Preparation for & Possible Introduction to Sustainability Discussions on October 20th & November 2, 2024 in Seguin, Texas

(Presentations to Local Governmental Entities Concerning Upcoming Sustainable Ecological Community Discussions, 10/20 & 11/2/2024

It does distress me greatly that so many in very levels of power, and the populace, or demos, which voted them in, have so much ignorance of ecological principles & processes, & appropriate values … and thusly some of the most desperately needed policy & governmental action are totally out of their minds. [Naturally it is impossible for folk to critically think/decision-make without some foundation of knowledge of biological/ecological principles & processes.]

I was severely disappointed in my beautiful always-upbeat neighbor, our Seguin, Texas mayor’s flippant & superficial attitude toward water issues at the candidate forum recently. But what is really gut-wrenching is the total local & global mess–in our ignorance–we our leaving my wonderful seven [7] grandkids and other future humans … AND other biota!

In an ecological discussion at 2 pm on October 20th at the Seguin Columbus Hall [see the announcement below], I will stress five (5) key actions sorely needed for a better world [see relatively immediately below herein]. The one which is obviously most-needed is real & deep ecological literacy. But associated with such knowledge & wisdom is the desperate need for what renowned Rice University graduate & Texan ecological economist Herman Daly called steady-state economics, or degrowth. [Now more and more learned & astute economists, like economic anthropologist Jason Hickel are loudly calling for degrowth.]

Now … ecology is about everything related to life or quality life … and it is about local, regional, & global connections. And I can’t get into all the connections related to the ecosystem block which Mark Twain alluded to when he said “Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting!” Just let me read a bit of the amazing poem [in our book “Games We Play” on pp. 215-219] by my friend & Artist in Residence at the Southwest Collection, Texas Tech U. Andy Wilkinson, “Mining the Mother Lode”. [Upon my request, Andy did a fundraiser for Teatro de Artes de Juan Seguin at the Texas Texas Theater in the past.]

[“Our” current Seguin aquifer is primarily the Carrizo Wilcox, even though we aren’t over it and have no significant aquifer under us. … My own past experiences with the Carrizo-Wilcox which pop out in my mind were: … shoveling the beautiful white crystal Carrizo sand out of a centrifugal pump-fed concrete reservoir of my Uncle Peggy near Devine, Texas in the 1950s, … listening to peanut farmer Buck Hunter of Millet, Texas talk about the amount of salt from the salt intrusion-water that went on his irrigated peanuts in the 1970s, … the Post Oak Landfill that foolishly went in very recently over part of the Carrizo-Wilcox {within feet of it}, and … my stockman/M.D. younger brother from Lee County & cousin from Wilson County with Sunko Water Corporation complaining about San Antonio sucking Carrizo-Wilcox water from their area and lowering their well water. … Of course aquifers vary and have inter & intra diversity. And I did modify Andy’s poem a bit for this reading in order for it to fit our area of Seguin. Nevertheless, world-wide–and locally__we ARE “mining the mother lode”.]

[I will read a short piece of “Mining the Mother Lode”.])

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Sustainable Applied Community Ecology (That We Should All Continually Learn, & At Which, in General, Leftists Do Better)

• What is life?
• Are the resources here on Eaarth and the amount of daily solar energy available on Eaarth limited? When all biota are considered, isn’t the game of life a zero sum game?
• What is the 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics?  What does it have to do with neoliberal capitalistic-/consumer-/growth-economics … and artificialization and “Nature”?
• Ecologically, morally & ethically, shouldn’t all Texans be vegetarians?
• In what biome do you live?
• If a very catastrophic weather event occurred which knocked out food services & electricity, etc.; a total government local/national/global government breakdown happened suddenly; or we had widespread nuclear destruction; etc. … what could you or others (perhaps) forage to eat here locally around Seguin (from the wild)?
• In the immediate few square-yards of where we are sitting in this building, are we producing? or consuming?  What is the impact of this immediate artificial structure … on the four (4) major ecosystem blocks?
• Why is the evapotranspiration rate so very important in the Seguin area?
• What is ecological community succession and why is it important to understand?
• What is a common pioneer (edible) plant, or “weed”  (some Mexican-Americans use the Náhuatl/“Aztec” language word “quelite” for it) growing all across Seguin during much of the year?
• Explain human appropriated net primary productivity?
• What is the most important ecosystem block to consider  … Soil & air?  Water?  Biota & biodiversity including photosynthesizers?  or the Sun?
• Water for Seguin, Texas comes from the rainfall, the amazingly large aquifer of the Carrizo-Wilcox, the Guadalupe River (Edwards Aquifer … indirectly), and to some extent from the Trinity Aquifer. But are these sources “limitless”? Do others lust for these waters and others perhaps have just as much right to these waters, or more, than Seguin? And are there consequences from continued growth … and increased usage of these water sources?
• Could the “world today” operate without fossil energy & materials?
• Which is more efficient/better … a pre-WW II agrarianism producing one (1) calorie of food with 3 artificial energy inputs & with up to 60% of the folk at least more or less directly associated with that agrarianism, or our current industrial agriculture needing 10—30 calories of artificial energy to produce food and with much less than 20% of the populace involved in agriculture?
• Does capital punishment or War violate the 1^st Commandment?
• Human beings have 46 chromosomes.  Is a (human) being with 44 or 47 chromosomes, etc. a human being … or a “normal human being”?
• Human beings have + or – 37 trillion cells each with 46 chromosomes (or + – 1700 trillion chromosomes).  Is a one-cell zygote with 46 chromosomes a human being?  Is a mass of very amorphous cells each with 46 chromosomes carried 4+ months in a woman’s womb a human being?
• Is not the military an extremely socialistic system?
• Could we exist without military, armaments, & War?
• Should we rigidly regulate drugs? What about nicotine and the vaping of nicotine?
• Ultimately, which economic system is more doable toward christian equity and abidance by the Golden Rule on an Earth of limits … Democratic Socialism, or Plutocratic Neoliberal Capitalism?
• christian Golden Rule caring & sharing?  Or walls, razor-sharp barbed wire, buoy-barriers, landmines, guns and tanks?
• What is money and why does it matter? Does it matter?, i.e., do we have to have it? Would we be better off if we leveled the playing field regularly concerning possesion of money?
• Per the Golden Rule … and the ecological principle of connectivity, do we have obligations locally AND globally … and to recent immigrants, whether they are documented or not?
• Did the historical Power of and bullying from the U.S. south of the Tropic of Cancer and in the Middle East, etc. … and does the current role of the most Powerful nation in the world and its socio-political/economic (and inappropriate ecological) actions have anything to do with the plight of other nations & peoples in the world, and the influx of immigrants into the U.S.?
• What is more important, Faith?  Or Science?

(Some of these do have a relatively absolute answer.  However, most do cry for answers which are scientifically-based, but are also, “simply” thought-provoking.)

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Key folk who impacted me in my ca. 78 years and with what …

1. My dad Alton Martin (Master Sargeant, U.S. Marines WW II) who was ecologically literate & who had a “Less Is More” set of ecological values (in a largely agrarian ecological community of a relatively low population density & of a relative equity void of walls & locked doors. [Also, in that ecological community, my first friends were chicanos, and for most of my formative years, my co-workers were mostly browns & black. I was saved in a feed-mill accident by an African-American who is a most beautiful person but who could be edgy as a result of racism in community.])
2. Dr. Joe Schaffner, Texas A&M University entomologist who was the first to truly introduced me to biological science and biocontrol. Dr. Schaffner’s scientific physiological teachings of insect hormones opened my mind to complexities of (sex) chromosome, gene, protein, biological messaging, & hormones and manifestations of sex, sexual organs, gender, & sexual persuasion differences in humans.
3. Dr. David Pimentel of Cornell University who infused me with the concept of sustainable ecological communities and an Eaarth which is energetically sound (a neo-Earth)
4. My wife Betsy Hoffmann Martin who allowed me lots of room & opportunities in which to develop my efforts for a systematic, systems changing of  Eaarth to a neo-Earth of quality life for all, including other species

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Needed changes in vocabulary and ways of thinking …

1. Instead of capitalistic “jobs” we must have sustainable ecological “sustainable livelihoods” which change the Eaarth to one of caring & sharing toward socio-ecological justice
2. Rather than worshipping “technology”, think “appropriate technology”
3. Critically think & analyze in “kilocalories” rather than “dollars””
4. Think “We” & “diverse community in solidarity” rather than “Me”!
5. Recognize that “all education is ecological education”.
6. And as Lyndon Baines Johnson said, “The only thing worth being is a teacher, preacher, or a politician.”  …  We are all teachers, preachers, & politicians.  Let’s be good, moral, & ethical ones!

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Major Truths on Eaarth, 2024 …

1. Overshoot of carrying capacity by human and associated domesticated species
2. Drawdown of the natural resource base, or Nature
3. Disparity, and therefore War!
4. All peoples and all biota are connected
5. Non-adherence to the Golden Rule
6. Ignorance of the 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics & other ecological principles
7. Not abiding by the Precautionary Principle

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Actions sorely needed …

1. Broad sweeping ecological literacy & appropriate values for applied community ecology
2. Nuclear disarmament & demilitarization … AND de-weaponization
3. Degrowth & a humanity weaned of fossil energy & high inputs/throughputs of artificial energy in ecological community (Growth is the “elephant in the room” causing great problems for ecological communities. And inherent in this addiction-problem of growth are energy issues. Life is “simply MATTER organized through transformation of ENERGY“; therefore rampant high-energy transformation is of utmost concern in ecological communities when the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is considered.)
4. Resilient, sustainable agrarian global economy that is “quasi-matriarchal” society
5. Equity for all including populations of other species

These are Truthfully our major/key needs and should basically be our goals

(However, the devil is always in the details & obviously all of this will take time & much, much critical thinking, discussion/communication, strategic planning//goal-setting/monitoring/evaluation/analysis/& replanning, and much diplomacy.  Nevertheless, such MUST be undertaken!!!)

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Humanity is headed over the proverbial cliff because of possible (probable) actual realization of life-terminating global War and nuclear holocaust, overshoot of, and toxic pollution & loss of, the natural resource base/human life-essential Nature, and/or global climate change to one intolerable of human life. (The science of ecology informs us that all of life is connected, and that all of the above horrific scenarios are intra- & inter-connected.)

Now initially when I began thinking about this blog post dealing with our sustainablity discussions coming up on October 20th and November 2nd of this year of 2024, I was thinking MAGAism & libertarian survivalism vs. minimalist applied ecology. And I was to a large extent putting Republicans & Libertarians and Democrats all in the same pot, because they all basically bow to the Gods of libertarian capitalism & consumerism (obviously involving economic growth) and militarism. But as I developed this introduction material, I did recognize some glaring differences in Republicans and Libertarians and Democrats. And excuse me please, but when considering stances concerning immigration and basic human rights (and women’s rights), when holistically considering right to life and socio-ecological justice and protection of top soil, quality air and water, climax communities & biodiversity, when considering attempts at sustainable & efficient capture/transforming of daily solar energy, when considering efforts toward sustainable agriculture, and especially when considering respect for good basic and applied science and therefrom the existential threats from climate change and the need for realizing ecological literacy as well as efforts to attain equity for all, I had to give the better marks to the Democratic Party! For my grandchildren and theirs, for all of our progeny … and profoundly & holistically for all of local & global humanity for the short and long term, I could not avoid recognizing that the policies and actions of the Democrats are best for changing this chaotic Eaarth to a neo-Earth with humans of sustianble livelihoods working in concert with Nature.

(When we compare historical legislation, policy, and actions of the Democratic & Republican Parties, Yes!, the Democratic party is well in front of the Republican Party. Think … the 19th Amendment, social security and minimum wage, the Marshall Plan, the G.I. Bill, Civil & Voting Rights Acts, the Peace Corps, Medicare & Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, Head Start and the school lunch programs, the recent Inflation Reduction Act … and on & on!)

Some More About Who/What Is To Blame for the Very Real 2024 Existential Threats? Shoving us over the cliff are the likes of Trump and his MAGAs, yes! But also, all neoliberal conspicuous consumers and the transnational corporations that provide the very compelling propaganda to addictively purchase stuff, i.e., guns & other armaments, big unnecessary pickup trucks & cars, all sorts of useless & unnecessary plastic, glamor, gadgets, high input/fossil energy intensive recreation, celebratory, & holiday paraphenalia, unnecessary pharmaceuticals & excessive air-conditioning & water-usage, synthetic fertilizers & pesticides, energy inefficient (production, processing, packaging, & transportation) foods (and fiber & shelter materials), … leaf blowers, etc. Simply stated, WE DO WAY TOO MUCH ENERGY TRANSFORMATION!!!

(I must add again that the Republican Party in general is not, and has not been, right in terms of policy and actions, and has been very considerable worse than the Democratic Party, in the essential arenas of policy & actions toward ecology across the curricula & campuses of all human organizational entities, goals of socio-ecological justice & equity for all, or effective firearms regulation … and the Republican Party has not contributed, especially in recent administrations, to efforts of degrowth, nuclear disarmament, demilitarization, or resilient sustainable agriculture.

Moreover MAGAism in it’s emphasis on “America, Great, and Great Again” has not been in keeping with say a Jesus of Nazareth-humility. It arrogantly does not recognize America as Central, South AND North America or that America is Latin America, etc. Finally, with initial processes and institutions of indigenous extermination/indoctrination and slavery and the taking of other peoples Lands and of the Monroe Doctrine, Manifest Destiny, Yankee Imperialism and then Jackson’s Indian Removal Act & the Trail of Tears, and the U.S.’s deportation of almost a million legal citizens of Mexican descent back to Mexico to supposedly protect white workers, and Republican Eisenhower’s Operation Wetback which trucked a million Mexican laborers back to Mexico, and current hate rhetoric against recent immigrants … how could the U.S. be labeled as great in the past or in such efforts in the present???

When in the hell was & is the U.S.A. so damn great?

Can We Truly Change the System? ¡Si Se Puede! We could make a change from the current chaotic overly-artificial world of excessive (mis) information, neoliberal capitalistic/militaristic conspicuous consumption and worship at the altar of economic growth, and of human population & domestic species population growth if we had the moral & ethical knowledge, values, and fortitude in our minds, hearts & souls. We could, and should, rapidly but relatively smoothly transition to a largely matriarchal, global low energy-input/-throughput agrarian society living sustainable livelihoods based on using mostly daily solar energy from “natural photosynthesizers relatively close to being ‘perpetual'”. This is the preferred route rather than pursuing high-input/-throughput, chaotic, mechanistic, electronic/EM, robotic, plastic/cement & asphalt jobs dependent on unsustainable inputs of fossil energy & materials and nuclear energy (involving high up-front inputs of energy & resources and eons of toxic & other dangers), and or “Nature”-threatening excessive-hydro- or geothermal power (or excess of any energy source, including all so-called “renewable energies”).

The short answer to whether we can make systematic system change rapidly is that we must change! Or over the cliff we go!!! (Herein this blog post I placed “up-front” a rough, crude draft of a mural I propose to illustrate where we could go as humanity, or where we might likely go.)

A Bit of a “Final Roman Catholic ‘Confession'” … and Then a Plea. Now I will readily admit that I am romantically indoctrinated by a largely low-input agrarian life style in my youth AND to some extent by the solid science of an holistic local and global ecology I “crudely” acquired in my almost 78 years of life. Therefore, I am certain in my mind, heart, and soul, from my upbringing and my ecological scientific learning, that we have overshot the natural resource base–and that we are now rapidly drawing down on the natural resource base of topsoil, quality air, quality water, adequate photosynthesizers and necessary biodiversity (related to the Precautionary Principle), and ability to efficiently and effectively capture and utilize daily solar energy. Morover, I realize that there is tremendous disparity on Eaarth (McKibben, 2010) and that such disparity leads to perpetual War, and in these “modern” days and times … eventually to nuclear holocaust. In drastic addition, the dependence of humanity, on this overshot-Eaarth, on fossil energy is leading to an Eaarthly climate intolerable of human life.

In spite of these knowledge of precarious doom & gloom, I also know from my low-input, -throughput upbringing by my parents, great teachers, and the rural south Texas village of Devine, that we can live comfortable, happy lives in relative concert with Nature in a global minimalist agrarian society. In fact, for resilient, sustainable local, global ecological community, it is necessary for us to transition to such a minimalist agrarian society which I believe should be largely matriarchal.

Moreover, this resilient, sustainable ecological community could better fulfill moral & ethical goals of abiding by the Golden Rule of profoundly & holistically sharing & caring (with the inclusion of all biota), abiding by the Second Lasw of Thermodynamics and leaving more of Nature “Natural”, and being more truly pacifists.

My plea to those who truly care about their grandchildren and their neighbor’s granchildren, and the grandchildren of these grandchildren, is to choose roads and routes to a minimalist mostly-matriarchal agrarian ecological community rather than a most certainly soon-to-be-doomed messy, polluted, natural resource-depleted, hot and getting hotter, chaotic Eaarth.

Finally, while teaching, preaching, and politicking (suggested by from LBJ of Texas to be the only things worth doing) ecological literacy … also make rigorous, concerted efforts of advocacy, protesting, and letters to editors and legislators and presidents and other movers-and-shakers … and of diplomacy, etc. toward nuclear bans and bans of all other armaments and militarism.

Too Much Lie-Filled Propaganda and Mis- & Dis-Information (Or Information Period! Rather Than Knowledge, Wisdom, & Prudence). What I have detailed thus far is very difficult to swallow with all of the seductive, head-spinning energy intensive information aroudn us . I do know this! Nevertheless, the five (5) basic & life-saving needs to be met in order to avoid the existential threat to quality life & continuation of humanity are the essense of my FACTUAL story today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life, which must be realized. And I must (mostly, because I am always learning) morally & ethically stick to it.

Com amor,

paulo bain martin

7 Ss / VV->^^