Discuss: To Remake the World

Hawken’s article reminds me of the last paragraph of Rachel Carson’s acknowledgments in Silent Spring. “Finally, I must acknowledge our vast indebtedness to a host of people, many of them unknown to me personally, who have nevertherless made the writing of this book seem worthwhile. These are the people who first spoke out against the reckless and irresponsible poisoning of th world that man shares with all other creatures, and who are even now fighting the thousand of small battles that in the end will bring victory for sanity and common sense in our accommodation to the world that surrounds us.” And I think of how her understanding of human rights and ecology is a legacy that still inspires…  For example, in an interview on the radio program, Living on Earth, Pete Seeger said, “It was Rachel Carson’s famous book “Silent Spring. I read it in The New Yorker, in installments. Up to then I’d thought the main job to do is help the meek inherit the Earth. And I still think that’s a job that’s got to be done. But I realized if we didn’t do something soon, what the meek would inherit would be a pretty poisonous place to live. And so I made almost 180-degree turn, started reading books like “The Population Bomb” by Paul Erlich, or “The Poverty of Power” by Barry Commoner. I’m a readaholic. ...“I tell people, work in your local community. The world’s going to be saved by people who fight for their homes. Now, there may be glamorous places to go to, far across the oceans on, but really the world’s going to be saved by people who fight for their homes.”

I just read Hawken’s article after first reading Curtis White’s. White’s article was depressing beyond measure, because I kept thinking that this broad swipe at what’s wrong with the world does nothing to inspire or engage me. It all seems too big, and I know so many people are working to make the world a better place already. Then comes Paul Hawken, reminding me of what I already know: that there are people, millions of people, who already embrace the change that White demands, and the world Hawken describes already has this infinite mesh of people working for change in their communities, countries, and workplaces. That the mesh has no particular leader, no pinpoint center aside from spirit, and that the point is goodness, justice, and harmony between peoples and the natural world. Hawken’s viewpoint is both true and inspiring. White’s is dismal and defeating, causing me as a reader to think, “What’s the point, anyway? We’re doomed.”  I loved the contrast because had I not read Hawken’s piece I would not have thought much about it, but just taken my dose of enviro guilt on with me as I return to my day—which lead me neither to a cubicle nor to a social activist job saving the planet. We need more people like Hawken, awakening us to what is, to what is happening, what can happen, and reminding us that faith and hope is not just possible, but makes sense. It’s like being hit over the head with a billy club of truth, and I do like that. Because the point isn’t necessarily whether we—or all the people thus engaged in helping the planet and the humans on it—win or lose. It’s how we play the game. Today and tomorrow. And if we learn to play it well, there will be many good tomorrows.

I think we need both “pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will” to use Gramsci’s phrase.  Certainly, Hawken has plenty of optimism, which is needed if one is to carry on in the face of realistically dismal prospects for a better future than today.  He also needs to address the issue of connecting these thousands of groups & individuals, for ultimately we must come to institutional forms that don’t depend on isolated acts of courage & foresight.  Perhaps starting at the local level—saving one’s own home in Pete Seeger’s words—will lead us to more global cooperation, but I’m not yet convinced.

I appreciate Hawken’s words and work to build bridges between all of these great groups. Orion has also been working to connect and inspire the grassroots, and its Orion Grassroots Network supports over 1,000 such groups around North America with practical services and more. It’s an inpiring coalition. Come have a look all the members in 49 states, Canada and Mexico: http://www.orionsociety.org/ogn

Marshman and the Princess

                               
Long ago
Upon a time circled back to now
Walked upon these shores
The Marshman.
By long-tended grasses and barreling waves
He saged spartina, sea lavender, and all.
Dwelling upland in the forest forgotten by most,
The Marshman loved his children by night,
And cared for his marshes by day.
Young and ancient, no one knew.
Songs nescient he sang a few.

Upon salt hay where the ocean and land tarry,
The Princess came to see
The sea and earth make love.
With sweet toes entangled in peat,
She danced a beauty walk,
And listened to the reeds talk
About the Marshman.
As heir to the Rulers
She carried the concerns of all her subjects.
Her heart was big and her friends, lovers, and children many…
But she felt alone.
The Marshman heard her cry without a voice,
And knew of private feelings,
And as time and tides did flow,
In him a longing love for her grew.
The Princess saw him from afar;
As redwings called,
And osprey kreed,
And fiddler crabs danced,
And grasses grew,
Attracted to him she was
Beyond that which she knew.

But a Princess is a Princess,
And a Marshman only a Marshman.
Never did flower their distant bond as lovers.
She souled for all societies.
He souled for all living things.
Yet still,
As the late afternoon sun
Emblazes the fields of spartina,
And the winds carry his song devoted,
The streams fill up the marsh with his tears
Their longing love untouched.

And that is why the ocean’s level rises
Year after year
After year.
And the oceans rose.

Blankets of wild wet covered
Years of sorrow,
Fears of tomorrow,
Until they rose no more.

The Princess had been doing her life’s work,
Bringing heart into the battle,
Singing truth as the swords rattle,
Ordering the chaos with her tender touch.

She grew but a little younger,
By listening to her longing’s hunger,
While dancing under the woods wonder,
Both emptying and filling her cup.

And the Marshman dried up his sad tears,
Pushing down upon darkness, roots did appear,
Branching visions to the Light as a seer,
In the woods joined he and took stand.

And as Time puts everything back on its shelf
The Princess walked the forest as elf,
And warmed by the Love deep within her self,
She sat in wonderment, leaning against his furled bark.

And around these two Heaven and Earth were in spin,
There was nothing to lose, there was nothing to win,
Only the Kindness that washes away all the sin,
In the wonderment naturally born.

So People and Nature are really at One,
The New Age predicted has already begun,
And climbing the Tree up to the warmth of the sun,
The Princess smiles Heart into everyday.

If you can’t name it it’s not a movement. Yes, many brave people all over the world are fighting for good causes and living in touch with nature, but in the West, aren’t more people causing great harm and living out of touch with nature? Where is the evidence that good or sensible ideas will prevail?

Black Elk

Black Elk spoke so true,
The Love of Life point of view,
Learn from the Land, not be a fool,
Listen to the Silence.

Migrant workers understand,
What intellectuals grandstand,
Before you talk look at the Plan,
Listen to the Silence.

Real goods and services do abound,
But in our minds just concepts found,
Pray to just thoughts is for a clown,
Listen to the Silence.

Teeming joy of natural wonderment,
Overlooked by warring governments.

We are NOT the Lord Masters of the Universe, but lead preditor living on Earth…running up End of The World scenarios does not change behavior of Greed and stupidity, lusting for money only.