Little Book on Applied Ecology/PEACE: WHY? WE ARE DEVELOPING THIS BOOK! (The “Introduction”):
PLEA FOR POSITIVELY ETHICAL APPLIED COMMUNITY ECOLOGY / PEACE TO DONALD TRUMP ET AL. (WITH A LETTER TO THE POTUS).
(All of us can and should send similar letters to our elected and appointed representatives and demand assistance from the top, and the grassroots, in rectifying: overshoot, disparity, unhealthy individuals/populations/ecological communities/ecoregions, destruction of biocapacity/the natural resource base/Nature/the Commons/the Land, our terrible state as Eaarth!)
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605 Elm Street
Seguin, Texas 78155-4827
@PabloEco3500K
August 7, 2017
President Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Trump:
I certainly hope that our mutual goal in life is cutting military spending, tearing down walls including many U.S. prison walls, and opening borders … as a part of efforts toward pacifism and to more justly share our personal power, resources, and monies with those who have considerably less. I trust that we both agree that everyone has a right to quality and adequate quantity of: water, healthful food, clothing, housing, education, health care, Nature and recreation, the arts, and a voice in their government.
Well over half of the world makes less than $4000/year/capita, and more than one billion are in extreme poverty. Moreover, as far as other species are concerned, projections are that by mid-century we will have lost 30-50 percent of these, primarily because of habitat destruction by humans. Earth’s resources, including the solar energy which arrives each day, are limited in terms of quantity and quality, while dominant humans who represent one percent of the world human population have more than 50 percent of the wealth or power over these limited resources.
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Here at home in this country we enjoy a better quality of life than we should. As about 5 percent of the world’s population, we use about 25 percent or more of its limited resources. If we lived moral and ethical lifestyles, we would all live “poorly” as Pope Francis has implored. We need to lower our ecological footprints and share our power with others (including other species) down toward equity. We should all work toward living humbly, compassionately, and poorly as Jesus, St. Clare and Francis of Assisi, Thoreau, Gandhi, Mildred Lisette Norman (Peace Pilgrim), and many other humble and compassionate people have exemplified through the ages.
I realize our ingrained ethos of “artificialization”, materialism, consumption, and growth makes a change toward living sustainably very difficult! Many have had very little exposure to Nature and the Natural, and our educational systems develop little knowledge of ecological principles, processes, and values. Moreover, few in this country have known anyone in extreme poverty. … I do empathize with the socially and ecologically ignorant.
Nevertheless, I beg of you to please try to learn and to act ethically toward those less fortunate than we, and to work in concert with Nature. In these efforts, please free up resources and provide quality life for others, including the unborn, by developing policy and appropriations which will …
- Help put an end to the death penalty and severe use of solitary confinement and other torture.
- Result in our eventual signing of a comprehensive enforceable Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and its robust implementation.
- Realize campaign reform in terms of fairness and expenditure of considerably less time and monies.
- Develop an infrastructure which will triple the passenger and freight rails we currently have.
- Enhance respect for women, the physically- and mentally- and economically-challenged, indigenous peoples, the LBGTQ community, Muslims, Mexicans, the news media, and all humans, all life.
- Halt construction/use of the Dakota Access Pipeline just north of Standing Rock Reservation.
- Support the development of appropriate applied agroecology.
- Increase support and funding for 1890 universities.
- Bolster development of the arts and basic science and mathematics with enhanced federal funding, including funding for Hatch Act-type agricultural research and for NEA, NAS, and public radio and television.
- Stop the aggressive gutting of the EPA and the National Park Service.
- Work to begin to significantly reduce cynicism and polarization in the populace.
The list above relates to policy and actions which are very doable for your administration. Nevertheless, I do want much more with respect to social justice, humaneness, and ecological sanity, and would welcome any efforts toward regeneration and conservation of resilient, sustainable ecological community.
Thanks so very much for reading and considering this!
Most respectfully,
paul bain martin. ph.d.
Retired, Biology-Natural Sciences Department, St. Philip’s College
Volunteer: Ogallala Commons, Kids On the Land, Dos Pueblos/NYC-Nicaragua,
Episcopalian Veterinarian Services/Honduras-Mexico, Generations Indigenous Ways
cc: Other leaders, politicians, statespersons in the U.S.A. and the world via mail and various media
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pbm
[ 7 Ss / VV->^^ ]
