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Guest Editorial
It is Time: In Honor
of Earth Day
by Blair Gelbond
Edgar Morin, author of Homeland Earth has
written:
"We must realize, and make sure others realize that...unity, in this
global age, means that we have a common destiny - of life, and of
death." This can not be an abstract notion. On the contrary it is
the existential reality we are living: “because what is at stake is
the fate of a specific planet and its specific inhabitants..."
Increasingly, scientists and scholars are realizing that, along with
the degradation of our Biosphere, humanity itself is currently in
danger. The reality is that our species is facing a number of very
serious adversity factors. Many of us simply sense this on an
intuitive level.
These trends, which are expected to come to fruition in the years
ahead, include global climate change, the rapid extinction of
species, the depletion of critical natural resources, the continuing
increase in world population, and the rapidly growing gap between
the rich and the poor. These and other major challenges appear to be
converging into a “whole-systems crisis.”
I believe that - if we hope to remove ourselves from the endangered
species list – we simply must learn to cooperate. This will mean
giving up our obsessive, but futile preoccupation with dominating
other human beings and Nature. However, it seems likely that this
feat may first require that we experience life with our backs “up
against the wall.”
We need to quickly recognize the necessity of finding new,
sustainable ways of living. An essential part of this process will
involve learning to think about humanity (and our planet) as a
whole.
To accomplish this we will need to experience a “global mind change”
- a questioning of many of our taken-for-granted assumptions and
worldviews – no small matter. This shift in our thinking would be,
as Morin puts it: "of considerably greater proportions than the
Copernican revolution."
The writer is a resident of Watertown who once worked in East
Boston.
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