It is my belief that we do not have a fundamental right to pilfer and plunder our natural world, and that what we do have is a fundamental responsibility to do what we can to protect our planet's waters, soils, air, and the diverse wildlife that we share these resources with. The former does not ensure economic prosperity for all; the latter does. When one learns that certain actions have consequences--say, that morning coffee ritual from a business that heavily uses styrofoam cups, a product that simply and effectively trashes the earth--is there not only one ethical and moral thing to do? To start buying coffee from a business that does more for the environment? Change is necessary if we care about all the generations behind us--human and wildlife alike. But change is a complicated thing.

Therein lies the conundrum.

My pledge: to embrace change, and to find solutions to the conundrum.


Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Film: Living in the Future's Past

Every once in a while a documentary comes along that is worth adding to the personal collection. Living in the Future's Past is once such doc.  Three of us went to see it.  We each appreciated it for it's beautiful photography, Jeff Bridges' narration, and for the diverse scientific and philosophical insights provided by the numerous expert speakers.



One of us, a former high school teacher and long-time volunteer for a local, school-age natural history program, thought it was a bit repetitive in places.  Another, a former State diplomat (aka Foreign Service Officer) turned conservationist, thought it was very focused on the human condition and human responses to the problem of why we do what we do.  And, I, a long-time naturalist with a B.S. in environmental studies, loved it's appeal to systems thinking from start to finish (but agreed it reiterated messaging heavily in the last quarter of the film.  I argued that this might have been intentional given the attention span of people in a general audience).  I fully plan on seeing it a 2nd time when my DVD arrives (via Amazon, unfortunately).

"In this beautifully photographed tour de force of original thinking, Academy Award winner, Jeff Bridges shares the screen with scientists, profound thinkers and a dazzling array of Earth’s living creatures to reveal eye-opening concepts about ourselves and our past, providing fresh insights into our subconscious motivations and their unintended consequences.

Living in the Future's Past shows how no one can predict how major changes might emerge from the spontaneous actions of the many.  How energy takes many forms as it moves through and animates everything.  How, as we come to understand our true connection to all there is, we will need to redefine our expectations, not as what we will lose, but what we might gain by preparing for something different."


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