Born in 1946 after my Marine Dad arrived from the Pacific Theater in the beginning of the neoliberal heyday and boom after World War II … my (paul bain martin’s) Vatican II-period upbringing and the civil rights, ecological, and anti-War movements of the 1960’s and 70’s resulted in a profound and holistic positive-ecological mindset and a search for socio-ecological justice and Truth.
In 2016 in a beautiful park in the small town of Nindiri, Nicaragua, a flurry of mental images in my mind … of what I call a process of “positively ethical applied community ecology/PEACE” … moved me to begin work that very day in mid-February sketching out illustrations for an applied ecology book which I believed at the time would only be of illustrations. Subsequently, reviewers of early drafts recommended that I add some of my stories and essays they had heard or seen as well as the results of a new activity I had begun in about 2018, i.e., regularly writing poetry. Therefore, during the four (4) year period before Games We Play. More Than 200, 000 Years of Living Truthfully and 5,000 of Searching for Truth was published, the size and the eclecticism of this developing book steadily increased.
Games We Play attempts to stimulate readers to ponder on potential actions toward quality life for all, including actions of realpolitik. I propose that we might start this process by beginning to answer the Why?-, What?-, and How?-questions of sustainability, but especially the How?
My simple answer to the question of How? is sustainable livelihoods and living sabiamente/wisely, simply, smally, slowly, steadfastly, sharingly, sustainably. I basically stopped at these seven words because “seven (7)” is a spiritual number for sustainable indigenous communities. However, I do often add other important words & concepts, e.g., “humbly” and “in solidarity.”
One of my first of major concerns elucidated in the book is the Truth of Disparity (This has been a chronic problem for some time post-capitalism, but by many measures, it is becoming worse recently.). Another major challenge is the Truth of Overshoot of Limits to quality life for all (Human and domesticated population number are over carrying capacity; Eaarth is full and getting fuller. And the” wants” via consumerism-capitalism are greater and greater.). Intimately linked to the Truth of Overshoot is the serious Truth of Drawdown & Destruction of the Natural Resource Base (We continue extracting from an emptying bucket without replenishment.) . Associated with this is our ignorance of ecological principles, processes, and appropriate values. Moreover, first and foremost, for sustainability and quality life for all, humans over the current world (or McKibben’s Eaarth) must abide by the Golden Rule (We never have followed this well; nevertheless we need to work at extending this very important rule for solidarity, profoundly and holistically to all humans and other species.), the Precautionary Principle (Actions always have unintended consequences; always be cautious and tentative!), and the Second Law of Thermodynamics (Whether we like it or not, this principle rules; the best way to deal with it satisfactorily is lives of “Less Is More”/less artificial transformation of energy.).
Finally, my imperative is that I personally, and through others, pronounce and indubitably leave the sacred message of the Why?, What?, and How? of “positively ethical applied community ecology/PEACE,” socio-ecological justice, and sustainability and quality life for all, before I pass.
paul bain martin, ph.d.
7 S’s/VV->^^
