Gail’s on Her Soapbox-a Sunday Rant
Warning! This may not sit well with all of you readers. I’ve had so much on my mind that it is spilling out. I’m concerned, NO I’m down right worried about, not just our country, but our planet. What have we been thinking? We have a presidential candidate who wants to “Make America Great Again.” I ask – What does that mean exactly? Do we want the fifties back, the “Happy Days?” Must I remind you that they weren’t such ‘happy’ old days for everyone. The roles of women and people of color might not agree that they were happy. Anyone who knows even a simple version of history ought to know that you can’t go back. And going forward? That involves more of the same and is fraught with serious problems for our environment, our earth. Before you call me a liberal tree hugger, consider the facts. Ice caps are melting-who is to blame? Arguing this can start a blame game that will get us nowhere. Many animals are going extinct. The rain forest is being ravished.
I think my great grandchildren will be facing issues that we can’t even imagine, or would rather not think about.
Food Supply
A rough calculation of current rates of soil degradation suggests we have about 60 seasons of topsoil left.Some 40% of soil used for agriculture around the world is classed as either degraded or seriously degraded – the latter means that 70% of the topsoil, the layer allowing plants to grow, is gone. Soil is a necessity! Read Food Fix by Mark Hyman, M.D.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Rainforests produce about 20% of our oxygen and store a huge amount of carbon dioxide, drastically reducing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. Massive amounts of solar radiation are absorbed, helping regulate temperatures around the globe. Unbelievably, over 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned every day. That is over 150 acres lost every minute of every day, and 78 million acres are lost every year.
Consider this: known oil-deposits will run out by 2052. In case you don’t do math, that is 28 years from now.
I may be a tree hugger after all. I know that we have had intelligent people warn us and we still don’t listen. Or we don’t know what we can do so we ignore the warnings. I’m not a socialist, not even close, I do, however, like Carl Sandburg. His poem “Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind” speaks volumes to me. I’ve seen it in so many arenas. Some in business, think Kodak or Sears. I’ve seen it in school systems. I’ve seen it in churches. And of course we’ve seen it historically with countries. Consider the Roman Empire – By AD 117, the Roman Empire had reached its maximum extant, spanning three continents including Asia Minor, northern Africa, and most of Europe.
My point here is that we must face reality. Even our beautiful America is not invincible.
Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind
Carl Sandburg
1
The woman named Tomorrow
sits with a hairpin in her teeth
and takes her time
and does her hair the way she wants it
and fastens at last the braid and coil
and puts the hairpin where it belongs
and turns and drawls: Well, what of it?
My grandmother, Yesterday, is gone.
What of it? Let the dead be dead.
2
The doors were cedar
and the panels strips of gold
and the girls were golden girls
and the panels read and the girls chanted:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation:
nothing like us ever was.
The doors are twisted on broken hinges.
Sheets of rain swish through on the wind
where the golden girls ran and the panels read:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation:
nothing like us ever was.
3
It has happened before.
Strong men put up a city and got
a nation together,
And paid singers to sing and women
to warble: We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation, nothing like us ever was.
And while the singers sang
and the strong men listened
and paid the singers well
and felt good about it all,
there were rats and lizards who listened
. . .and the only listeners left now
. . .are . . .the rats . . .and the lizards.
And there are black crows
crying, "Caw, caw,"
bringing mud and sticks
building a nest
over the words carved
on the doors where the panels were cedar
and the strips on the panels were gold
and the golden girls came singing:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation:
nothing like us ever was.
The only singers now are crows crying, "Caw, caw,"
And the sheets of rain whine in the wind and doorways.
And the only listeners now are . . the rats . . .and the lizards.
4
The feet of the rats
scribble on the door sills;
the hieroglyphs of the rat footprints
chatter the pedigrees of the rats
and babble of the blood
and gabble of the breed
of the grandfathers and the great-grandfathers
of the rats.
And the wind shifts
and the dust on a door sill shifts
and even the writing of the rat footprints
tell us nothing, nothing at all
about the greatest city, the greatest nation
where the strong men listened
and the women warbled: Nothing like us ever was.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- Lord of the Rings
This is not an ad.
- We support World Wildlife Foundation and Environmental Defense Fund
- Yes, we do drive a large motor coach, but in our defense we do not fly in jets-hardly ever. In just one hour, a single private jet can emit two tons of CO2. We shouldn’t now see flying as a trivial routine. Planes remain a very polluting and problematic means of transport. Admittedly, air transport is extremely polluting.
- We also support farmers who grow organically. Organic practices help keep our water supply clean of run-off from toxic and persistent chemicals. Moreover, by prohibiting the use of petroleum-based fertilizers and absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, organic agriculture helps to reduce our carbon footprint and combat climate change.
Try being informed not just opinionated.
Read Life After Doom by Brian McLaren
I had three children as a single-divorced mother before I remarried. In 2007 I founded SMORE for Women, a nonprofit whose goal is Single Moms, Overjoyed, Rejuvenated, and Empowered. I’m also a Certified Professional Coach and my stories have been published in several Christian books and magazines. My book, Living Learning Loving is available on Amazon. My Website. You may purchase my ABCs of Wisdom on my website. Proceeds go to SMORE for Women.
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