WAKE UP AND LIVE – 2/6/2008
Greetings, fellow earth-dwellers.
As someone who considers himself to be a “language artist”, I labor under the assumption — MUST labor under the assumption — that people care about what I have to say (and how I say it). Without that assumption, there wouldn’t be much of a reason to continue writing songs, poems, blogs, editorials, whatever.
Oh, certainly, there is a great deal of personal satisfaction that I derive directly from the process of creating, and I don’t mean to belittle it in any way for it is something that I very truly cherish. But if I held absolutely no hope that the thoughts I endeavor to convey were meaningful to some reader, somewhere, on some level, then they would only be the by-products of intellectual masturbation, and hardly worth public presentation.
Well! A blend of assumptions and self-gratification — now there’s a solid foundation from which one might launch a successful campaign! But as it is the only foundation I have, it is the one that I have to use. So! Feet squarely sloshing around in it (and in spite of the fact that no one has requested this information) I hereby take the liberty to let as many of you (who might actually read) know what I think ought to be important right now.
You see, I’ve spent a good amount of time considering what should matter, because with so many issues clamoring for our attention these days, there are only so many that will succeed in winning the contest and gaining our most passionate devotion. We can only juggle so many balls — keep so many things in the air at one time.
Especially in an election year, when we most vividly see things get boiled down to a consensus. After all, how many issues can a given candidate vow him or herself to? A candidate must devote his or herself only to the top issues of the day — those that represent the concerns of the greatest percentage of the voting population.
And what are the candidates speaking about this year? Let’s see… the economy… the war in Iraq… healthcare… immigration…
Mmm… yes… all very important issues.
Well, here — let me distinguish my prioritization scheme in a sentence — all of these election-year issues only bear relevance in a world that is inhabited by homo sapiens sapiens, and such a world is in very real jeopardy.
What do I think should matter most to the greatest percentage of the voting (and non-voting) population? Two related things:
1) Human population and
2) the fact that we are, right now, living through a Mass Extinction Event — a man-made Mass Extinction Event.
There are so many on line resources that I could provide you with, but I am already running the risk of over-taxing the average attention-span. So I leave you with just one. If not now, then sometime soon, take 10 minutes to watch this trailer for a movie entitled “Call of Life” sponsored by Species Alliance.
http://speciesalliance.org/video.php
Now, if you can donate anything to the production and release of the film, go ahead and donate. But that’s not my point. My point is that we have to stop pretending that we can continue on our current path indefinitely without consequence, and we have to stop pretending that our future will somehow be magically corrected without our deliberately deciding to change the aspects of our lifestyle that are contributing to the problems.
Because for all of the truly noble and noteworthy things that homo sapiens sapiens has become good at in his 200,000 years of existence, it seems he has also become quite good at making the planet uninhabitable for mid-to-large sized complex organisms. And oh… by the way… homo sapiens sapiens is himself a mid-to-large sized complex organism.
Yes, for all of our congratulating ourselves at being the ultra, mega, best and brightest of all complex organisms, we seem to be capable of exercising no more knowledge-based self-control than does common yeast — devouring and devouring and multiplying and multiplying until nothing wholesome remains, but only a level of toxicity that we ourselves can not tolerate.
What is the “take-away” from this weighty message? Is this just one of those bummer emails that seems to have no purpose other than to spread hopelessness and anxiety? No. As a matter of fact, I send it because I do maintain hope, and because I do think that, in many ways, we are the ultra, mega, best and brightest of all complex organisms. I believe that if we focus our immense, collective, creative forces on a problem, we can conceive and implement workable solutions. Problem solving, after all, may be what homo sapiens sapiens is best at… our strongest evolutionary advantage.
But the sobering truth must at least be roaming around in our subconscious for solutions to come about, and I fear that we have devised so many effective means of distraction ourselves, that we may not properly focus those special creative forces in time. The “take-away” ? Don’t hide from this truth. Consider it. Consider it deeply. Consider what needs our best attention.
Because… well… cockroaches, carp and crows don’t care much about the economy, the war in Iraq, healthcare or immigration.
And by the way, I’m not saying that the US Presidential election isn’t important, because it is. But let’s be honest — politicians aren’t really leaders. They only succeed to the end that they successfully follow the concerns of the voters. It is the voters who must lead, by knowing and telling the politicians what the priorities should be.
Wake up and live, y’all,
Wake up and live!
Wake up and live now!
Wake up and live!
Life is one big road with lots of signs, yes!
So when you riding through the ruts, don’t you complicate your mind:
Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy!
Don’t bury your thoughts; put your dream to reality, yeah!
(Happy 63rd Birthday, Bob! 2/6/1945 – 5/11/1981)
