TRULY SEEING THE FORESTS VS. BEING MESMERIZED BY THE TREES. Flimflam artists and hucksters like Trump, Joel Osteen, Musk, Bezos, Greg Abbott … and even relatively honest “knowledgeable” scientific specialists can wrongfully manipulate our individual and collective minds away from the reality of our socio-ecological justice battles … with the diversity of information/misinformation/disinformation and negative (or neutral) propaganda about all of the various “trees” in the “forest.” Knowledge of key ecological principles and processes and values is essential for appropriate critical thinking & discussion and collective decision-making & planning and action and replanning.
Some measures more focused on “the forest” rather than the “trees” which are particularly important in an effective process toward resilient, sustainable ecological community are (especially those in bold):
o the Gini coefficient,
o ecological footprints & biocapacity,
o daily kilocalories transformed per capita,
o Net Primary Productivity and Human Appropriated Net Primary Productivity,
o carbon footprints,
o water usage per capita,
o top soil loss and organic matter in soils,
o biodiversity
o pollution indices for soil, air, water and biota .
(And “by the way,” too much of a focus on public health for individuals versus the health of ecological systems is detrimental to a sustainable health of Homo sapiens.)
DECENT (A COMPLEX MORAL TERM). To be decent is to be marked by moral integrity, kindness, and goodwill. (Merriam-Webster) … Decency IS a moral imperative. Of course, thusly ( because it is a human thing), its interpretations and reality are complex & nuanced.
o It is an easy call to say War and facilitating military & armaments are indecent.
o Most gun ownership in the U.S. is indecent.
o Luxury is for the most partindeeent.
o Many walls and fences are indecent.
o In general, professional sports, automobile-transport systems, industrial agriculture, neoliberal transnational corporate capitalism, and all human high-input/-throughput systems are indecent.
o Schools, churches, club, businesses, governmental entities including bureaucracies, and other huamn organizations which lack a learning curricula and learning campuses of postively ethical applied communiy ecology, PEACE, … are indecent!
o An attempt to totally shut off communication with family, friends, other humans and other species (and ecological systems) is definitely indecent, no matter the underlying cases of such actions.
o It is doubtful that Trump (or DeSantis or Abbott) will ever be truly decent, and you are “indecently dreaming” if you have an idea that Trump will ever be a decent leader. (AND IN REFERENCE TO REINHOLD NIEBUHR’S WRITINGS, … IMMORAL SOCIETY REPRESENTED BY IMMORAL MAN TRUMP, TRUMPS MORAL MAN!)
o “Might” and/or simply being a complacent and apathetical part of the status quo, generally is an indication of indecency.
o (pbm is indecent to his youngest brother and others in his continuing, constant fight for socio-ecological deceny. [Nevertheless, he is not “in hell” and therefore, “he will not go to hell!” … It was very decent of his youngest brother to drop by and visit pbm recently. Sadly, others who disagree with what they consider toxic (socio-ecological, human) actions have absolutely no decency toward him.])
o Our very artificial lawn is quite indecent.
pbm 7 S’s/VV->^^
