Peggy's Musings

One Planet, One People

I recently wrote about ‘the power of mother nature,’ focusing on the many natural disasters that wreak havoc on our live - like landslides, tornados, tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. In most instances, these kinds of incidents primarly affect those in the immediate vicinity – while motivating all of us to do whatever we can to help.

However, the most recent volcanic eruptions in Iceland have had a direct affect on many people over a large area of the planet in a more dramatic way than we’ve seen up until now. This experience created upheaval in people’s lives – and not just among those who were unable to fly to their intended destinations. It also had a financial impact - not only for the airlines, but for businesses who depend on air travel to receive goods essential to their operation.

Despite all the negative fallout from this experience, it does provide a ‘lesson’ that we need to keep in mind for the future. It offers a clear picture of how events in any particular location on the globe have the possibility for setting off a chain of reactions that affect people far beyond the initial site. In this case, there were about 15 other countries directly affected by the ash that grounded planes. And almost every country around the world was impacted by the disruption of the transport of people and goods.

We also need to recognize that this was not just an aberration that has little chance of happening again. In fact, it appears that it may happen again quite soon – and could be even more serious. That’s because an event like this usually contributes to triggering another event. In this case, each of the 3 previous times this volcano (Eyjafjallajokull) has erupted, it has triggered an eruption of the Katla, a much larger volcano nearby. More evidence for the possible eruption of Katla is that it’s ‘overdue’ in that it erupts about every 80 years, and the last time was 1918 (92 years ago).

If Katla erupts, it’s likely to be as much as 10 times stronger than what we’ve just experienced with the smaller volcano. This, of course, would pose a much greater threat to the surrounding areas – and probably extend far beyond the countries previously affected.

For those who are interested in the history of the impact of such unpredictable natural forces, here’s an example of one of the most serious natural disasters on record. Below is an excerpt from “The Living Universe” by Duane Elgin:

“Our lineage almost died out about 70,000 years ago, when a period of abrupt climate change produced extreme hardship for our species. A massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia appears to have been the precipitating event. … This mega-colossal eruption – the largest in the past 2 million years – produced 3,000 times more ash and smoke than the 1980 eruption of the Mount St. Helens volcano. The resulting haze blocked the Sun, cooled the atmosphere, and triggered a severe ice age that lasted a thousand years or more and may have produced the bottleneck in human evolution. Geneticists now estimate that between 1,000 and 10,000 humans in southern Africa survived this catastrophe. A few thousand humans who survived (perhaps from a single village or locale) provided the gene pool from which the entirety of modern humanity derives. These ancestors went their separate ways out of Africa to populate the planet. Now, 70,000 years later, their descendants are encountering one another once again.”

(end of excerpt)

With our history as a species, we would be well-advised to recognize that we are all part of one world with one common destiny. While countries may have major differences in cultures, beliefs, governments, and lifestyles, we ALL share a common relationship to the planet. So it’s time to recognize our interdependence and to join forces in cooperating to deal with issues that ultimately affect us all.

While we have no power to prevent or change the course of nature, we do have the ability (and the responsibility) to think differently about our ‘separateness’ from other countries and their people – and to act more in accord with what is required for everyone to continue to enjoy the benefits of living together on this planet.

P.S. "Earth Day," the annual celebration on April 22, is one of the many efforts to build awareness and involvement in the reality of 'one planet, one people.'

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NOTE: If you enjoy these blog posts, please check out the list of 107 similar 'musings' (and read 8 of them) included in my book Musings on Life.

What’s Wrong with this Picture?

I’ve been aware of the increasing gun violence in the U.S. for a long time, but it has a greater impact when it strikes close to home. Last week a young boy brought a gun to the middle school that one of my granddaughters attends. Up to seven other boys ‘handled’ the gun during the day before it was discovered.

This happened in a supposedly ‘nice’ neighborhood, with supposedly ‘good’ schools, illustrating how it can happen anywhere. And while there were no deaths from this incident, it led me to check more closely on some of the statistics I had read in the past about the level of gun violence in this country.

According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC):
In 2006, the number of U.S. firearm homicides was 12,791.

While I’m not interested in a debate over the political issue of ‘gun control,’ we do need to recognize the inordinately high rate of deaths from the violent culture that exists here in the U.S. To put it in perspective, we only need to compare it with the rate of deaths from the wars we are currently involved in.

We understandably and legitimately focus a lot of attention on the number of U.S. military fatalities in fighting the ‘war on terror’ in Iraq and Afghanistan. As of April 12, 2010, the total U.S. fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan combined were 5,396.

However, we have another ‘war’ going on right here at home. And it’s even more dramatic when you compare the deaths from gun violence at home with the deaths from the two wars:
--Deaths from U.S. firearm homicides (for just ONE year, 2006) were 12,471.
--Deaths of U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan 'combined' (for ONE year, 2006) were 920 (www.icasualties.org)
--Deaths of U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan combined during ALL the years of both wars were 5,396.

So the casualties at home for ONE YEAR were:
--almost 14 times higher than the war casualties for the one year, 2006.
--more than twice the number killed during ALL our years in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It simply doesn’t make sense to allow a culture here at home where so many more people die than die in the wars we fight abroad.

The rate of firearm homicides in the U.S. is even more disturbing when you consider it in relation to other countries. Our 12,791 firearm homicides are far greater than other countries. They are:
--6 times that of Canada
--13 times that of Germany
--15 times that of Austria
--26 times that of Australia and Spain
--31 times that of England and Wales

Lest you think this high rate of gun violence in the U.S. is recent, the 2006 rates were only slightly less a decade earlier.
In 1996, the number of firearm homicides in the U.S. was 9,390.
Here’s how this compared with other countries:
--2 in New Zealand
--15 in Japan
--30 in England and Wales
--106 in Canada,
--213 in Germany

We U.S. citizens are justifiably proud of our country’s promise of ‘life, libery and the pursuit of happiness’ – as well as our many achievements through the years. We lead many of the world’s lists of ‘best’ in various categories. But we do NOT want to continue to lead this list of gun violence rates around the world.

The number of deaths from gun violence in the U.S. is not a ‘new’ problem. Cumulatively, we’ve had many years of senseless deaths. In fact, since 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated, over a million people have been killed with guns in the United States.

All these statistics are so overwhelming that it seems beyond our ability to do anything about the issue. But it’s important that we recognize that what it takes to address it is can not be limited to looking to the government or laws. We need a major shift in the ‘common character’ of our people – ALL of us. Each of us needs to do our part in working toward a ‘kinder, gentler’ way of dealing with our fellow citizens.

This kind of major cultural change can’t be accomplished easily or quickly, but the facts presented above can help motivate us to recognize that there’s something terribly wrong with this picture – and to work toward diminishing our violent culture here in the U.S.

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NOTE: If you enjoy these blog posts, please check out the list of 107 similar 'musings' (and read 8 of them) included in my book Musings on Life.

The Power of Mother Nature

Mother Nature can be very powerful – and unpredictable. We’ve seen a lot of evidence of this during the past few years all over the world. We recently had unprecedented flooding in the Northern and Eastern parts of the U.S. and hurricanes along the East Coast and the South, notably Katrina. We’ve alse seen the incredible devastation from other natural disasters around the world: tsunamis, landslides, tornados, volcano eruptions and earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Indonesia and elsewhere.

Where I live here in Southern California, we’re aware of the potential for earthquakes at any time. However, the only significant one we’d felt in our 25 years of living here was during our very first year. (I don’t recall what it measured, but it was strong enough to move our heavy hot water heater a couple of inches.)

Then on Sunday afternoon, April 4, 2010, we felt an earthquake that was almost as strong as the one from that earlier time. It turns out that it measured 7.2 and was in Baja, California (near Mexicalli, Mexico), a little over 100 miles from our location. There were several more aftershocks during the next couple of hours, and a smaller one during the night.

Every time something like this happens, it’s a reminder that we need to be prepared for possible emergencies. So I went to the folder I keep with a list of ‘emergency supplies’ that should be kept on hand – and realized I was not really prepared at all. So I’m using this as a wake-up call to appreciate that it’s simply smart to be prepared – just in case. Just as we have auto insurance or health insurance (while hoping we never need to use them), we also need to be prepared for any unforeseen natural disaster.

So I hope you will join me in focusing on the need to acquire the “Supplies for a Basic Emergency Supply Kit” as recommended by the Department of Homeland Security. These include:

Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
Battery-powered or hand crank radio and exta batteries
NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries
Flashlight and extra batteries
First Aid Kit
Whistle to signal for help
Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and
Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
Local maps
Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger

For more on what it takes to be fully prepared, see: Ready America.

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NOTE: If you enjoy these blog posts, please check out the list of 107 similar 'musings' (and read 8 of them) included in my book Musings on Life.

Plastics!

For those who have seen the 1967 movie, “The Graduate” with Dustin Hoffman, you’ll recall that one of the most memorable scenes (other than the seduction by Mrs. Robinson) was when Benjamin (Hoffman’s character) was involved in the following exchange with his father’s friend regarding his future now that he had graduated from college.

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: PLASTICS
Benjamin: Just how do you mean that, sir?

Well, the way Mr. McGuire meant that word was that a career in ‘plastics’ was the future. It turns out that this statement was prophetic – because during the 40+ years since that movie, plastics have indeed become hugely successful. So successful in fact, that it has become the answer to another (very different) question: “What is one of the primary contributors to the pollution of our planet?”

If you think this is an extreme statement, consider the following about our consumption of products involving plastic.

2 million plastic bottles are consumed every 5 minutes.
(200 billion plastic bottles are consumed in one year.)

1.14 million grocery paper bags are consumed every hour.

2.3 million pounds of plastic enters the world’s oceans every hour.

Frankly, these numbers are hard to comprehend because we can’t quite imagine what that would look like. But I now have a much better sense of it – because I just watched 2 short videos that visually translate these numbers into pictures. Photographer Chris Jordan put together visual illustrations for these and many other numbers that demonstrate the degree of damage created by our consumerism.

I strongly encourage you to watch them these videos. One video is 10 minutes and the other is 8 minutes for a total of 18 minutes. And they are absolutely fascinating. See: Making the Invisible Tangible.

One of the most fascinating pieces is in the second video about the destruction caused by “the Great Pacific Garbage Patch” in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It covers an area of the ocean about twice the size of Texas, but can’t be seen as a ship moves through it because it’s 60 feet under water.

However, it’s having a huge effect on the whole eco-system – beginning with the deadly impact of Albatross babies born on Midway Island (which is right in the middle of this garbage patch). The parents fly out in search of food for the babies, filling their pouch and returning to feed the babies what they find, which is Plastic - that kills them. The real-life photos of these dead birds which have been cut open to expose stomachs full of all kinds of plastic trash is a real wake-up call.

In fact, it’s visual evidence of our need to focus on the impact of our runaway consumerism – and how we dispose of it, especially our plastics. The videos challenge us by pointing out that “We’re lost as a culture.” But they also encourage us to take responsibility for doing our part to change the culture.

Personally, watching them led me to commit to a different level of use and disposal of plastics. For instance, I buy bottled water, but have felt good about the fact that I re-use the bottles several times before throwing them away. However, I have now gotten some reusable bottles that are ‘safe’ and (despite the fact that they’re larger than I prefer to use), I will use them more often instead of the small ‘unsafe’ plastic bottles I had been using.

And whenever I do use a small plastic bottle, I’ll make sure I recycle it. This is something I had always done prior to moving to our current location, but here there’s no convenient recycling bin and I had slipped into the bad habit of throwing them away after several uses. However, there’s a public park with recycling bins only a couple of blocks away where I go walking almost every day. So I’m committing to taking all my plastic garbage there for recycling.

There’s a growing number of possible sites that make it easier to recycle plastics. For instance, my local grocery store has a bin for depositing the plastic bags you took home from a previous shopping trip. But the plastic bag issue is one I confronted (and wrote about) some time ago – when I switched from using plastic bags to taking my own canvas bags when I go grocery shopping.

I encourage each of you to think of ways you can make a small contribution toward addressing this very large problem. There are so many problems in the world that it’s sometimes overwhelming to try to do the ‘right thing’ about each one - especially if we think our small gesture won’t make any difference. But if enough people take small steps in their daily lives to reverse some of the bad habits related to our consumerism, it can make all the difference in the world.

For more inspiration, I recommend a wonderful book titled:
“State of the World 2010: Transforming Cultures: From Consumerism to Sustainability.” It’s by The Worldwatch Institute (Author), Erik Assadourian (Author, Muhammad Yunus (Foreword) and can be ordered from Amazon.com.

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NOTE: If you enjoy these blog posts, please check out the list of 107 similar 'musings' (and read 8 of them) included in my book Musings on Life.

The Message of “Avatar”

Although I get most of my information from reading serious writings, I also frequently gain insights and perspective from movies and other media. I recently had this kind of experience in watching the movie “Avatar.”

Frankly, I had not intended to see the movie. I had read a lot about the technical wizardry, but wasn’t drawn to it – UNTIL I learned about the underlying message of the movie. My initial reaction to hearing about the movie and then changing my opinion when I heard word-of-mouth reports is similar to what happened with many women.

When the movie first opened, the audience was made up mostly of men who were attracted by the technical aspects and their familiarity with avatars in compter games. But since the plot became better known, the audience has been about evenly divided between men and women.

I don’t want to ‘give away’ the entire story, but for those of you who saw the movie, “Dances with Wolves” some years ago, the theme is somewhat similar. People from the ‘outside’ try to take over the land of the natives by force, but one man sees the beautiful qualities of the natives and switches sides.

In “Avatar,” the ‘natives’ are on another planet called Pandora, and the military from Earth tries to take their land by force. One of the marines, the central character in the film, comes to see the beautfil qualities of the natives and their connection with nature - and also switches sides.

One of the most inspiring parts of this movie is the strong point it makes about the avatars’ connection with nature (all plants and animals) - similar to the way American Indians valued nature in “Dance with Wolves.” But in “Avatar” the connection is even stronger because it is not restricted to a real-world place, but exists on another planet, albeit a fantasy land.

I have long been fascinated by the idea of our connection to all living things. In a previous blog that is currently part of my book, “Musings on Life,” I wrote about my favorite film of all time (that was not released in theaters) called “Where All Things Belong.”

Below is an excerpt from that writing which reinforces the idea that all things are connected.

“[The film] featured many of the ways of thinking of Native Americans who maintained a much closer connection to the earth, to nature, and to the world in general. The film provided many illustrations of the cycles of nature, including the ‘cycle of life’ by closing with a dramatic scene of a baby being born.

“When considering that humans differ from chimpanzees and bonobos by only one per cent of DNA (so close we could accept a blood transfusion or a kidney), we should be able to appreciate that humans are 100% linked biologically, in essence being ‘the same.’ But we continue to act as if anyone unlike us in any way (ethnic, religious, etc.) is somehow ‘different.’ But our differences are primarily due to our different perceptions based on filtering our view of the world through our own personal experiences.”

Our interconnectedness with each other and with all of nature seems to be a lesson we need to learn – and relearn – if we are to survive and thrive as a species. And the message of “Avatar” is just one more reminder that we’re all in this together.

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NOTE: If you enjoy these blog posts, please check out the list of 107 similar 'musings' (and read 8 of them) included in my book Musings on Life.