A Bone To Pick

(Note: the following is an open letter to our new president. It should be noted that I have no illusions Mr. Obama will actually read it, but I have a bone to pick and I intend to pick it.)

Mr. Obama,
Congratulations on your new job. I hope you are enjoying living in the White House. Has the reality of your new life set in yet? If not it should be soon. I am writing this letter in the vain attempt to help you see the light on the topic below. I know this attempt will be futile, but I have often been described as a ‘rat terrier with a bone’ when I get an idea into my head. So here goes.

First, let me say that I voted for you. Twice, in fact. Once in the primary and then again in the general election. This was not because I am enchanted with you, as so many are, but because I felt you were the best choice among the candidates. I will be the first to admit that I do not have high expectations of politicians. In fact, I have only three. I expect all politicians to breathe, take up far too much space and resources, and lie. I fully expect you will do all three during your tenure in the White House. That comes with the territory. Despite my low expectations I have decided to give you a chance and see what comes of your time in office before judging you. You certainly have gotten off to a better start than the shrub you replaced. I still intend to give you a chance but this does not mean you are going to get a free pass from me. Hardly. I will look at everything you do and scrutinize it. And I must say I have all ready found something that has caused me serious annoyance. More than annoyance; it made me downright angry.

I am not talking about those of your cabinet picks that have terrified so many liberals and progressives. I am not talking about your stance on Israel. Nor your stimulus package. Nor am I speaking of the new head of the Department of the Treasury. I am not happy about a man who could not pay his own taxes being put in charge of the IRS, but it was not my call. I presume you are intelligent enough to know that placing a man like Geithner at Treasury is akin to putting a fox in charge of guarding the chicken coop. I am also assuming you are wise enough in the ways of the world to know that there will be many Americans who are tired of paying taxes who look at this and think if he does not have to pay his taxes, then they should not as well. I also assume these people will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, unlike Geithner. Such is politics and life in the current climate.

No, I am not talking about any of these things. The issue on my mind goes back to your inauguration. You made a speech that day, one that was very good overall, but there was one line in that speech that just does not sit well with me. Even after a week, I still can not swallow it. That one line is the entire reason for this letter. The line was this: We shall not apologize for our way of life, nor waver in its defense.

Mr. Obama, this line irked me for one not-so-simple reason. You see, what you and many others fail to grasp, is that the way of life you were talking about –that prevalent in America today –is the problem. I know that you may not understand why I say this so please bear with me for a few moments.

I will admit that this way of life has produced some incredible things. We put men on the moon, for the sake of the one we both claim to hold most high. (That we call that one by different names hardly matters; I should think whatever is out there is big enough to encompass all of our different viewpoints.) Antibiotics were an incredible invention. Compact discs are amazing. Open heart surgery, organ transplants, all these are great.

But any open accounting must consider both sides of the ledger, and when you apply that to the lifestyle you refuse to apologize for, the picture darkens considerably. Our planet is warming, Mr. Obama, and is becoming increasingly inhospitable to human life. This is a direct consequence of America’s way of life. Ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising. Check out this video from Antarctica: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1_8pG53-eM

That way of life you are so proud of has caused the deforestation of vast regions of the planet and the extinction of countless species. Over 200 hundred species go into that dark night every single day. Entire mountains have been leveled to power our ‘non-negotiable way of life’. The waste from nuclear power plants will be with us for the next 100,000 years. Iraq and Afghanistan are covered with depleted uranium shells. That is a really great gift for the coming generations.

Our oceans are slowly turning to plastic, and marine life is dying in droves. Speaking of which, have you seen the warnings about overfishing? The last ever order of fish and chips will be served during our lifetimes. Pollution has increased to the point where comparisons to the past are no longer valid. Expensive water treatments are now absolutely necessary in many areas of the world, including here in the U.S. That Blackberry you are so proud of? It will last a few years and then spend the rest of eternity leaching heavy metals into the environment and poisoning people who live downstream. The creation of that little device also had a heavy impact on the area where it was created and the parts where mined, and that will go on for the next, oh, umpteen generations.

We are having problems finding places to park our garbage. The entire world is on the verge of a freshwater crisis. In a few short years there are going to be wars over water. Over water, Mr. Obama. There are dead zones in every major ocean. Our topsoils are washing down rivers. Do you know how important topsoil is? Try eating without it.

Every bit of this horror show is a direct result of our way of life. But it gets even worse. The obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer epidemics in this country are also direct results of our lifestyle. Our overconsumption of resources is also keeping resources from other areas of the world, causing much suffering and even death.

This does not paint a pretty picture. But it gets even worse if you stop to think about it. No matter how hard we try or how hard we work, we can not clean this all up. Not in our lifetimes. Not in our children’s children’s children’s lifetimes. Cleaning up this mess will be the work of many, many generations.

And that, in the end, will be the final legacy of this way of life you will not apologize for: we will bequeath a hot, hungry, thirsty, depleted and very dirty world to our descendants for the next hundred thousand years. That’s one hell of a legacy, Mr. Obama, and not a good one.

Maybe there’s a good reason you won’t apologize. If you started, how would you ever be able to stop?

Deep in the Dark of the Longest Night

Deep in the dark of the longest night
We keep our vigil by candlelight
Waiting to sing to the newborn sun
The universe will birth when the night is done

See the sun arising,
See the sun arising;
Darkness is gone!

Yesterday was the winter solstice, a High Holy day for pagans, and last night was the longest night of they year. I did not stay up all night as is the old custom, primarily for two reasons: I am still recovering from being very ill, and staying up all night by yourself is much different than doing so in a group of celebrants. At 6:04 this morning CST the sun reached its farthest point on the ecliptic and began its long journey back. From that moment on, there will be a little more light and a little less darkness every day until the Summer Solstice. Then the cycle will repeat, every year as it has done since the dawn of time and will continue to do until the end of time.

The sun returned in two ways this morning. First, the Solstice of course. Second, the weather has been really bad here for the past three weeks. It has been raining almost every day, and even when it hasn’t been, the sky has still been overcast. The only times it has been clear is at night. But when I rose this morning, the sky was clear of all save a few wisps of cloud. The newborn sun arose, a ball of liquid fire over the mountain. Despite the chill I ate my breakfast on the front porch, basking in the light. Welcome back, Ra! Apollo! Pan!

This is also the first day of winter, the time of the great cold and darkness. The Crone is in her full majesty right now –the old woman who holds all the wisdom of age, who guards the gates of Death and the keys to every world. The time of cold is upon us, the time of endings and transitions, the time of dark and cold. But, the Light is returning and each day spring will be a little bit closer, and the time will soon come when the maiden, newly born again, will frolic in fields of flowers and new grass.

This Solstice is a bit bitter sweet, for winter and the time of darkness has not just come to the world in the form of the ancient cycle of seasons. Our culture, our world, has also entered a time of darkness and we have not yet reached the longest night. Things are shifting, changing. Everything that once seemed secure is starting to shift. The moorings are coming loose. Deep in the corners, in the shadows, the whispers are beginning, the dreaded word that sends chills up the spine: depression. I heard them yesterday, even at the Solstice celebration. You can see the worry on peoples face, in the way they hold their bodies and clutch at their purses. I only made a quarter of what I usually make at the annual solstice fair. Part of that was the weather –it was pouring rain all day –but part of it must be attributed to the economy. Even here, in one of the most recession proof areas of the country, the affects are being felt. Stores are closing, people are being laid off, the discounts are amazing. And people are starting to worry.

You have no idea, I want to tell them. We are not facing a depression. We are facing a complete change in our way of life. Oil is almost gone. So are numerous other resources. We have built our entire way of life on a house of cards, a giant Ponzi scheme that has to come crashing down. We have forgotten the first rule of the natural world: Everything is interconnected, and when you touch one thing, you touch all things. We have also forgotten the second rule: Everything has a price. Everything. We’ve gotten away with not paying any prices for so long that we think there are not any. But there are, and the bill is beginning to come due. There must be a day of reckoning. And while that day may last more like a century or two, come it will. The first stirrings are being felt now, like the first leaves to drop in autumn. More will come.

It is going to be a long, long night and a rough winter. Much will change. Much will be destroyed. But, dawn will come. It always does. The Light will return.

One planet is turning
Circle on her path around the Sun
Earth Mother is Calling her children home
Light is returning, although this is the darkest hour
No one can hold back the dawn
Let’s keep it burning
Let’s keep the light of hope alive
Make safe the journey through the storm

Rain, Rain, and more rain

Fay is moving through my area. We got a few of the outer rain bands on Sunday, and then the rain began on earnest about noon yesterday. It still hasn't stopped and isn't supposed to until after midnight tonight. It is coming down at just the right rate; not to fast and not too slow. The ground, still parched from the drought, is absorbing it. I could see the trees perk up when the first rain came through on Sunday. The drought isn't as bad this year as it has been the last two; it seems to be breaking up slowly but surely. Which is a good thing.

One thing that has struck me the past couple of days is the number of people complaining about the rain. Everywhere I go, somone is complaining and wishing it was over and sunny again. Even people who should know better, like my pagan meeting group and a bunch of environmentalists I know. We're in a drought and they are complaining about rain. No, we're not getting it like they did in Florida -four inches or so is what the forecasters say. And yet people are complaining.

This the measure of how disconnected we have become from the world -that we complain about the rain in the middle of a drought. We need this rain, some of us desperately, but people are just complaining but it puts a crimp in their plans. Admittedly, I used to not care much for rainy days either. I thought they were cold and depressing. Now I welcome the rain -for what it does for me, my land, my garden, and the earth itself. I went outside earlier and just stood, letting the light rain was over me, and felt completely content.

Crisis Update

I write this update just about every month for a newsletter I run, and I thought this month I'd post it here as well.

CRISIS UPDATE
Unless you’ve been living (or hiding –hey, I for one would understand! And if you’ve got any room, would you like a roommate?) under a rock for the past few months you might have noticed that the world has plunged into multiple crises. One each for energy, the food supply, the economy, and the environment. These are separate but intertwined crises which each have multiple effects on the others. I’m not going to call them the Four Crises of Doom as some less optimistic (yes, its possible) commentators have but I will note that they bear an odd resemblance to a certain set of horsemen Americans have tried to forget about over the past century or so. Jokes aside, this is serious stuff, and I’m going to attempt to give an update on each of these crises over the next few paragraphs so we can get a good idea where we stand.

Food –let’s start with the basics. Food is as basic as you get. There is nothing more vital than food. And it’s getting harder to come by. Prices are skyrocketing and supplies are running short. Earlier this year a report came out that said we’d need record crops this year to prevent famine. Guess what folks? That’s not going to happen. Not only is the U.S. hit hard by floods and all manner of whacked out weather but Australia lost 90% of its harvest to drought, and Africa is expected to lose virtually all –that’s right ALL –of its wheat harvest to the stem rust that has now also blown into Iran and Pakistan and is expected to debut in India and China soon, followed by the U.S. in a few more years. One report projected that if the U.S. can’t get some of the flooded fields replanted and some kind of harvest uptick we may run OUT of corn before the harvest in 2009. And we’ve added something like 70 million people to the planet in the past year. Not good. This is a recipe for disaster folks. A lot of people are going to die. Some selected food headlines:
Floods cause food prices to surge: He’s wrong about one thing. The corn growing season isn’t young; most places that are flooded absolutely have to replant by July 4th to have any hope of a harvest –and the fields have to be dry for at least 10 days before they can plant. Let’s do the math: we were on schedule to produce 11.7 billion bushels of corn this year (out of a needed 12.5 billion). Reduce that by 15% and you get roughly 9.95 billion bushels, for a total shortfall of 2.55 BILLION bushels of corn. Of course, that assumes the harvest is only down by 15%. Given the weather so far this year, that’s a bet I wouldn’t want to take. So, what’s going to give? Oh yeah, and Australia’s harvest is down too.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article4186944.ece
One Billion Hungry: It bears repeating: one billion hungry. And if they don’t get fed, eventually they’ll die. The death certificate may not read starvation; it rarely does and instead reads pneumonia or some other condition that wouldn’t be fatal if you weren’t starving, but lack of food will be the reason. One billion people. If this doesn’t get straightened out soon, I see a LOT of dead people.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article4064650.ece
Food Supply Must Double by 2030: Oh yeah, that’s going to happen. We’ll never hit the 9 billion population number; we can’t keep feeding what we’ve got now.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article4056801.ece
U.S. Has NO Grain reserves left: Or anything else for that matter.
http://standeyo.com/NEWS/08_Food_Water/080606.no.grain.reserves.html
Hunger in the U.S.: This last line is worth remembering: “It's not dignified, but we are hungry, and hunger is ugly."
http://www.counterpunch.org/colson06182008.html
With Hunger Comes Anger: And this is only the start. Governments are going to fall over this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/world/americas/18food.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
How far is the U.S. from food shortages and riots? A good article but now outdated: we had our first ‘food riot’ last week over free food vouchers in Minnesota.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/12/18492403.php

Energy –This is our second horsem –er, crisis. (I promise, I’ll stop.) Oil has peaked. That’s just the plain out truth, folks. Denial can only go on so much longer. We’re on the bumpy plateau where output is relatively steady while demand keeps climbing. Any day now we’ll tip down on the other side. Prices have gone up so far because demand has out run supply. Demand destruction has been taking place for a couple of years now; I’ve seen pictures of countries that have gone dark because their electricity was generated by oil and they stopped being able to afford the oil a while back. What’s going to happen when output starts noticeably shrinking and no matter how much we drill we can’t get it back up to what it was? Remember peak oil doesn’t mean that we’re out of oil –it means we’re at half a tank and the half that’s left is harder to get at, more expensive, and more ecologically destructive. Thus supply will keep going down and demand will be forced to match. Tar sands won’t save us; not only do they require almost as much energy to extract the oil as you get out of the oil, but they require massive inputs of water and natural gas. The former is hard to come by in the locations of the tar sands and the latter has peaked too. Uh-oh. Drilling off shore won’t save us; no 200,000 b/d field is going to replace mighty Cantarell, which is crashing so hard and fast Mexico might be out of oil to export next year. Not only that, but the U.S. alone uses 21 million barrels a day and the world, 84 million. Divide 200,000 into one of those figure and what do you get? Spare change.
Heating oil. Heating oil comes from oil. It’s about $4.50 a gallon right now. People may freeze to death in the northeast this winter because they can’t afford to heat their houses. Others may turn to electric space heaters which some project could bring down the entire northeast electrical grid. Why? Not only is it all ready at capacity, but its as antiquated as a Ford Model-T. (As are all the grid in the U.S. btw, which is one of the main problems with electric cars.) Hydrogen cars are a joke. Natural gas has peaked, and most of what’s left on the continent is in Canada –how long will they keep sending it to us when they need it to heat their own homes? Next we’ll be invading Canada.
Electricity. Most electricity in this country comes from coal, natural gas, nuclear, or oil. Aside from the problems with nuclear it requires massive amounts of water. They almost had to shut the nuke plants here in the southeast down last summer because the drought had lowered the water tables so much. But at least we have enough coal to last a lot longer –right? Right???? I hate to break it to you, but we don’t have nearly as much in the way of coal reserves as we’ve been led to believe. A report I read not too long ago suggest that coal may peak in as little as 30 years. That ‘peak’ word is going to become a four letter word soon, huh? That’s what happens when you base your society on non-renewable resources. Basically we’re…nah, I won’t say it. You get the idea. Some recent headlines on energy:
The U.S. at $200 a barrel oil: A good look at the impacts of oil at $200 a barrel. (Here’s a hint: it ain’t pretty. It’s also just about inevitable.)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil28-2008jun28,0,5808547,full.story
OIL: Problems, problems, and more problems Check this out: China imported 25% more oil in May, oil production fell last year, oil stockpiles dropped in the U.S. for the 4th week in a row. Can anyone spell higher prices?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aeEdT.gCehSQ&refer=home
$150 a barrel oil, happy 4th of July: Analysts are now saying oil will hit $150 a barrel by July 4th. Others are also predicting $200 a barrel by New Year’s. I see even more dead people.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080606.woilole0606/BNStory/Front
Coal in the U.S.: From Richard Heinberg. http://globalpublicmedia.com/museletter_194_coal_in_the_united_states

Credit and the Economy –ok, the globalized economy is going down the tubes. That’s the way it is and there won’t be any changing it. A lot of this is due to the rising price of oil. The projections I’ve seen suggest the airlines will be dead (at least for ordinary folks) within two years with oil this high, much less higher. Not only do we have the housing collapse, but we have the beginnings of what may be a greater depression than the ‘great’ depression. A lot of people are going to lose their jobs and/or their homes. Some manufacturing is starting to shift back to the U.S. because the shipping costs bite. Paradoxically, other jobs are starting to be off-shored precisely because they don’t have any shipping costs, and these are the jobs that have always been ‘safe’ before: engineering, accounting, management, etc. A lot of people are going to be in a race to see whose finances collapse first: theirs or the banks.

Climate –Climate change is rapidly becoming an out and out crisis. Sea level is rising at an inch a year, the weather’s gone completely crazy in many places, and temp’s are going up, up, up. This one is only going to get worse . Buckle up, folks. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. Projections range from a rainy day at the park to Armageddon; the reality will be somewhere in between but probably slightly closer to the latter. Some relevant headlines:
North Pole May Be Ice Free This Summer: So long to the polar bears (and thanks for all the fish).
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/weather/06/27/north.pole.melting/index.html
Oceans warming 50% faster than thought: This partly explains the higher than anticipated sea level rise. Of course, the rest is explained by the faster than anticipated glacial and ice cap melt.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/06/18/scisea118.xml

Rain

Rain.
It’s been raining here a lot yesterday and today. Not a harsh rain; a nice gentle soaking rain. We needed it so badly. The land seems to be singing today, as flowers open under the gentle caress of water droplets and butterflies frolic in the pauses between showers.

Rain is one of the differences between a natural society and an industrial society. A natural society welcomes rain, rejoices in it, because the people know that without the rain they –and the land –can not live. We depend on the rain for so much. Even when there is too much and a flood occurs, a natural society recognizes this as a natural process and one that must happen. Most natural societies simply don’t build in flood plains, or if they do, recognize that they will be flooded occasionally.

Industrial societies, on the other hand, view rain as a nuisance, something we can’t yet control, that hampers our preferred activities such as washing the car (hello, its rain) or fishing. All of nature is treated like that: as something outside of ourselves that should be tamed and controlled. We do not recognize that we are a part of the natural world and seek to dominate it, to bend it to our will. But one can not escape the natural world; even in space there are natural forces to be dealt with. And nature always has the last word. Somewhere Mark Twain is laughing at our arrogance in the Midwest right now, to think we can tame what can not be tamed. He got what so many in industrial societies never do understand: that we are part of the great circle, not outside of it.

This Beltane

Yesterday was Beltane, and also May Day. This is an old Celtic holiday dedicated to spring, to rebirth, to life. I myself am pagan, and Beltane is one of my favorite holidays. This is a day devoted to celebrating the flowering of all life. It is a sacred holiday to me, and one that holds a special place in my heart.

It is also an old day of honoring the earth, one that has been celebrated since well before Earth Day. And in that tradition, I offer something I first found in my calender and also online. Anyone else also want this job?

http://people.tribe.net/aprilflowers/blog/0146f9eb-0d1e-4597-b186-4c5f2e9e9c08

WANTED: Earth Healers

TO START: Immediately.
JOB DESCRIPTION: Care for the Earth.
Anyone need some work, or a life purpose? If so, look no further than your own backyard. There are billions of openings for hardworking folks in the field of permaculture, with demand for people to grow their own food, produce renewable energy, build sustainable communities and heal damaged ecosystems! Thanks to corporate plunder, our once abundant natural resources are in rapid decline. As fossil fuels diminish and global oil prices rise, much of the job market will become unstable. What's the unemployed truck driver, factory worker, industrial farmer, Enron executive and the rest of us to do?

Work for the Earth! This big blue ball we have been living on needs every hand She can get. There are permaculture jobs to suit everyone. You can design food systems, heal the soil, purify water, provide habitat for wildlife and produce tons of organic food on as little as a quarter of an acre. Jobs building energy-saving homes (with local materials like recycled lumber, cob and straw bale) are in high demand. These homes use passive solar energy, living roofs, grey water recycling and composting toilets. The ancient jobs of sustainable woodcutting, fishing, wild crafting, weaving, baking and natural healing are returning with vigor! Educators, bicycle mechanics, bio-fuel brewers, recyclers, community mediators, craftspeople, artists, herbalists, midwives, and creative people everywhere are needed now!

TO APPLY: Please look over your current lifestyle and answer the following questions. Where does your food come from? How are your energy needs met? Where does your water come from, and where does it go after it leaves your home? Does your lifestyle/job enhance air, water and soil quality? In an emergency situation, how would you meet your basic needs for transportation and resources? Share your answers about this new career path with your sister and brother Earth Healers!

SALARY: The Earth is willing to pay top wages for integrating with and enhancing Her life systems. Organic food, abundant energy, clean water, shelter, community based childcare, education and comprehensive natural healthcare are available to all successful applicants. The benefits increase the longer you work and will be passed on to future generations. So start NOW and build a better future for yourself and the Planet! Learn Permaculture today!

many thanks to Ginny Salkowski :)

Earth Day Sermon

I'm sorry there haven't been more posts this month. April is one of the two busiest months of the year for me, together with August. Between working four part-time jobs, finishing the semester, getting the garden in and being sick I haven't had a lot of time for blogging.

This year the social justice committee at my church did the Earth Day service. The sermon was split between two of us on the committee. My half is posted below. Let me know what people think. I had a lot of people tell me they liked it, and I know I made at least two people angry.

For our topic today we picked reverence for the web of life. When we speak of environmentalism, of preserving nature, this is what we are really speaking of. But what does this mean, exactly? My dictionary defines reverence as a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe, and also the outward manifestation of such a feeling. It is not enough to feel this respect; one must also show it in action. This is a crucial point.

From a Pagan and Native American point of view, we are nature and nature is us. Whatever we do to the web of life we also do to ourselves, because we are part of the web. In these traditions, to revere the web of life is only natural, because to do so is to revere ourselves. Likewise, to rip or rend or disrespect the web of life is to do the same to ourselves.

Somewhere along the way there has been a fundamental disconnect between modern people and the natural world. Collectively, and often individually, we have set ourselves apart from nature and forgotten that we are a part of the web. We have forgotten that everything we do has an impact, and that it will eventually impact us. This disconnect has led us to where we are today, in a world facing multiple ecological and environmental crises: climate change, rising sea levels, dying oceans, overpopulation, declining water tables, food shortages, and the list goes on and on. We live in a world that is seriously ill and getting worse. There is a garbage dump in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of the continental United States. Mothers in many parts of the world can no longer breast feed their babies because their milk has enough PCBs in it to be labeled toxic waste. Some of the ingredients in baby bottles may later render the adult infertile, or even cause cancer. Australia lost ninety percent of its harvest this year to a drought almost certainly induced by climate change. Sea level is rising at the rate of an inch a year. Even if this rate does not increase, by the time my generation retires New Orleans will be underwater. As will large portions of Florida and parts of the eastern seaboard. Every day now two hundred species go extinct. That’s two hundred species gone forever. Every single day.

I could go on, but that is enough to prove the point. This is what happens when we do not revere the web of life. This is what happens when we forget that we are in separately intertwined with the natural world, that what happens to it happens to us as well. But what does it mean to truly revere the web of life? And what can any one person truly do in the face of all this horror?
The natural reaction for many is to throw up their hands and say there is nothing I can do. Anything I do won’t make a difference. The problem is bigger than I am and will take laws and government. And lots and lots of money. Yet this is the wrong reaction. Yes, it will take some laws. But at its heart, as Michael Pollan pointed out recently, this is a crisis of lifestyle and of character. This crisis is the sum total of every one of our choices, and those choices made in our name. Everything we do, every choice we make, makes a difference –good, bad, or neutral. And when we throw up our hands and say nothing I do matters, I can’t make a difference, not only are we not helping to solve the problem, but we are also contributing to it.

So what does it mean to truly revere the web of life? First, we have to respect the natural world. We also must work to really understand that we are part of this web, and permanently intertwined with it. This is harder than it appears. For instance, many of us have no idea where our food comes from or what it takes to grow it. When I first started growing some of my own vegetables I thought I knew what it took to grow food. And intellectually I did. But I had no real idea that it takes a month to grow a radish! This little thing that is gone in two seconds takes a month to grow. You plant the seeds, you water, you weed, and you wait. A month later you pull it and in one bit its gone. That’s the kind of understanding I’m talking about.

What happens to the web of life will happen to us, and to our children. We have to make choices that will not do any more harm and will help to repair the harm that has all ready been done. We have to rethink our lifestyles, to make the changes that will allow us to stop contributing to this problem. Recycling and changing our lightbulbs is not enough. We also have to reduce the amount we consume, and change the sources of the things we use in our daily lives. These changes, these choices, while they may not be the most convenient or the most comfortable for each of us, are also the only way not to shift the price for our comfort and convenience onto our children and grandchildren. For it is they who will pay the highest price for how we treat the earth. As the ancient Native American proverb says, the earth does not belong to us; we merely borrow it from our children. And only when we have learned to walk more lightly on the earth will we truly come to revere the web of life. And ourselves.

Manufactured Landscapes

I watched a fascinating documentary called Manufactured Landscapes the other night. in this film, the filmmaker documents various manmade landscaped ranging from factories to mines. The opening sequence is an eight minute long walk through a Chinese factory, in which you never get to either end. While this is going on, the voiceover describes the purpose of the movie, which is to show how humanity has altered the landscape and created industrial landscapes, and to do this without judging or making any claims as to the good or ill of these developments.

The claim is patently ludicrous for anyone who cares about the planet. Ten minutes into this hour and an half long movie, I was ready to vomit. The scale of the destruction and harm shown just in this factory was unbelievable. Over the course of the movie, the filmmaker takes you to many other places: a shipbuilding yard in China and shipbreaking beach in Bangladesh, an open pit mine and an oil field. The places are incredible and unbelievable. They are horrifying and sickening, yet hold your interest all the same: just like watching a wreck occur. You might want to turn away, but somehow you just can’t.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone concerned about the status and the future of our planet. But be warned: it is not easy to watch.

It is available on Netflix.