Re: Wouldn't It be great?

hmm,  well, I find myself in the category of being an environmentalist - i don't think that's a bad word - and I don't think being an American and being an Environmentalist are mutually exclusive.  If we aren't vigilant in protecting our environment we are doomed to fates like that of Easter Island, Haiti, and Madagascar, except it is no longer just about us as a country, it is about us a whole planet of people. 

 

The environment has been abused in the past - the consequences have been devastating - species extinctions, ecosystem destruction, civilizations have fallen - as modern people with even more power to destroy with our CO2 emissions and other technologies - it is vital that we should all be environmentally concious - many scientists are pessimistic, some religious people expect the 2nd coming soon and so feel there is no need for concern. (People have been thinking that for the last 2000 years.) 

 

Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream - his dream was that people would be judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the quality of their character.  I am no Martin Luther King Jr., but I have a dream too.  My dream is that people 1000 years from now will still be waking up in the morning, walking outside and exclaiming "my it is an amazing and beautiful world!"   My problem topic in speech class was on deforestation.  My actuating speech, I'm calling the "We Believe in the Future" initiative.  We owe so many blessing to the generations of people who came before us and did the courageous things they could do to benefit the world.  Our generation and every one after it must become vigilant in taking care of this dear planet.  We killed our Savior, are we going to destroy the gift of life as well? 

 

Mercury & Mars or Venus are mostly CO2 atmospheres - life doesn't live there.  They are like dead deserts.  The deserts on Earth are spreading - the forests are shrinking.  To make this Eden of a planet into a barren place with only domesticated animals left and reduced bird, fish, and sea coral populations is indeed a tragic prospect of large scale proportions.

 

Sometimes we're not the great heros we make ourselves out to be.  When we use the natural resources of other nations, we should morally provide the way to make those same resources sustainable.  We need to not just think them and us.  We must think We.  We must think Global and we must think Long Term.

 

As far as speaking the English language - I have taken some Spanish classes - I find it difficult and have sympathy for those trying to learn our language - to people who are overly critical on this point, I recommend learning a foreign language before you criticize.  Many people from around the world have come to this country - people as old as I am rarely have learned the language very well - It is their children who are at a better age for learning languages that learn English. 

 

As far as the war goes, this is a difficult topic.  It was started on false pretenses.  There were no weapons of mass destruction & they knew it.  Now what do we do with the mess we've made.  Was this the best way to wage war on terror?  I don't know.   I do believe in the cause of freedom - but that was not how the war was billed or why it was started.  Without freedom, people cannot fully experience the joy or wrenching pain that comes from choosing our own destiny and experiencing the consequences.

 

I believe it is always better to affect change peacably if possible. I only have 30 good years left if I'm lucky.  After that I'll be fairly old. ;-) I want to plant a tree every year and I want to make some positive difference in this world.  I want to be kind to people - even if they don't speak English. If there is some way I can help protect habitat for wild animals, I want to do that. 

 

I want all these wars to stop - we have so much work to do just to protect the environment - restore much damaged environment, and help poor people to become self-sufficient.  Our world is in such trouble.  We need to reach out and help others, but before we reach out to get the mote out of someone else's eye, we must get the mote out of our own.  We must do our own housecleaning first, and then we can help out with someone else's.