In 1999, The Mendocino Environmental Center sent two busloads of advocates to Seattle to protest the economic globalization that was the focus of the World Trade Organization conference. In spite of a cold rain, thousands of protesters showed up and managed to block traffic so well that the conference was unable to accomplish any of its objectives. Although there were some independent media that reported from the ground (thanks KZYX!), the mainstream coverage tended to highlight the perspective of the conferences delegates, who typically said, “We know what they’re against. We just can’t figure out what they’re for.”
This complaint was not new. A generation earlier, when the environmental movement really took off, there were many who suggested that it was just another issue to rally revolutionaries as the Vietnam War was winding down. The post World War II enthusiasm for technology and “progress” had little patience for tree-hugging NIMBY contrarians who were viewed, at best, to be well-intentioned dupes of communist propaganda.
In a way, they were right. Many of us were so angry with the excesses of the military-industrial complex, international corporations, and the governments that supported them that we did not pay enough attention to the moral underpinnings of our own efforts. And now, as we advocate against a regional mall in the Ukiah Valley, we are once again being painted as obstacles to “progress”. It is time to state what we are for.
A precious world There have been many celebrations this year marking the fortieth anniversary of humanity’s first landing on the moon. But our first encounter with Luna, and her perspective of the Earth, had come
eight months earlier. On December 24, 1968, as many of Earth’s inhabitants were celebrating the return of the light, three astronauts reached the moon for the first time. They could not land, as the landing craft was not yet ready. But as they finished circling around the far side of the moon, they were nearly overwhelmed by a sight never before seen by humans – Earthrise. One of the astronauts turned his camera, designed to take pictures of craters, to the Earth, which he later described as “a big blue marble, looking so frail and alone in the vast blackness of space.” It was that image, seen from the moon, that provided the impetus for the modern environmental movement.
Sustainability: our gift to the future
There is a saying attributed to the tribal chieftains of the indigenous peoples of this continent: “I am the leader of all my people. Many are alive. Many more have come before. But most are yet to be born.” Nearly every philosophy, religion, tradition, way of life, etc., tries to instruct us how to live day-to-day in order to bring about a better future. Some call this fulfillment, some salvation, some destiny. And it seems to apply not only to each individual but also to humanity as a whole. To paraphrase an environmental mantra, we must think eternally, act in the here-and-now.
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Think eternally,
act here-and-now
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Sustainability is essential. It’s what makes us more than NIMBY’s. If an activity is not sustainable, it is stealing from future generations. Being stewards of the Earth requires us to oppose any such activity. We are for progress, but only if it is sustainable. Nonviolence, toleration, and diversity. For centuries leaders have often argued that the end justifies the means. The result is a world full of hunger, suffering, war, and tyranny.
We believe that the means create the new reality. If we commit to nonviolence, toleration, and diversity, then each decision will embolden humanity, and the paradise we seek will blossom in the present. Have you ever shared such a moment with another, when you start to feel tingles from being so in tune with the magnificence of the human potential? Whenever two or more people gather in the name of compassion,
they make it so. Moments like that happen all the time at the MEC.