No legacy is so rich as honesty - William Shakespeare

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I wanted to post this yesterday but I was toe up…

And you thought Earth Day was just about genuflecting to our Earth Mother Goddess to show how unworthy we are of her splendor and bounty. On no! It’s Eddie Albert’s birthday. Yeppers, Oliver Wendell Douglas himself. Aside from his role on Green Acres, Albert was an environmental activist and helped start Earth Day. It’s sorta funny that he played an inept farmer on TV. Anyhoo, they picked 4/22, his birthday, as Earth Day.

I don’t remember much being made of Earth Day when I was in school. However, today it’s a big deal. My kids come home and tell me all kinds of stuff related to Earth Day. So far, nothing too annoying, just stuff about taking care of the environment and our surroundings. That’s what the environmental movement was originally about. There was a concern that we were wallowing in pollution and of course, that’s bad for people. Now, not so much. Too much of environmentalism is driven by self-loathing, anti-human lunatics. Dark Greens vs Light Greens! Uh oh, here come the Bright Greens! “I’m greener than you!” “Look, I recycle my urine!” Wheee!

But seriously, aside from a few nutbags, most people want to live in a clean environment. They just don’t want to go back to huts and caves. And, just how exactly would that be better for the environment anyway. Just a lot of campfires if you ask me.

I leave you with this for discussion; the “Earth Charter”:

1. Respect Earth and life in all its diversity.
2. Care for the community of life with understanding, compassion and love.
3. Build democratic societies that are just, participatory, sustainable and peaceful.
4. Secure Earth’s bounty and beauty for present and future generations.
5. Protect and restore the integrity of Earth’s ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life.
6. Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is limited, apply a precautionary approach.
7. Adopt patterns of production, consumption and reproduction that safeguard Earth’s regenerative capacities, human rights and community well being.
8. Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of the knowledge acquired.
9. Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social and environmental imperative.
10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner.
11. Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care and economic opportunity.
12. Uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health and spiritual well-being, with special attention to the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.
13. Strengthen democratic institutions at all levels, and provide transparency and accountability in governance, inclusive participation in decision-making, and access to justice.
14. Integrate into formal education and lifelong learning the knowledge, values and skills needed for a sustainable way of life.
15. Treat all living beings with respect and consideration.
16. Promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence and peace.