The Earth is Speaking…

I think of myself as a native American. I was born here. Though I am not a natural born American Indian, nor did I endure the taking of their people’s lands and what has since followed…

But I was born on this land. I am from this land and of this land. I love this land and all the animals: the coyotes, foxes, wolves, deer, rabbits, birds: the hawks, owls… and the big trees: the Oak, Elm, Ash, Pine… and the tall grasses, the swamps, the streams, the lakes and rivers and the oceans, the mountains and the North Wind…

Perhaps those of us having been lucky enough to feel close to the Earth have borne witness to her changing. I think we all understand that the Earth’s habitable surface is in distress. All our animal brothers are in trouble, as is our species. I think at some level, everyone senses this…     There is a lot we may yet accomplish on our children’s behalf…

 Ideas for getting the Lease Renewed:

“In order to attempt the preservation of a habitable Earth environment, we must change elements of what we do. Changing what we do is Economics.₁”

So much of what we do is governed by the economic environment we are immersed in. It is very much, “the world that is pulled down over our eyes”₂.  – Yet, I’ve heard many people talk about The Economy as though it were something real and concrete, and somehow completely understandable to some yet unknown panel of incredibly well rounded and amazing experts…

I believe that a modern economy is largely an illusion we’ve bought into. – And I also believe a much better illusion is possible...

If life in America is a game, then we have been playing Monopoly for a long time. And the puppeteers have won. – If you happen to be among them, then you have won. The game, however, is still going on, though nearly all the outcomes have already been decided. And just like in the board game, as the end approaches, the players who have no major holdings continue to roll the dice, hoping only to stave off their inevitable bankruptcy as long as possible…

Today, around Oct 1st 2010, in the United States about one person per minute is driven out of the game through a foreclosure, the loss of a job, or a bankruptcy. And ultimately, we all will pay for this, with our ability to make rational decisions diminishing as confusion, fear and chaos rise. The working class has become Soilent Green for the very wealthy, and we are fast disappearing as the game draws towards its uncertain and unplanned conclusion.

What I hope for, and am working towards, is an audience with some of the truly wealthy movers and shakers. I am just delusional enough to believe I could convince anyone, in about 45 minutes, that this New Game is not only far more viable than our current economic model, but would also be much better for the exceptionally wealthy, for an indefinite period of time.

Here’s the simplified idea: The winners of the last game are offered special tax-deferred government bonds that could establish the “bank” for the next game. If the new game is successful at all, - if it simply survives, these investors are rich forever.

Thanks in large measure to some of the winners of the old game; we have incredibly advanced and far-reaching technological capabilities, as well as many other infrastructural resources and brilliant ideas. Were we to simply merge the best and most important elements of what has been achieved with the best flexible, regenerative-economic principles we can conceive, I believe we could stop much of the bleeding and begin to regenerate many critical ecological structures.

We all know that we cannot change overnight, nor can we do it without a well thought out procedure. The procedure that we might agree upon might not be unlike the shutting down and rebooting of a computer. – All the essential structural elements of the military, police, food supply, health care and communications would, obviously, remain intact during any rebooting process. And before any rebooting could actually take place, all the players (citizens) would require time to contemplate their role(s) in The New Game.

Unlike the old game, the Aim of the new one cannot be driving the other players out of existence. The goal of The New Game would, logically, be a sustainable Earth habitat for humans and all connected species₃

Onward Ho…

Structurally and logistically we can build a successful economy based on conservation and mitigation. There is more than enough work to do, and enough out-of work professionals to help us build what needs to be built, rebuild what needs rebuilding, and dismantle what needs to be re-invented or replaced. And even though this should significantly reduce our demand and our load on the resource systems, we may still need more oil-rig workers and coal-site workers than we already have to properly extract where we’ve already bored and drilled, and perpetually maintain the environmental integrity around all of the pipes that run into and out of all these holes we’ve dug. – And that is only a small piece of the iceberg of jobs that are in a conservation-based economy.₅

The economic models that I, and countless others, have been working on for a conservation / mitigation-based economy can employ many more people and, by all rational estimations, be far more efficient, effective and inspirational for the entire nation, and the world. And This New Game is really not much different from the old one; primarily just a shift in investment priorities, along with a few common sense corrections₆.

And The Game would not be declared over till we had achieved its objective; that of a Sustainable Planetary Society. – Or if you prefer, a long-term lease for Apartment Earth...

Well that's about enough for now. There are footnotes in this transcript, that don't appear in the audio, which may clarify a thing or two. And after some of the dust has settled from our bizarre mid-term elections, I will post further notions regarding politics, economics and the environment in the Rants & Reasons section of EnviroMonster.com

I don't think I can stop until someone like me gets an audience with some of the true movers and shakers of this world. I believe a rational coalition of top-down and bottom-up progressive thinkers is absolutely critical to our hopes for the future. If we Can put our heads together, then possibilities can become realities.

All of us together, Under the Same Sun.

 Peace

Footnotes:

1. SustainableUSA.planetjordan.com 2006

2. from The Matrix 1999

3. {Aside: - If that notion seems implausible to some, then I would suggest those people may still firmly believe that our current economic practices are somehow immutable, like concrete. It follows that they may also believe humans are incapable of solving real problems. In the world of our perception there may only be two kinds of problems: Real Problems and Fascist Problems₄.}

4. (This notion introduced to me by a post-doctoral physicist) A Real Problem is, perhaps, one that truly threatens a person’s or a species’ life or health, or on a less imperative issue, one that can and need be addressed using pure logic. A Fascist Problem is generated from the human pursuit of power. Political Power and the power associated with monetary wealth are to varying degrees quantifiable, and therefore, tangible in the world of men; however, they are ultimately based on the illusions that have been accepted by society at large, and may therefore be illusions themselves… I claim that much of our desire for power is driven by fundamental insecurities; which may have been important to the survival of our species during its infancy, but are now among the primary contributors to the destruction of our own habitat. Certainly not all, but many of the illusions we have accepted have already proved to be extremely counter-productive. Just consider what the illusions of power have done to the minds, hearts and souls of our politicians, lawyers and other power brokers ..  “Ah Crap”₇ ..

 5. For more examples of potential, sustainable jobs see: Alien Papers 4B

6. For some examples of common sense ideas see: Alien Papers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

7. Krusty the Clown

PS. I should mention that I don’t have anywhere near all the answers. My talent is in staying close to the heart of a project, and helping groups of people towards cooperative, effective problem solving for real problems.  Also; my use of the word “puppeteers” is not meant to be offensive or derogatory. I feel it is a useful analogy.

Let’s Rock..

Jordan Macarus 10-10

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