Forward

On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day our mastery over the earth and its species has earned us something quite different than we were expecting. How did this happen? A bat in China bites a wildlife animal? Sells at a market. Infects someone. Pandemic. “In any case, researchers agree that the coronavirus jumped from an animal to a human, a phenomenon known as "zoonotic spillover." As we struggle to meet this pandemic we must not ignore this “spillover” factor and what caused it. We defend human rights but what of the rights of Nature, wild animals, natural habitats and our surrounding environment? In a Lancet Journal article experts cited, “...scientific evidence that support the theory that "overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife, as have so many other emerging pathogens”. It is not surprising then that a UC Davis study of animal species that host viruses known to infect humans found, “The exploitation of wildlife increases the risk of ani

The “Social Distancing” that will get us through this health crisis needs “Socially Responsible” economic counterparts that establish new ways for us to live, work, learn and care for one another and this planet. “Nothing should go back to normal. Normal wasn’t working.” (Instagram March 2020) The COVID-19 health crisis that we are in the early stages of has all the signs of plunging us into an economic depression worse than the Great Depression while stripping bare the priorities and inequities of our current economic system. During the Great Depression 1929-1939 the highest rate of U.S. unemployment was 24.9%. In March 2020 unemployment swelled to 10 million in two weeks. The Fed went further saying that, “Coronavirus job losses could total 47 million, unemployment rate may hit 32%”. Recently The New York Times Editorial Board asked: “Why is America Choosing Mass Unemployment?” “A number of European countries, after similarly failing to control the spread of the virus, and t

In a dream The world is suddenly darker. The view is of a vast seemingly empty space stretching to infinity. Inquiring figures seek to enter asking why. Something powerful challenges their entry. Pawing them Hands running over and under their clothes Touching them Grabbing them all over. Pulling down their attire. But garments newly torn or removed Reassemble Rearrange Are restored. Injuries Once raw Heal. Scars Ugly reminders Fade away. The Inquiring figures are whole once more. Remade. Now seen within this vast space are Other figures They have their arms full of spheres of different dark shades and patterns. The Inquiring figures say to these Others that you are weighing down the World by holding on to so many darkly shaded patterned spheres. But the Other figures reply As they balance in their arms their darkly shaded patterned spheres They have the right to hold on to what they want. To listen to who they choose To believe w

The health and economic crisis that is the coronavirus COVID-19 is just a glimpse of what the coming Climate Crisis looks like. As devastating as this crisis is it affords economies around the world a recovery investment opportunity in the future if they are forward looking enough to take it. So in the United States should economic recovery investments that are surely coming go to airlines, oil companies, meat producers or other carbon heavy industries? If no. Then where? “... Transportation analyst Alon Levy estimates that for about €60 billion,Germany could build a comprehensive high-speed rail network that would better connect all its major cities and make domestic air travel obsolete. …” Source: Coronavirus’s threat to the global economy — and what to do about it, by Matthew Yglesias. ( https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/3/9/21167391/coronavirus-economy-stimulus-recession?fbclid=IwAR29Kn78elTwBiJSHQhy3yH-L1ccr2AUONPxTXUlRxzFgzfxy1CF4kleHQM ) What if in the United States t

Is it forward into the 21st century. Or is it the end of the future. The end of hope. Or the beginning of...