Nurture Our Mother - And Ourselves

Nothing is more important than supporting the all life on our planet. Where would we be without it?! To this end, we are making the following links, resources, and comments available. They cover a wide range of topics, from living more respectfully on our planet to reducing poverty to understanding social problems that have led to our earth being in peril, such as economic and political factors. Please do not be offended by controversial ideas. We need to think about things differently and try out lots of ideas before we find the solutions. If you would like to submit additional resources and ideas for this page, please do so here. We will vet these resources and place them on the page as time permits. We favor resources that go beyond defining a problem to proposing solutions. Thanks for all your efforts on behalf of our planet!

The Latest

I know I don't agree with everything they say, but Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus have written a book about how to effectively reframe environmental issues to move forward on earth-saving initiatives. It's called, Breakthrough: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility. Click on the link here to read their interview with Amazon and buy it.

Here's what Santa Barbara is doing.

There's a fantastic article in the March/April 2007 issue of Mother Jones called "Reversal of Fortune" that really opened my eyes to some new ideas of where we need to point our noses if w're to continue to live well on our planet. If you like what you read, be an angel and subscribe to Mother Jones. They do the real thing --- investigative journalism.

Helping Our Planet
One of the viewpoints I have been most impressed with is that found in David C. Korten's The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community. One of the concepts fostered by Korten is that of "lifeboat communities", not in a survivalist sense, but in the sense of areas where a commitment is made to living sustainably. These communities will serve as role models and limited refuges and are a vital step forward in advancing the vitality of our planet. To find out more, go to:

Lifeboat Resources and Communities

http://www.thegreatturning.net/

http://www.davidkorten.org/

The Eleventh Hour
Leonardo di Caprio's film "The Eleventh Hour" was released August 17th to rave reviews. See the trailer and learn more about it at www.11thhourfilm.com. It has an 81% fresh rating on www.rottentomatoes.com/m/11th_hour/.

Economics & Politics
Understanding how the economy works, from the global to the local level, is vital to creating positive change. Here are some resources that support new perspectives:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/stockmarket/

Earl Shorris and the Clemente Course on Humanities
Earl Shorris and his article, "On the Uses of a Liberal Education" (Harper's, Sept. 1997) clarified my understanding about poverty and what it takes for people to lift themselves out of it. Shorris points to the "surround of force":

"Numerous forces -- hunger, isolation, illness, landlords, police, abuse, neighbors, drugs, criminals, and racism, among many others -- exert themselves on the poor at all times and enclose them, making up a "surround of force" from which, it seems, they cannot escape. I had come to understand that this was what kept the poor from being political and that the absence of politics in their lives was what kept them poor.

Read more here.

New Perspectives on Economics from Ravi Batra
Although his books are polemic, his point is simple: A healthy economy should be demand-driven. Supply-driven economies survive only if people take on debt to support their spending habits. Now that the final resource for borrowing has been exhausted (home equity mortgages), a return to demand-driven economics is essential. Batra says that we can blame Ronald Reagan and Alan Greenspan (originally a Reagan appointee) for the supply-driven "trickle-down Reagonomics" that have resulted in the debt crisis we have now. See what you think by reading his books Greenspan's Fraud or The New Golden Age.

General Interest
Many topics of global concern are discussed on the Thom Hartmann Show from all perspectives. Defying labels, Thom tends toward the liberal, but regardless of how you might label him, his perspectives are well-researched and thought out. Find him at:

http://www.thomhartmann.com

There's no doubt, regardless of political affiliation, that George W. Bush has done much to damage the planet. So I'm adding the "End of the Bush Era" widget here so we can keep track of when he's done. Enjoy!