WANTED: VISIONARIES
by John Perella (my former high school history teacher -- he gave us permission to use this on our page. We owe you the world, J-Train!!)

"One must care about a world one will not see."
Bertrand Russell

What are we doing?

It is amazing to see the trouble people will go to walk around and sidestep facing reality. Is it unconscious avoidance, lack of understanding, or perhaps a darker, corporate reason? It is time we wake up. The most serious issue facing humanity is our failing stewardship of the Earth. What we are doing to this planet will have serious implications in the near future. This is the consensus of the vast majority of scientists worldwide, not the ramblings of doomsday soothsayers. Many people, including key members in President Bush's administration, are not so sure, though. They have argued that the science is shaky, unclear, and unsubstantiated. Maybe we should continue with business as usual, deregulate some more and ease protections and environmental restrictions. Better yet, let's increase our reliance on fossil fuels. If we are lucky, we won't have to worry about the consequences - at least that's how the logic goes. When the Surgeon General of the United States announced in 1959 that smoking caused cancer, the tobacco industry marched out scientist after scientist to refute and deflect this scientifically proven fact. During the 1960's, 70's and 80's, big tobacco influenced congressional members enough to stymie any effort to deregulate and curtail the growing smoking epidemic. The consequences of the government's inability to act are staggering. The amount of money made by the sale of tobacco is even more so. Tobacco proponents' arguments would range from outright denial, to the claiming that there was no correlation between cancer and smoking because only a person's individual genetics could be responsible for it and finally to: "Okay, it causes cancer, but this is America and we have the right to kill people for profits." Too often, money dictates policy in a capitalistic society. Our system is poorly equipped to fix this problem.

The 2002 Federal budget for the United States government has allocated 325 billion dollars to defending our nation. Military spending is roughly eight times larger than the combined money spend on researching clean, renewable energy resources, cleaning of facilities contaminated by years of nuclear-related activities, protecting the environment and developing space technologies and explorations. The federal departments responsible for these tasks (Energy, Environment and NASA) are continuously being reduced in actual power as their real need increases. This differential will enlarge under the current Administration's future estimates. Protection from foreign adversaries is essential. Enemies though are not confined to rogue nations.

Protection of our environment is not a liberal choice; it is a self-preserving necessity. This goes far beyond recycling plastic water bottles. Jobs, politics, three-car families, professional sports, and television episodes about surviving need to take a backseat. We should worry about surviving. Technology has driven us to a crossroads. The race has officially begun. Will we learn to defuse the bomb we are creating before it goes off? The answer has yet to be determined.

Every great movement in this country has been initiated and driven by its citizens. Our government has always been nudged to action by the demands of its people. It reacts. The abolition of enslaved African-Americans, native "Indian" reforms, the Women's movement for equality, labor changes and Civil Rights -- all have been launched by the American people -- not its representatives in government. "It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizens to keep the government from falling into error," U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson reminded the country in 1950.

Today, an environmental movement is imperative. It will be fought off bitterly by invested powers and indifferently by general apathy and ignorance. This isn't a right wing - left wing political question. It isn't even restricted to our unnatural national boundaries. Until the human species realizes that we are all literally on this boat together, the possibility of capsizing will continue to increase. This nation prides itself on being the world's only super power. If we are unable to lead in this endeavor, then who will?

It is difficult to imagine what one person can do. Often I watch as people empty the trash from their cars and toss half-smoked cigarettes into the streets without a thought. Littering has turned into a national pastime. It is an unfortunate norm. We are poisoning our world, our bodies, and our futures every day. What can be done? It can seem so overwhelming. But I suppose that's how William Lloyd Garrison must have felt in 1831 when he first published The Liberator demanding the unconditional freedom of black men and women. At the time, Garrison was seen as a fanatical zealot, as crazy as he was unpopular.

What seems insurmountable is not unattainable. The only difference is that this crusade has a time limit, and we are on the clock.