Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

From Al Gore's bestseller, An Inconvenient Truth:

"Since I left the White House in 2001, I have also learned that there are many forms of public service other than running for office and serving as an elected official. I've always known this, of course, but I've come to personally appreciate the satisfaction that can be found as a private citizen in trying to make our democracy work better."

This is such a telling statement, because it reveals a man who places the issue and the work that must be done ahead of the hype and accolades of simply having the word "president " in front of his name knowing that it really does not do much to further the cause in such a system, because the cause is primary. You would think that would endear more supporters to him. However, to me it actually seems as if so many are disappointed in his thinking on this, and I simply think that is sad.

Some of the greatest men and women of our history never even ran for public office, but they were leaders who inspired this nation and brought about great social change... Rachel Carson, Alice Paul, Martin Luther King Jr. just to name several. There are certainly more of them than there are presidential candidates. There's a reason for that.

I have stated many times that it is not the title that makes the man. A man is who he is because of his heart and soul, and a heart and soul dedicated sincerely to a cause is a formidable force regardless of any title bestowed upon them. Al Gore is such a man, and after my reading this book a second time and truly digesting it page by page I am more convinced than ever that his calling is this.

He will be known as a man who achieved great things in the continued fight for our planet's sustainability and for bringing about changes that will make this world a better place for our children by empowering us and them to action. Isn't that what it's all about? Isn't that what should be primary? Well, it is for moral dedicated citizens who see the bigger picture.

I can most surely understand the feeling of satisfaction Mr. Gore had when he first ran in Tennessee all those years ago. How fulfilled he felt to actually be doing something to further the cause of Democracy and to finally believe he had a pulpit to spread the truth of this impending crisis. I can then also understand his frustration, disappointment, and sadness at seeing that the system he once believed was one that celebrated that Democracy and openess to truth, was really one that placed personal satisfaction and aggrandizement over the best interests of the whole.

So much has happened since those days in the seventies when he first ran for Congress in Tennessee as a young man with such faith in a system that subsequently let us all down... but one thing hasn't changed, and that is the heart, soul, and conviction he has for working for a sustainable future for our planet. And he is now sharing that fulfillment with all of us and telling us through his work as a private citizen that we all have that power within us to make changes, and that indeed for all of us to use that power would certainly move mountains.

This is the lesson to be learned from reading his book again, and I thank him so much for it. I can't wait for the next one and I'm not stating that just because I want to use everything the man does as a political ploy. As I wrote earlier that demeans his conviction, but unfortunately it is all you see from pundits and some groups that claim to support him, rather than really supporting this issue and joining together to do something about it now.

I just read this article about a study claiming that our gluttony will more than likely empty the seas in our lifetime. That is big news and not good news because the repercussions of that on so many ecosystems that sustain us and other species would be catastrophic.

Almost no more seafood after 2048 at current rates, study warns

Nov. 2, 2006

Courtesy and World Science staff

Sea­food will be all but a memory by 2048 if bulging hu­man pop­u­la­tions keep de­vour­ing fish and pol­lut­ing oceans at cur­rent rates, warns a study pub­lished in the Nov. 3 is­sue of the re­search jour­nal Sci­ence.

There will be few sea­food fish left four decades from now if cur­rent trends keep up, a study sug­gests. (Im­age cour­te­sy NOAA)

“Species have been dis­ap­pear­ing” fas­t­er and fas­t­er, said lead au­thor Bo­ris Worm of Dal­hou­sie Uni­ver­si­ty in Ha­l­i­fax, Can­a­da. “If the long-term trend con­tin­ues, all fish and sea­food spe­cies are pro­jected to col­lapse with­in my life­time.”

“Col­lapse” is de­fined as the catch of a spe­cies drop­ping by 90 per­cent, said Worm, one of a group of eco­l­o­gists and eco­n­o­m­ists stu­dy­ing how ma­rine bio­di­ver­si­ty helps sus­tain hu­manity.

However, in my travels reading the web, this is generally the response you see regarding this issue in response Mr. Gore's urgent calls to us:

Please run Al and save the seafood! Save this, save that, save ME! Oh, and while you're at it lose weight, because you can't run for President  to save me the way you look now. :::shaking head:::

That is actually what you see as the mentality of many who seem to think this is all a political game, and only use the environment as an excuse to play act on their Internet stages. However, this is a very serious problem that can only be faced by US. Our gluttony and immoral ways that are polluting the Earth's waterways are killing off species and committing what amounts to environmental genocide. But will anyone care enough to stop it? Can we?

Or will we be like the people of Easter Island who cut down the very last tree in order to satiate their own selfish needs? Let me ask you, does Easter Island still exist and flourish? There's a lesson to be learned there. The problem is however, that we as a species don't seem to learn lessons no matter how many times we make the same mistake over and over and over again, and that isn't a good trend to fall back on now in the wake of what we face at our own hand.

Most people would probably also read this and say, well, we can then just eat beef instead, and look at all the water we will have when the fish aren't there to take up the space... Or gee, how about a genetically modified fish? Or how about... You know, some days I just can't tolerate being a member of a species that is so blatantly IGNORANT AND SELFISH.

Easter Island History

Excerpt:

As statue making increased, the supplies of timber and rope gradually became scarce. The lack of trees meant that canoes could no longer be built, restricting offshore fishing. Without canoes, they could not set off for another island. The Rapanui found themselves trapped in a degrading environment.

It isn't human nature unfortunately that has changed, it is only the tools we now use to destroy ourselves and our planet that have become more advanced. We definitely need to then change the former and do away with the latter in order to survive. I fear that only a real catastrophe could do that, but like Easter Island it may well be a kind of catastrophe that doesn't allow time for human nature to change. That is why we all have to start NOW. But yeah, it is so much more fun to sit and speculate about a presidential election while our world falls down around us.

More people need to see the picture in An Inconvenient Truth of that little blue dot that is suspended in the universe to get perspective, because that little blue dot is us and we are making it even smaller by our own actions. That is definitely something worth caring about and it is something that goes so far beyond all of the rhetoric.

How fortunate for us that there are those like Al Gore who see this and seek to direct us to that realization with their words, for that will be what saves us in the end. An Inconvenient Truth the book is then an invaluable resource to start you on the road to that realization, but you have to take the first step. And that first step will be one of many on the road to Earth's recovery and the illumination of our souls which is the true catalyst for positive change.