Eaarth* in 2024
“Common sense” observations and soft and hard science tell us …
o Ignorance is bliss but dangerous. That ignorance is very dangerous is particularly true when dealing with lack of profoundly holistic ecological knowledge. We must begin to have principles, processes, and values of applied ecology across curricula and campuses of all human organizational entities.
o Global climate change is an existential threat to quality life for humans and associated biota exists and even theatens the existence of humna life itself.
o We are losing precious top soil, massive quantities of quality water, climax ecological communities (which along with ecological communities in processes of succession have been important for the net primary productivity of a very diverse global photosynthesizing community), and efficient and sustainable daily capture of solar energy in the absence of energy inputs from direct or indirect transformation of dangerous fossil or nuclear energy.
o Globally, humans are well over their carrying capacity and drawing down on the natural resource base. Healthy, quality-of-life-for-humans biodiversity is being seriously threatened by humans actions of rampant artificialization. “At least 680 vertebrate species had been driven to extinction since the 16th century and more than 9% of all domesticated breeds of mammals used for food and agriculture had become extinct by 2016, with at least 1,000 more breeds still threatened.” https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/ https://royalsociety.org/news-resources/projects/biodiversity/decline-and-extinction
o Within species and species populations, and within humanity and human populations there is tremendous disparity and lack of caring and sharing. “The World Bank reports that 712 million people, nearly 1 in 11 people globally, live on less than $2.15 a day. As of 2022, the poverty rate in the United States was 11.5%, with approximately 37.9 million people living in poverty.” “The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population but uses an estimated 24 percent of the world’s resources.”This disparity is at least one major cause of our constant Warring since the agricultural revolution and the occurrence of “up to 56 active conflicts in the world, which is the highest number since World War II” https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/economic-inequality-gini-index https://www.worldvision.org/sponsorship-news-stories/global-poverty-facts https://www.prb.org/resources/human-population/ https://geneva-academy.ch/galleries/today-s-armed-conflicts
Enjoying Some Comfort
I sincerely believe that all should enjoy the comforts of their lives … their family, their wealth and capital, their food, fiber and shelter and they must enjoy music and the arts and recreation. All, rich and poor, Haves and have-nots, the Donald J. Trumps to nanobes deserve some peace and comfort.
But the Haves must not overdo it. “Less Is More”, “Small Is Beautiful”, and Steady-State Economics” must be the mantra for the rich and powerful; they must care and share with the have-nots toward equity.
However, Enjoy Some Comfort While Improving Quality of life for All
At the same time, I also believe real comfort and quality life for humans must also involve an individual and concerted community effort by all humans to provide a quality life for all biota for the short and long term. This is a difficult/perhaps impossible task. Nevertheless, it must occur!
Moreover, we are innately a political species. Therefore, please do not be reluctant to speak Truth to Untruth and Truth to Power and hopefully thusly effect some positive change.
https://antigonejournal.com/2021/03/political-animals/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10429104/
We must begin to individually and collectively, in solidarity, address the existential threats to quality life listed in the first section of this piece!!!
7 Ss / VV->^^ (From our “Games We Play”, 2021 available at Amazon and at Barnes & Noble)
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(A peek at my limited & relatively weak attempts at on-going development of holistic-thinking [informed by dynamic homeostatic symbioses/Nature including humanity], strategic planning, and an accomplishment of PEACE*:
o Set goals toward having a minimalist [very diverse] agarian socio-political/economic system largely run by women & in concert with Nature.
o ASAP help accomplish a dynamic process of “‘positively’ ethical applied community ecology/PEACEmaking” across curricula & campuses of all human organizational entities!!!
o Similar to and in solidarity with the amazing efforts of “Veterans For Peace” … work, organize, advocate, protest, realize diplomacy, and take action … relentlessly and in a focused manner toward … toward pacifism & nuclear disarmament, regulating the neoliberal capitalistic [terrible human-killing] gun industry … & toward demilitarism.
o Humbly mingle, work along-side & truly get to know have-nots, poor, powerless, and disenfranchised (including other biota) locally & globally of this old Eaarth [McKibben, 2010]. “Care & share” in profound & holistic accordance with the Golden Rule.
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*”‘Positively’ Ethical Applied Community Ecology/PEACEmaking”)
paul bain martin