1.Like many folks currently here on Eaarth, I have a list of “important” things to do i.e.,
• read the papers & magazines on my desk from the past few days;
• use this energy intensive & ecologically-disruptive technology to contact family about trying to travel to a young & special nephew’s football game in Gonzales & attend the rodeo in New Braunfels with grandchildren the same evening;
• iron some clothes for funeral services of an old childhood friend from Devine;
• send some money via Xoom for hands-on sustainable community learning by a young friend who had been detained by ICE for a year, denied asylum, and then deported;
• mow the lawn and do vacation stops for mail & paper delivery prior to traveling to Lambshead Ranch for ecological activities with youth;
• take food scraps out to compost;
• eat something and get a bit of cardio exercise;
• do some needed repairs on the house;
• (just now, after a call from an old friend wrestling with heroin addiction, I stopped development of this blog piece to take him to an AA meeting);
• etc., etc., etc.
Nevertheless, to stop the pinging of nagging thoughts in this vacuous, yet cluttered, head, I “just have to” post this blog piece here at paulpeaceparables.com, and stick it on Facebook, and bother some family & friends via email with these “obviously very important thoughts” … since they are in MY head.
[I interject at this point a promise to myself: after this next week of ecological activities, for the next four months I hope to mostly set aside and largely ignore my lists and focus on developing the little heavily-illustrated book on applied ecology (Positively Ethical Applied Community Ecology/PEACE) for kids from 12 to 120 years of age. Major collaborators on this are my wife Betsy and Laura Salazar et al.
2. I do apologize for always being hard on my loved ones (family and friends), e.g., last eve on my wife Betsy, Bobbie Maddox, Chris Frels, and even Dr. Kramer.
I am just as hard or harder on myself. However, I do realize this isn’t an excuse for picking on others. Anyway, Dr. Kramer did emphasize, articulately and eloquently, this past evening of September 24, that the start to effective advocacy means adding an honest, truthful, fact-informed, determined, persistent, CONFIDENT internal voice.
3. After considering my background, energies, talents and skills in attempts at being an effective advocate for a bit of good, I believe I have largely followed Dr. Kramer’s sage advice for steps which should be followed, i.e.,
• Be confident
• Develop clear goals
• Identify key members of community who help realize these goals
• Understand the other side, empathize, and find common ground
• Collaborate/build relationships
• Recognize that knowledge is power
• Appreciate and celebrate positive results
However, despite my general adherence to these steps, my voice has largely been an ignored and unheard cry in the cluttered Eaarth of rampant ecologically-destructive neoliberal capitalism, a world in the Anthropocene of conversion of dynamic homoeostatic symbioses (‘nature”) to artificial clutter and chaos.
4. I do have some very major problems with Dr. Kramer’s “Be realistic!” statement last eve. Truly being realistic means making some very radical and big (but appropriate) changes in our psychology (our individual & collective psyche) and socio-political/economic (i.e., ecological) systems.
Below are a couple of “little” examples–
a. Ultimately, water issues and other challenges in ecosystem/ecosphere blocks of: biogeochemical cycles, transformation of energy, and biotic diversity … and threats from excessive embodied human-appropriated net primary productivity … will not be resolved by technological fixes and tweaking (or tweeting). What Greta and other wise ones are trying to tell us (whether they profoundly realize it or not) is that Eaarth will not be restored to somewhat of a neo-Earth of quality life (for more, including other species, for a longer period) until we 7.7 billion, going on 11 billion, human beings begin to practice the 7 Ss, or make intensive and extensive dramatic changes toward living Sabiamente (wisely), Simply, Smally, Slowly, Steadfastly, Sharingly, SUSTAINABLY. [This is why the SAM of STEAM (STEM with the very necessary Art component incorporated) is what is most important in this acronym.]
b. Heavy and extensive reliance on so-called “renewable” isn’t realistic and is a false hope. I have dealt with this in a previous blog: http://www.paulpeaceparables.com/2018/05/01/renewable-energy-as-the-key-asset-of-commonwealth-in-community-by-paul-bain-martin1/
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In my own recent efforts at effecting appropriate change, I have collaborated with others in developing community gardens and in performing veterinarian services, realizing potable water systems, and building–along-side some physically & mentally challenged folk–sturdy cardboard furniture as well as building adobe school libraries and composting toilets in Latin America, have served on the board of a NGO with a mission to “foster a holistic approach to community socio-economic development in the Great Plains Region”, and facilitated the learning by youth of ecological principles and processes for a number of years. And the relationships, dialogue, empathy, and solidarity realized through these interactions over the years HAVE been very rewarding. Moreover, hopefully as a result of these strong and strengthening connections, more of us are learning about and practicing “positively ethical applied community ecology”/PEACE and doing more profound and real critical thinking and ecologically-appropriate decision-making.
Nevertheless, I am not satisfied that any of these efforts is radically realistic enough!! “It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” (From Jiddu Krishnamurhi via Facebook friend Michael Roberts) (We are a very profoundly and extensively sick world society here on Eaarth. PLEASE do not be complacent, exploitive, and well-adjusted in an ecologically-sinful status quo.)
5.I served for a number of years on the St. Philip’s College President’s Lecture Series committee, and I truly do realize that securing excellent speakers is not easy or inexpensive. Nevertheless, during my tenure we did have Ossie Davis, Winona LaDuke, Desmond Tutu’s daughter, Chris Hedges, and other wonderfully excellent speakers impart their experiences on us … and we could have had Jim Hightower for a very reasonable honorarium had our administrators not gotten cold feet about him being too leftist and radical..
My suggestion would be that Siempre Sustainable Network and the TLU Center for Servant Leadership work to get Greta Thunberg, Helmut Haberl, Chris Hedges, Amy Goodman, Stacey Abrams, Naomi Klein, Wes Jackson, E.O. Wilson, Miguel Altieri, Jared Diamond, or speakers of similar stature, knowledge and wisdom to speak at our next event. The title might be: “Solidarity & Ethical Action to Sustainable Community: Doing Our Part as Quasi-‘Gretas’?”
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* Former Director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.
pbm
[ 7 Ss / VV->^^ ]
