Caught the morning just right today, just as dark was giving way to light. When the birds were letting loose their song. I walked down the street and saw a beautiful orange-chested bird standing on a wall and I stopped to look at him. I wondered what his life must be, to take care of his children, to fend off predators, where he finds water and food in this big city of Atlanta. He looked at me with similar curiosity, tilting his head back and forth. Above him I saw a squirrel run down the length of a branch and chomp on some leaves. This is that glorious time of day when nature has its moment. Before my walk is over, the sounds of songbirds, the gentle, loving music of dawn give way to the harsh, brutal noise of man. Lawn mowers, planes, cars, power saws and that most brutal and senseless noise of all - the leaf blower. How these things have taken over, I’m not sure. A man walks around with an engine strapped to his back that powers a rush of air blowing leaves, grass, dirt etc. out of one yard and onto the street which ends up in the neighbor’s yard and will tomorrow be blown into another neighbor’s yard by another man. The roar is deafening, the stench equal to the sound. It’s as if the world is under attack. And of course, it is. What happens in every city in almost every part of the world is a very real attack by man on nature.
This very day, hundreds of thousands of trees, animals and fish will perish at the hands of men who are simply doing their job. It takes 65,000 trees just to make the Sunday New York Times each week. Factories will belch their poison into the sky. 7,000 tons of pesticides will be sprayed on our crops , floating through our air and seeping into our water table (2.5 million tons of 600 different pesticides per annum). Beaches will be polluted; man will poison rivers and streams in his never ending pursuit of gold and precious stones. Tops will be blown off mountains to access coal ... and all of it just part of an honest day’s work. Mountain top removal is perhaps the second most egregious of all man’s present activities. For centuries to come, the toxic effects of mountaintop removal’s heavy metal runoff will continue to poison every living thing around and downstream from what’s left of these once beautiful mountains. As the coal industry touts the economics of what they innocuously call “mountaintop mining,” they are sending underground miners home at unprecedented rates and hiring heavy equipment operators. When economics dictate whether a mountain is blown away or traditionally mined, it begs the question, “How do you put a value on America’s majestic mountains?”
I am as jazzed about Obama as anyone. It's nice to have one of our own in the White House. Hawaiian, I mean. Meeting Obama and MIchelle, I felt an integrity about him, a heart beating inside. Rare qualities for a president. Obama represents hope... hope for change and hope for a new way of doing things by a government that has been held firmly in the grasp of corporations and industry. I am, like everyone, inspired by the potential for a new America and particularly a new American government. Bush did a great job... for his buddies. He did little to disguise his close attachment to industry, particularly the two biggest industries, OIL and WAR. When you put the two together, you have the phrase “OIL WAR”, man's MOST egregious activity. Ironic that both of the worst things man is presently doing are particularly American activities.In spite of the enormous profit made by the Oil industries, they pale next to the War industry. I’m not sure Bush minds being so thoroughly despised by the people of this country and the world. He and his cronies made so much money and surely he believes, like all the other world leaders and their captains of industries, that money will buy happiness. Though Obama is eventually pulling troops from Iraq, he is doubling his efforts in Afghanistan, raising the troop level to 400,000 and estimates are that the present $2 billion a month spent on the war in Afghanistan will rise 60 percent. The war in Afghanistan has cost us around $140 billion so far. And that's our cheap war! Sadly, there is no end to war in site. He is continuing the bail out of the many corrupt institutions that helped bring about our present economic situation.
Obama's EPA recently caved to the coal industry pressure and approved 42 of 48 new MTR permits. Hundreds of billions of our tax dollars continue in the same direction they have the last eight years, away from us and toward the super rich. Government has always been a conduit, delivering our tax dollars into the gaping maw of Corporate America. I’d like to see that change under Obama, but let’s face it, in the words of Mutabaruka, “The system, the system, the system is a fraud!” And the system is so deeply corrupt, I wonder what one man can do. Carter was great but his downfall came after the Oil industry pretended they were running out of their precious crude, gauged the shit out of consumers (I recall lines running around the block at gas stations) and then brought their prices back down and blamed OPEC. Carter levied a windfall profits tax against them and his days were numbered. In my mind the greatest president we've had was Kennedy. Though he started with a hawkish agenda and an aim to bolster the military he became a Peaceful Warrior who averted war with Laos and Cuba, initiated a nuclear test ban with Kruschev with a goal of fullscale arms reduction and was determined to end the war in Vietnam. He operated from his heart against all his military advisors who not only thought attacking Cuba was a necessity but argued in favor of a first (nuclear) strike against Russia. Kennedy's heart was his undoing... a man of peace in a nest of vipers, a dove among hawks. But wouldn't it be amazing if Obama ended up being not only the first black president but also the greatest president in our moment of greatest need?
My suggestion is that we don’t wait for politicians and industries to change the way things are. There was a study done to determine the best way to implement change. It was discovered that people are most influenced to change by the example of others. Each of us has the ability to effect change and each of us influences our circle of friends. I have always believed that personal transformation equals planetary transformation. It's great to see the level of ecological awareness at long last sweeping through our culture. Finally it's hip to be green thanks to folks like Bobby Kennedy Jr., Willie Nelson, Al Gore, Ed Norton, Richard Branson, Julia Butterfly and Leo DiCaprio. But a deep and fundamental change will have to take place in our society and it may be radical but it's only getting back to the natural. Simple choices can make a real difference. I try to eat responsibly. Eating organic is number one but as Einstein once said, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet”. Paul McCartney and his daughter Stella are well aware of this and encouraging meat eaters to forego meat one day a week. Meat Free Mondays may sound simple but it is genuinely radical. The impact meat production has on our environment and water supply is mind bending. By choosing to buy, support and wear bamboo, organic cotton (commercial cotton accounts for nearly 50% of all pesticides use) and hemp fabrics, I also take responsibility for the long-range effect of my clothing choices.
Eventually, paper will not come from trees, fuel won’t come from fossilized carbon, our food and clothing will be from organic sources, houses will be built from sustainable materials, our cleansers, soaps and detergents won’t be toxic but will be natural and all of it will come from farmers. “Back to the Natch” may be my term, but it’s an old concept. When we get back to the natural, back to nature in our thoughts, in everything from our food, clothing and cleansers to the way we fuel our homes and cars, that effort will create a ripple that affects our friends and their friends and eventually strike a chord that brightens this all too bleak world.
I want VoiceYourself to help you in any way we can. If your story is worth telling, tell it here. Let your story inspire others outside your circle of friends. If you are having trouble transitioning from some name brand, chemical laden product, maybe we can help you find an alternative and we can learn something in the process. Approximately 4.4 billion pesticide applications are made each year to American homes, gardens, and yards. There are alternatives. We want to help connect you to organic, green products, to articles and information you might not know about, to people in your area who are thinking the way you do. All of us joining together in pursuit of a better world for us and for our children will be a part of a change that can and must occur. If you have any ideas or know of people making clean, organic products like make up, perfume, cleansers, etc., please share them with VoiceYourself and we’ll do the same.
Thank you for taking the time to care. Caring and sharing are what we need most right now from people, politicians and even captains of industry. Change is coming, let’s get in front of it.
