The Last Progressive

The air is dry and it's an unseasonably cool evening in July. I am walking alone on the Silver Comet Trail in Powder Springs, GA. The boredom and drudgery of life continually crushes me, but on the trail, where there is nothing but me and nature, I am reminded of why I want to live. I want to live so that I can be in the only place where I'm happy — in the forest.

I've always wanted to save the natural world and in 1996 I began doing research and determined that human overpopulation is the number one threat to our environment. So, when the Internet was still young, I created a website that educated the world on the topic of the population explosion. I put the website address on business cards and placed them over urinals in public restrooms. Other than turning a few shoes yellow, I don't think I accomplished much, but at least I was doing SOMETHING.

More Epiphanies

Twenty-three years later it's a Sunday evening and I'm still trying to figure it all out. To tell my story, I was a driven environmentalist from 1997 to 2003 but continually hitting "the wall" wore me out. "The wall" was the powerful resistance from business people, religionists, and political conservatives against anything GREEN. To explore this problem, I started a blog in 2004 and have written over 400 posts on the topics of environmental and social sustainability. And 15 years later I'm still completely dumbfounded.

All I can say is that people are more hardwired into their daily habits and beliefs than I could have ever imagined. A cat anywhere in the world will pretty much behave the same way, and most people are like cats. At an early stage in my life I challenged my hard wiring and became sentient, and now I feel alone and isolated in a world where most people are marching over a cliff.

So, my first epiphany is that American political parties are all about race. First there was the Whig Party that fell apart over the slavery debate. Then the Republican Party organized in 1854 on a platform that opposed expanding slavery, and Abraham Lincoln was its first president. A flip occurred in later years as Democrats pushed for civil rights and ending segregation, and the Southern states turned Republican in response. Now, here we are with Donald Trump, who is pushing our country toward ultranationalism.

My second epiphany is that a person's political and religious views are typically tied to where they live. In Kentucky and Alabama there are the "old time gospel" Christians who push the "family values" and "traditional values" of, well, I guess the 1960s. Then there's those Starbucks-addicted liberals in the Pacific Northwest who are into wind turbines and cycling to work. I don't know if a region changes a person's thinking or if people self select.

The point being is that when I'm screaming about electric cars and climate change I'm pushing against people who've had centuries of pre-conditioning. Changing the nationalistic and religious thinking of these individuals will require decades of time, and with our warming atmosphere time isn't something we have.

Ending My Experiment

After six weeks I've decided to end my study of conservatives. I have listened to right-wing talk shows, read their social media, and talked with them in person. All I can say is that they stubbornly hold on to the narrative that capitalists created for them. They do not realize how they are controlled by their own religions or how they are easily manipulated by fear.

In a typical conversation someone will tell me how Trump is a "godly man." If I counter that Trump had an affair with a porn star while his wife was pregnant, the person will respond with comments about how terrible the media is or lament about Hillary's emails. There is zero hope for a rational discussion.

More on Socialism

One of the common rantings of conservatives, which I just heard from someone yesterday, is about all the "freebies" and benefits that poor people and illegal immigrants receive. Right now I'm looking at an article in The Washington Post that says farmers are getting $867 billion in subsidies. Isn't this welfare too?

Strangely, conservatives are ALWAYS quiet about corporate welfare and the tax breaks and subsidies that companies receive on the federal, state, and local levels. For instance, even though the fossil fuel industry is already wealthy they are still allowed to deduct expenses for drilling wells, depletion of oil and gas deposits, and other crazy crap. In addition to the agriculture and energy sectors, defense contractors and pharmaceutical companies get tax breaks as well. On the state level, governments give huge tax breaks to corporations in the interest of creating jobs, but this strategy is often a failure and jobs are only moved around the country. So how does Big Business get these handouts? Through lobbying and campaign contributions, of course.

So, don't ramble to me how we are becoming a socialist state just become little Johnny gets a free bowl of oatmeal before school. Stop repeating what the right-wing news media says and learn to take a critical view of everything you hear.

The Danger of Ultranationalism

Democracy is beautiful and fragile and can be manipulated in a hundred different ways. One of the most terrifying ways that democracy is degraded is the worldwide trend toward ultranationalism. Hungary, Poland, Russia, Turkey, and other nations are going down this path, often in reaction to immigration. I am heartbroken to see the United States becoming an ultranationalist state as well, mainly in response to the fears of immigration. In addition to being racist and supremacist, an ultranationalist state is obsessed with restoring order and protecting "the old way of life." If you are gay, nonreligious, or a person of color, sorry but there is no room for you in this imaginary Polyanna and Camelot world. And, to me, ultranationalism is all about embracing the religious and corporate mythologies that only delude people and make them ill-equipped to deal with the problems of the modern world. The ultranationalist lives in their own cesspool of delusion and will make little effort to help the environment since that runs counter to the religious and corporate narrative that is driven into their heads.

As mentioned in my last post, Donald Trump has only made two real accomplishments since his election, and one of his "accomplishments" is dangerous. He is packing the federal courts with right-wingers and these individuals are hard to remove once instated.

During the end of Obama's presidency, the sinister Mitch McConnell refused to bring court nominees to a vote in the Senate. This move was anti-democratic and a huge step toward ultranationalism. It's no secret that Senator McConnell wants to turn America into a giant Kentucky, complete with dirty coal mining and old time tent revivals. In effect, the conservatives are trying to seize the judicial branch of our government, which is a vital step in moving our democracy into ultranationalistic fascism.

While there is rarely an opening on the Supreme Court it's possible to make a tremendous difference in public policy by packing the district and circuit courts with reactionary, right-wing judges. And that's exactly what Trump is doing now.

For the record, what Mitch McConnell and the Republican controlled Senate did must never be forgiven or forgotten. McConnell abused our beautiful constitutional government in the worse way by suppressing Obama's court nominees and creating numerous openings for the next Republican president to fill.

The Solution

I gave the idea of reasoning with conservatives one last try and have now given up hope. The narrative of conservative Christianity and corporatism simply does not align with environmentalism. The Christians have their own story for how the world will end, and they'll keep believing it until the ocean has risen to their eyeballs. The business people have organized themselves into artificial entities called corporations, which are treated like humans by the courts, yet have no heart or soul. These corporations only exist to make money for the next quarter, and the natural world is only a commodity to be exploited, and the Christians go along with it because of the "have dominion" verse in their Bible (Genesis 1:28).

It's obvious that the human population explosion and the obsession with affluence is the primary cause of climate change. But even my environmental colleagues will argue with me and say that we just have to live "clean." Since the topic of human population and telling people how many babies they can have is completely taboo, okay, I'll go along with that. We can convert to clean energy using wind, solar, hydrogen, and other green technologies. If we are fighting against an ever-growing population, well, making a difference is going to be challenging, but, as always, DOING SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING.

I have come to the conclusion that the only way to save our world is to put more progressives in power. Although mostly Democrat, a progressive can be a Republican too, like my hero Teddy Roosevelt. It is extremely important that we take the U.S. Senate and ensure that our democracy is protected and also ensure that we address real world problems, instead of trying to bring back the past. I know a lot of Americans want to put gays back in the closet, push the Mexicans behind the border, and ship the Muslims back to the Middle East. They want the "old America" back — an America that only existed in their imaginations. Actually, what many ultra-conservatives want is a lily-white America, but all they are really going to get is a really hot America with receding shore lines, massive wildfires, droughts, floods, and a generally screwed up climate. To the bitter end they will recite Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity sound bites, as the entire planet goes to hell.

After much thought I realize that the number one thing I can do to help the environment and the less fortunate among us is to put a progressive in Congress. Just one progressive in the U.S. Senate would have a powerful impact and would provide a counterbalance to Madman Mitch. I was thrilled to learn this week that Ted Terry, mayor of Clarkston, GA and director of the Georgia Sierra Club is running for the U.S. Senate. My instincts tell me that I should give my absolute all to get this man into the Senate. If everyone does the same in their respective states, and even in different countries, we can change the course of civilization and save the Earth from our pathetic excesses and ignorance. To me, putting a progressive into office is an act of repentance. It's our way of saying "we're sorry" to the indifference and harm done to the environment and underclasses.

If humanity reacts to its problems by retreating into suppressive religions and right-wing dictatorships then allow me to be the last standing progressive who screams that respect for each other and respect for the environment is a better way to live. Allow me, at least, the opportunity to get those words out before the Saudis chop me up or the Russians radiate me, or some sinister regime, perhaps even the U.S., makes me disappear.


Sources:
- How the Republican Party Went From Lincoln To Trump, by Vox
- How Trump Took Over America's Courts, by Vox
- Congress Passes $867 Billion Farm Bill, by Jeff Stein, The Washington Post 
- How Corporate Welfare Hurts You, by Robert Reich
- How Trump Took Over America's Courts, by Vox

Photo: Miguel Bruna

The Day America Died

As my country spins farther away from reality I wonder just how far we can go into the netherworld and just how much more I can grieve.

So, there we were, a hot Sunday morning on July 14. It was 6:45 a.m. and Donald Trump decided to start attacking four U.S. congresswomen, using the same tactics he's used against Obama and many others. He fired off his hate Tweet and started a major social media explosion across the land.

His current hate campaign against the congresswomen is not only racist, but he downright lies about what the congresswomen have said or he takes words completely out of context, which is a form of lying.

I thought U.S. politics had already hit the bottom when Karl Rove and Ralph Reed developed their "win at all costs" model, but Trump has taken politics to an even lower point where there's no turning back.

I believe that to save ourselves and planet we must rely on our higher-evolved attributes like altruism. But I'm watching the man in the White House take us in a different direction, where he triggers the primordial emotions of simple-minded thinkers to advance his own political goals. To hell with the country and the damage he has done because this five-time draft dodger is going to keep manipulating the country with the favorite tool of the right-wing lords — fear.

The Response

Of course, I'm talking to Trump supporters this week who tell me that his hate Tweet was an act of genius. Some say he sent the Tweet to unify the Democratic Party so he'd only have one target in 2020, while others say he's trying to drive a wedge. After all, Trump must be a genius because no one else could be so stupid.

Now, I'm not one to question, but if you can believe a man lived three days in a fish, you can certainly believe that Trump is a genius. And if you can believe two kangaroos hopped 8,000 miles from Australia to the Middle East, for a ride on Noah's Ark, well, crap, you can believe anything. The fact that the kangaroos had to travel most of their journey over water makes me believe in your power to believe anything even more.

And, wow, the timing of his bash-the-congresswomen Tweet was genius. He sent it just as his evangelical base was waking up for Sunday School. Now, in addition to the pastor raving that Trump is a "man of God" and "anointed by God" he can now brag about how Trump bashed women, people of color, and Muslims all in one Tweet. Since no one seems to know what socialism is, let alone democratic socialism, he can drop that little word too. As the evangelicals adjust their beehive hairdos and shine the hood ornaments on their Mercedes', they search their Twitter feed and see the Sunday morning message from Their Man, you know, the guy who's going to save them from the morally-deprived Libtards, and North Koreans, and Iranians.

It only takes an hour before the potty-Tweet spreads throughout Twitterland, a ghoulish place, and then to the corporate media, which cares only about ratings and feeding their cattle the crap that they want to eat. Nancy Pelosi is at her hairdresser when she reads the vitriolic and divisive Tweet. She stands up and starts throwing furniture around. This is going to be a tough week.

My Reaction

As for me, I'm just too darn sensitive, and I am sick to my stomach when I see Trump destroying the last remnants of civility, respect, and dignity in our country. What is especially sad is that when this life-long conman throws out the bait, everyone snatches it without thinking. Everyone's emotions are just too worked up to think clearly. Two days later at a press conference he is suggesting that Rep. Ihan Omar married her brother. And then at his MAGA rally in North Carolina, the crowd is chanting, "Send her back." At long last we don't have to hear "Lock her up" anymore or "Drill, baby, drill." See, the Republicans are making progress after all.

Trump's Accomplishments

I did read Trump's 1987 book "The Art of a Deal," and just recently learned that it was a creative work of fiction, according to the book's co-author Tony Schwartz. Calling Trump a "genius" is fiction too, and saying that he's "doing a great job" is even more fantasy.

Since taking office his only true accomplishment was to support a bipartisan prison reform bill. For that I credit him. His other two accomplishments were to help push through a tax cut bill for the rich and he stacked the Supreme Court with a nice beer-guzzling party boy.

I don't consider executive orders or regulatory actions as accomplishments, since these can all be reversed in a few weeks by the next president. True accomplishments are when a president works with Congress to pass legislation. Or when the president puts a judge on a federal bench, like Kavanaugh.

When people tell me "look how well the stock market is doing," that just tells me that American corporations have gotten better at screwing over workers. These same people turn silent when the stock market is in a slump. And when someone tells me about "job growth," I'm wondering just how many people want a career as a hamburger flipper.

As always, it's all an illusion, and people simply believe what they want to believe.

Funny how Trump supporters never talk about his failures. Mexico still hasn't paid for a border wall. And Trump got many votes in the heartland by promising to revitalize the coal industry. It hasn't happened, but that's okay since people have short memories.

Socialism

Trump and other leaders always love to throw around "socialism" as their favorite scare word. When I was growing up the scare word was "communism." If only people would read the works of Karl Marx they'd realize that socialism isn't so bad. I agree that socialism has problems but that must be weighed against the ruthless excesses of capitalism. Capitalism might work, but it needs major reform. However, my gut feeling is that no economic system is sustainable except, perhaps, one that runs on altruism.

I'm not sure why we'd want a billionaire as president, as these are the people who know how to manipulate the political system and the mindless masses for their own personal gain. Every time I hear someone using "socialist" as a scare word, I'm wondering, "Why are you doing the bidding of American billionaires?"

What I see is my beloved country turning into a fascist banana republic where the politicians are bought and controlled by the rich, at the expense of the poor. The latest example is the recent corporate tax cut, and now our political leaders are saying we have to cut Social Security and Medicare too. Why, because old people are not big money spenders. It's time to set them adrift on an iceberg and let them die.

Making things worse is the Supreme Court's decision to treat corporations like people. Corporations have no heart at all and only care about making money, and they know they can make more money by exploiting the working class and the environment. They are locusts that eat everything, and leave the rest of us with dirty water, dirty air, and a fatally damaged climate. If there are a few young, brave congresswomen who stand up to this nonsense, then they have my deepest respect and admiration. I hope that all the hate and lies thrown against them will strengthen their resolve, and that each member of the "Squad" will become a future president.

As For Me ...

If I hear one more person say that the moon landings were staged I think I will blindly run into a street while screaming. Is there anyone left in this world who is still sane? If there is you have a strong responsibility on your shoulders because you are the only ones who can save us.

I do realize that Trump supporters will still support him no matter what he says or does. If I engage these people in a conversation I will be deluded with deflection, and as they ramble on I will count how many times they say "Hillary" to break my boredom. My only respite is that I get to see hypocritical evangelical Christians sink deeper into their hypocrisy as they desperately try to support the immoral, race-baiting, gas-lighting manipulator in the White House. As you pick the dog hairs off your MAGA hat and rub holy oil on your living room portrait of Donald Trump, I only want to ask, "How low are you willing to go?"


Photo: Sharon McCutcheon

Why We Should All Wear Black

In 1984 I worked at an alarm monitoring company and it was a big deal that we had recently installed the alarm system for Johnny Cash. Hardly a few days later his fire alarm went off. I was a shift supervisor and was excited as one of my employees called his residence and spoke to him on the phone. "I reckon I forgot to open the fireplace chute," he said. Since he didn't know his security code I had no choice but to dispatch the fire department. Fortunately, the fire department called him first and never went out. Perhaps I was the inspiration for his hit single "Ring of Fire?" Probably not considering the song came out 20 years before.

Sadly, Johnny Cash and his wife June died in 2003, and, ironically, the house burned to the ground four years later.

While growing up I always just thought of him as a country music star, and I was more into Elton John. But after seeing the movie "Walk the Line" in 2005 I had a renewed interest in Johnny as a folk singer, an example of humility, and a champion of the underdog. 

The whole idea of wearing black always appealed to me. What a cool dude. He even wrote a song about why he wore black. He wore it for the poor, the downtrodden, prisoners who had long since paid for their crimes, the sick, the old and lonely, and for those who ruined their lives with bad decisions. In addition to all of the above, Johnny was an advocate for native Americans.

For the same reasons, I'm wearing black more too. We hear a lot in our society about the need to always be "positive," but the world doesn't work that way. And when people try to push you back into the "happy zone" that forces you to ignore a world that's not so happy. An old college friend recently told me that my blog is "sad." I make no apologies for that. I don't mind being sad because I've spent my entire life observing what people are doing to the world and to each other. To me, so many behaviors are so illogical and insane that all I can do is laugh because otherwise I would cry.

In addition to being a great humanitarian, Johnny Cash believed in crossing over lines. His music was a mix of folk, country, and rock, and in the music business Johnny regularly made friends with artists from different genres. In 1969-70 he had his own TV show and while he primarily brought in country stars he also featured musicians who performed folk, pop, rock, and soul.

On one side Johnny was a restless rebel, drug user, and a prisoner himself. He was thrown in jail seven different times, which included an arrest for smuggling prescription drugs from Mexico. Fortunately, smuggling prescription drugs was a far less serious offense than illegal narcotics and he served a suspended sentence. 

When he played his guitar, he could either be playing a gospel hymn or some grisly story about prison. He was all over the map.

As the story goes, Johnny found Jesus in 1967 while crawling in the Nickajack Cave near Chattanooga, TN. Nickajack was a huge network of caves and some people before him had crawled in and never came out, and that was Johnny's plan because he wanted to end his life. After three hours of crawling in the dark cave his flashlight batteries went out and he laid down, exhausted and in total darkness. It was then when he has his spiritual epiphany. After a while he began to feel a slight breeze, and following the direction of the breeze led him out — a changed man.

Later that same year, with the support of June Carter and her family, Johnny got off drugs and married June the following year. Two months later he went to Folsom Prison in California and recorded one of the most amazing albums in music history.

As a Christian, Johnny was one of those spiritual "cool" Christians that I love and admire. He, along with Jimmy Carter and blogger John Pavlovitz, are among the few true Christians that I've ever known. My epiphany for this week is that the greatest Christians are those who truly care about the welfare of others, and that it comes from within. I doubt saying the three sentence salvation prayer or getting dunked in a pool of cold water really changes anyone. It must come from within, and chances are these great people had it "in them" all their lives. Far to the contrary, the Christian evangelicals I see today repulse me. They are pious, self-righteous, and appear obsessed with banning abortion and gay marriage, loving Trump, and catering to Israel. And nothing more. I don't see them giving a rats ass about the poor, the desperate immigrants, and certainly not me. I should feel blessed that I'm a white male living in the US, but to me it's a curse because while I can try, I can never fully understand the subtle persecution that people of color must endure every day.

Finally, I admire Johnny Cash because he was a good husband. He found the woman of his dreams and when she died in 2003 Johnny followed her into the next world four months later. I dream of finding the love of my life like he did, and living the rest of my days with someone I can adore, worship, and cherish. When Johnny found his dream girl he never took her for granted and he always showed his appreciation for her. They enjoyed a powerful love and 35-year marriage.

So, here I am today in the summer of 2019, confronted with all the things I did or did not do right, which has led me to where I am now. I am alive and still feel, so all is not lost. Maybe it's true that us libtards feel too much, which defies the laws of Darwinism. But all I know is that I can feel. I feel the pain of those desperate Mexicans and Guatemalans who are trying to get into our country not to just seek a better life, but for basic self-preservation. I feel for a love lost. I feel for a mother whose child is diagnosed with a disease. I feel for America, which has now become a corporation for the billionaires.

Sometimes I feel that I'm the only one who feels. As I write this on a Sunday morning, the church people are in their churches handling snakes or listening to their rock bands. The alcoholics and drug addicts are all passed out right now. The tree huggers are out hiking; the yuppies are out shopping. And I am all alone.

Sources:

The Day God Saved Johnny Cash, by Victor Parachin

The Love Story of Johnny Cash & June Carter, by Lauren Hubbard

Top-of-Page Photo: Annie Spratt

Carbon & Conservatives

Somewhere in our evolution the human brain split into two types: One is sentient and shows awareness of surroundings. The other brain type is static and unchanging, and prefers to adapt to the status quo rather than change it. Both brain types are needed to provide balance in our species. It's like our own sun, where a balance between the outward push of pressure is balanced by the inward pull of gravity.

In the U.S. this divide has become more apparent than ever before, especially in our politics. In Congress I believe the deep crack started with the Robert Bork Supreme Court hearings of 1987. This was the first major example of "Borking," where attempts are made to defeat a nominee or political appointee through character assassination. Borking is now commonplace in our country and it has created a nastiness, cynicism, and distrust that has poisoned and paralyzed our political system. At a time when both sides of the aisle need to work together like never before, we create fake outrage and get the hysterical bases of both political parties emotionally worked up.

It is in this atmosphere of political malfunction that our country sinks deeper into debt and morphs into an oligarchical theocracy, while our warming atmosphere takes us to self-destruction. This is a time in our history when we need to stop the petty fighting and start listening to the other side.

Conservative Minds

So, I've started listening in an effort to understand my ideological counterparts. I've been viewing conservative social media, listening to right-wing radio shows, and having discussions with Republicans. The end result is that I still don't understand. See, in my mind the process is simple. You identify a problem facing our country or world, you write up the needed legislation, you get the votes, and you go after it. But now, there is endless debating over every minor point on any issue.

I am amazed and dumbfounded when conservatives say that global climate change is "a natural warming trend" or a "hoax." Despite the fossil fuel industry's efforts to throw confusion and misinformation into the debate, the evidence is solid that our industrial society is quickly warming the atmosphere. This is the consensus of 97% of climate scientists.

Burning fossil fuels into the atmosphere is the same as littering. We are compromising and degrading our planet, which is unfair to our children. Everyone on both sides of the political spectrum should be wearing out the phone lines to Congress as we demand action now.

But, instead, do nothing.

The whole point of my blog post is this: The inaction and indifference toward climate change, which is perpetuated by the Republican Party, is a crime against humanity, wildlife, and the Earth. At some point, someone will pay, and it's the future generations and animals who are going to suffer. I now see conservatism as a danger and threat to our planet.

Diving into the Static Mind

A common theme in articles that I read, about the differences between conservatives and progressives, is how we process fear. But the issue is more complex. If you look at a map from the 2016 presidential election you see that the "reds" dominate rural America and the "blues" are strong on the coastlines and large cities. Many people are simply born into an ideology and religion and spend their lives surrounded by people who think the same way. I believe the way to open the minds of these individuals is to expose them to people, ideas, and cultures that are different than their own. I'd love to see "Centers for Enlightenment" across the country where people of all political, religious, and cultural types just sit down and talk, and more importantly, listen.

Critical Thinking

Another commonality of conservatives is that they grasp onto a particular dogma and they tenaciously defend it, without questioning it. Everything you hear should be questioned. People who just "drink the Kool-Aid" become the lemmings and pawns for others who have political agendas. Those who don't challenge information are easily manipulated and serve as the robot army for special interest groups.

All the time, I read the comments of progressives who are perplexed by the lack of conservative action on the environment, gun control, or anything that threatens the status quo and their way of life. Conservatives resist change.

Lately, I've come to think of right-wing thinkers as people who live life inside of a box. They seem unaware that we are living animals on a hunk of rock that's flying through space. Their brains are hard-wired and locked into set behavior patterns. No amount of reasoning, logic, or debating will shift their positions an inch.

But I have seen people change and awaken. These are individuals who often immerse themselves into different groups of people who open them to new ideas and thinking. People who are well traveled and well read are definitely more openminded than those who stay isolated in their neighborhoods and churches, who home school their children, and rarely venture out into the mainstream of society.

If we are ever going to defeat the climate change crisis, we need a nonpartisan effort. We also need to:

• Listen to those with differing political and religious views.
• Encourage the development of critical thinking in schools.
• Find ways to "shuffle the deck" to give isolated people exposure to differing viewpoints.

My Story

I've been called a libtard a few times, and I don't mind it at all. I now realize that my first step into liberalism was in 1970, when I was 9-years-old. For a class assignment I wrote and acted in a short play that depicted life in an environmental control room, set some time in the future. My classmates and I were struggling to keep the last oxygen factory from breaking down, and when we failed we all suffocated. Around that same time my friends and I would rough up construction sites in an effort to slow the home construction that was consuming the open land where we played. At 10-years-old my friends and I somehow knew that rearranging the spark plug wires on a bulldozer would keep it from starting, and if it did start it would run very rough. 

I continued messing with construction sites for six years, until I was finally caught by some off-duty cops who were squirrel hunting in the woods. I was arrested and given community service. So, for me, there's no turning back. I became a sentient being. I became AWARE that developers were destroying the natural environment. Once I started dating, went to college, got married, and had a family, this powerful love for the environment was suppressed in me for 19 years. I became a church leader and president of a computer club, and focused on my career and family. But in 1997 the rapid development in my county triggered me again and I joined several environmental organizations and became a green activist. It was during this time when I met progressives from liberal religious faiths who exposed me to new ideas and new ways of thinking. Email "listserves" allowed me to meet with and engage in environmental discussions with fellow activists around the country. From these listserves I was exposed to books and various campaigns and movements in the environmental community that opened my mind and changed me forever.

My point is that once you break out of the box, and once you take a stand for something, you are changed forever. You develop an AWARENESS of the past, future, and world around you, instead of just living in a bubble.

At age 9 I do not remember the specifics but I do remember all the worries and concerns about pollution in the U.S. At one point U.S. rivers were so polluted that a river near Cleveland, Ohio caught fire on June 22, 1969. That was the wake-up call for our country and it's when a serious effort began to clean our rivers and streams, and it led to the creation of the EPA, you know, that organization that so many Republicans and Libertarians hate. We need another, similar wake-up call again to reduce the carbon in our atmosphere. Is there any backbone left in our country to do this? I'm not sure, but I will always remain hopeful.

Sources:

Climate Change Fork blog, Micha Tomkiewicz, PH.D.
Turning Conservatives into Liberals, John Bargh, The Washington Post
Climate 101 website, The Climate Reality Project

Photo: Kamil Feczko