and learn to survive in the wilderness. I know that I'll want to make a really comfy hut, and before you know it I'll be hooking up a dishwasher. Yeah, I know, the human race is screwed.

Genetically Modifying Civilization

Uuugh, right now as I type this my cat is walking over my face. Very interesting. See, for the past year or so I've been carefully watching the behavior of living creatures, including humans, my pets, and little bugs that crawl across my desk.

I conclude that we are all limited to the boundaries of our DNA. The behavior of both humans and pets are pretty predictable and everything operates within parameters.

See, saving the world is NOT about reinventing civilization, technological innovation, or changing public policy. Rather, it's about changing individual human behavior.

For instance, what makes us want lots of babies? And why are we so obsessed with amassing more STUFF? Oh, and why do we like to kill one another? And why do we build nukes that are designed to kill millions of us? Isn't all this sort of pointless?

Maybe the solution lies with genetics. That's it! Let's create genetically modified humans that don't destroy the Earth or each other. Maybe we can even reprogram ourselves to think that living in the Stone Age is FUN! After all, that was the most sustainable era of human history.

Maybe we can re-engineer ourselves to want less children and fewer things -- changing these two behaviors alone would be a massive help in saving our Planet.

Hmmm, I'm not sure how it would work. Maybe the men of the first generation simply need to give a little seed to a geneticist, who, in turn, modifies it. Then, his spouse is artificially inseminated. Future generations won't have to worry about the extra steps -- they'll already be mutated. Bingo, problem solved - Earth saved.

Okay, this is just the latest harebrained solution to pop into my head. Maybe next week I'll have a better idea. In the meantime, the Emperor Nero continues to light his garden with human torches (provided courtesy of captured Christian). Huh, did he really do that? Yikes.

The Goose

Open Letter To Gov. Sonny Perdue

This is in response to a prayer service held in Georgia where the governor asked God to break the drought. Yeah, I now, funny.

Dear Governor Perdue,

I wanted to thank you for praying for rain. The next day it rained a 1/4 of an inch at my house. Since you definitely get results, I was wondering if you could add a few more items to your prayer list:

• Pray that the state will keep its promise to allow hybrids to use the HOV lanes, instead of hassling them at inspection stations.
• That business, government, and environmentalists will all work as a team to promote water conservation.
• Help the state legislature to develop an environmental ethic (yes, I know that would be a miracle).
• Convict state and county politicians to focus on quality of life and long-term sustainability, instead of always keeping the growth pedal pushed to the floor.
• Pray that our state leaders, including yourself, will be given the wisdom to promote a regional mass transit system.
• That more cities and counties would adopt Cool Cities.

I know that you are busy traveling around the world trying to encourage more industry (i.e. more people) to come to Georgia. No problem, I understand, but if you could squeeze in my requests, I would be extremely grateful.

Sincerely,

The Goose

More added by my friend and colleague Jo:

• Make Ga. DOT continue to allow 2 person carpools as they try to widen 20 East and not kick them off, (which obviously will be most of the carpools) only allowing 3 person carpools. Help me to understand that this is just another way for the highway lobby with HOT ( paid) lanes and less carpools to make money while increasing the number of autos on the road, thus the demand for more roads.
• Help me to remember my own ignored and forgotten early Executive Order to conserve water in all state facilities.
• Inspire me to spend the "Go Fish," $18 million bucks to make sure there is some water to fish in, as in a real state water plan, as requested by Carol Couch, not just the cheap sham as proposed now.
• Help me to stop fiddling while Atlanta goes the way of the Anasazi and the deserted cities of temples, etc. in Mexico. Tell me how Atlanta is going to support twice as many people when the population doubles in 2030. According to the AJC, you must have already settled that with God, since Atlanta is not even preparing for losing its collapsing resource, which is already showing early signs of eutrophication, and demonstrating what will begin happening at the end of the the "life" of the Corps lakes. Ask God how much longer 50 year old lakes will last. (They all have a predicted life span when built and will silt up and die within 60 to 90 years or so.)
  
• Ask God to permanently provide enough money for tanker trucks of water for the present millions plus the expected additional millions. Ask him to make sure that we don't have to stand in line more than 2 hours a day and that we have enough old milk cartons to fill and flush our toilets once a day and to bathe at least once a week, etc., etc.
• Ask God to inspire Ga. Power to begin buying all its lake water power from the power grid instead of releasing (how much?) millions of gallons twice daily from our lakes for peak power production.
• Ask God if he is really going to provide all the water we need if we just keep fiddling and praying, or if we do a rain dance, too, if that will help, so we can just keep having our tax funded economic development agencies, with your help, keep beating the bushes to bring in more people.
• Please thank God for allowing you to predict that Atlanta's economy (waterless or not) is fine and will continue to be fine. That alone is a miracle, so you must have a direct line to him to allow you this miraculous vision.

Female Capture

Today I gave my population PowerPoint presentation to the Humanist Class at the Atlanta Unitarian Universalist Church. During my visit to the church, I met a really fascinating Italian philosopher. He is 81-years-old and has degrees in philosophy, theology, and mathematics.

One of the things he told me has stuck in my mind all day. He said religion originates from ancient days when myths were used to unite clans. This allowed clans to develop social order and military power so they could take over other groups. And for what purpose? Female capture. The idea was to steal your opponent's women (I'm guessing they just killed the males).

He said there are examples of female capture in the Old Testament, where God ordered the Israelites to take over another group and kill everyone except the virgins, which were to be brought back and made to carry little soldier babies.

The point he was trying to make is that religion served a specific purpose in our evolutionary history, and that now, perhaps, it has outlived its usefulness.

I have heard this theory before as an explanation to what makes some people so religious. Simply put, religious people beat out other groups in the natural selection process because religion provided the organization, order, motivation, etc.. that ultimately led to a military advantage. Thus, those ancient people who were less religious were eliminated through natural selection.

Well, this idea does help me to understand modern religious behavior. The reason why we have so many religious folks in the world is because THEIR RELIGION GAVE THEM AN EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGE.

That's all for tonight. The Goose is tired and is signing out.

It Is Noble ... Or Is It?

I keep reading and hearing about various aid projects in Africa. From creating new wells to providing safe houses for child soldiers, all these efforts are beautiful and worthwhile. Regretfully, no one has mentioned family planning. Without this essential component any good project is doomed to failure.

I was horrified by a recent editorial in the Atlanta newspaper that went on and on about water projects in Africa. It was written by the president of a local women's college. At least she talked about women's empowerment and education, which are two essential components to slowing birth rates. But she did NOT mention universal access to family planning, which is essential for any aid project to work in the long-term.

When you provide water and food without family planning, it is like throwing kerosene into a fire — the population simply swells. Sure, you've done some immediate good and you can feel good about yourself, but you are only setting up future generations for an even greater humanitarian crises. This is simple common sense, so I'm amazed that so many intelligentsia miss this basic point.

I applaud the good organizations like World Neighbors that do incorporate family planning into their programs. If you want to support a worthwhile aid organization, support them. Organizations like World Vision mean well, and do provide immediate relief, but in the long term they are likely doing more harm than good.

The Christian evangelicals don't like to deal with family planning. On the opposite extreme, I'm told that ultra left women's organizations are opposed to family planning programs because they feel it's a form of control. Thus, it appears that few people are willing to promote family planning and contraceptive use.

Ultimately, there are only two ways an individual can impact the planet — family size and lifestyle. As we continue to pack more billions of people onto Earth, it is essential that we all reduce our family sizes and adopt a more modest lifestyle. Eventually, we need to reduce human population to where it is permanently sustainable. I don't know what that number is, but it should be at a point where other species and the long-term viability of the Planet are not jeopardized.

The Goose