Well said. I would love for some world leader to stand up and say this, especially the PotUS.
On 1/2/2012 6:45 PM, Robert Munn wrote: > > As we enter 2012, I've been thinking about the state of the world - where > we are today, where we might be a year from now, and what each of us can do > to affect the world in a positive way in the coming year. I have been > seized by the notion that we are all in a lifeboat together here on this > planet and that we will succeed or fail together based on how we treat each > other and our lifeboat. For far too long, we have taken our lifeboat for > granted. It's a great boat, built for the ages, but it requires care and > maintenance in order to remain a hospitable place for us to live, and as a > civilization, we haven't quite figured out how to take proper care of it. > On the subject of civilizational achievement, we can use the Kardashev > scale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale) as a guide. From > Wikipedia: > > -- > The Kardashev scale is a method of measuring an advanced civilization's > level of technological advancement. The scale is only theoretical and in > terms of an actual civilization highly speculative; however, it puts energy > consumption of an entire civilization in a cosmic perspective. It was first > proposed in 1964 by the Soviet Russian astronomer Nikolai Kardashev. The > scale has three designated categories called Type I, II, and III. These are > based on the amount of usable energy a civilization has at its disposal, > and the degree of space colonization. In general terms, a Type I > civilization has achieved mastery of the resources of its home planet, Type > II of its solar system, and Type III of its galaxy.[1] > -- > > To me, a Type I civilization has mastered its home planet, not just its > energy sources. Clearly then, Michio Kaku is right when he says we have not > yet achieved Level 1 status as a civilization. Moreover, most people on the > planet do not yet see that we have a single planetary civilization, that we > are all connected on this world. Fortunately for progress, the Internet has > come along at just the right time in history to enable us all to > communicate directly with each other across the globe, to bring us closer > and enable us to work together to find solutions to our common problems. > > Which takes us back to our lifeboat, and our common problems.There is a > huge garbage patch covering the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, and we > are generating more and more trash every single year. The debris of the > March 11 Japanese tsunami is about to wash up on the West Coast of North > America. There is radiation from Fukushima floating around in the > atmosphere. There are wars in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin > America. And we are moving toward a potential global economic crash that > could make 2008 pale in comparison. > > Why all this is happening around the world at this point in history is > anyone's guess. What we do about it is everyone's responsibility. People > are our greatest asset in our fight to save the lifeboat, and we must > harness everyone's talents if we are to succeed. Success could find us in a > new Planetary Era of peace and prosperity. > > Evolution, not revolution, is the path forward. We have built too much to > see it all torn down around us. This Age is ending, perhaps we should turn > the page on the events of the past and let the future be a testament to the > ties that bind us, not the divisions that separate us. To that end, my > resolution is to work on self-discipline in order to contribute in a > positive way to saving the lifeboat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:345010 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
