Dear us-two: thank you for stringing pearls of image-wisdom from every culture. This article sings with intuitive awe and scientific speculation. You portray the nature of our balancing act here in this world. We exist. The void of space surrounds our atmosphere, gifts us with breath and body. Always a good story to tell, seldom better told.
I was struck by the case for the $50B project which is a massive price tag but the cost of not taking action is much greater. It really made me think about the cost of reparations. Reparations to segments of humanity that have been wronged but also to Mother Earth. Since the world is currently based on economics and capitalism (rightly or wrongly), perhaps we need to get better at speaking that language and pressing the case for action in dollar terms and being innovative in how we present those cases. There are starting to be lots of HBR type environmental examples we could use to persuade the money driven segment of society.
I listened to a podcast on the different types of reparation models that could be applied to Black Americans for slavery. It included the costs which was really interesting to get past the concept and to tangible ways to actually do it. As well as the long term benefits I dollar terms of such a program.
Are there economists working on this for climate issues? There must be. I would think the models would need to be broken down into more components of the climate issue or more tactical elements to show the benefits on a case by case basis.
I note with no small thrill that The Understory, for all it's deeply rich powers of expression to date, has just turned Pro. What you have here would be comfortable in the pages of any of the most cogent magazines of the day. Even as I place this wreath at the feet of "you-two," I also recognize that the Understory itself is its *own* unique expression, and medium, and community which is growing over time to rub shoulders with and disrupt those establishment pillars of the press.
This is a stunning fact to sit with, given our entire tech economy's reliance on such metals, not to mention the human cost and exploitation to mine them: "When it comes to gold specifically, Neville Bergin did the calculations and found it took over 10 megalitres of Water (that’s 10,000,000 litres) to produce one pound of gold. "
Following suggestions from Manda Scott (Accidental Gods) I have adopted the practice these last few months of seeking to recognize, thank, and praise water (spirit of water - the miraculous fact of water) whenever I encounter it. Rain fall. What comes out of the tap. Washing dishes by hand. The absolute wonder of a warm shower. What I found is initially I would not remember until well after I had, for instance, washed my hands. Ten minutes later... "oh, I should have thanked water."
Over the weeks, the window of recollection became smaller and smaller until finally I remembered last Saturday while I was actually still standing under the shower, and I burst into tears at the depth of my awe, reverence and gratitude for the humble, most basic fact that we are water, require water, it is our first and primary nourishment along with the air itself. It is what bathes us in the womb, and what washes us our first day and our last day in this life. How can we not honor water every moment we touch it? To have lost touch with this conscious connection is just one more recoverable aspect of what was misplaced/displaced by our mechanistic dominant culture. It need not be so any longer.
"Reflecting upon our journey in #ValuingWater, I believe we need to revisit our framing of value as much as we must revisit our language. Swamps are life-giving sources of huge ecosystem service benefits. Bogs are some of the most treasured assets for trapping and sequestering carbon. Floods deliver critical nutrients, sediment to protect our coastlines and replenish our groundwater systems. Droughts too can be positive; they lower pollution levels, and help to “reset” systems (not unlike forest fires) and establish conditions for life to return and flourish again. We need to see freshwater systems in a new light, and bring forth new, positive associations that indeed 'value' water."
Having lived on a country where water shortages are rare, this is a very powerful and thought provoking read. The video from Cape Town was so powerful. Thank you Adam and Musa
Dear us-two: thank you for stringing pearls of image-wisdom from every culture. This article sings with intuitive awe and scientific speculation. You portray the nature of our balancing act here in this world. We exist. The void of space surrounds our atmosphere, gifts us with breath and body. Always a good story to tell, seldom better told.
I was struck by the case for the $50B project which is a massive price tag but the cost of not taking action is much greater. It really made me think about the cost of reparations. Reparations to segments of humanity that have been wronged but also to Mother Earth. Since the world is currently based on economics and capitalism (rightly or wrongly), perhaps we need to get better at speaking that language and pressing the case for action in dollar terms and being innovative in how we present those cases. There are starting to be lots of HBR type environmental examples we could use to persuade the money driven segment of society.
I listened to a podcast on the different types of reparation models that could be applied to Black Americans for slavery. It included the costs which was really interesting to get past the concept and to tangible ways to actually do it. As well as the long term benefits I dollar terms of such a program.
Are there economists working on this for climate issues? There must be. I would think the models would need to be broken down into more components of the climate issue or more tactical elements to show the benefits on a case by case basis.
Clinton admin proposal shelved after Gore conceded.
I note with no small thrill that The Understory, for all it's deeply rich powers of expression to date, has just turned Pro. What you have here would be comfortable in the pages of any of the most cogent magazines of the day. Even as I place this wreath at the feet of "you-two," I also recognize that the Understory itself is its *own* unique expression, and medium, and community which is growing over time to rub shoulders with and disrupt those establishment pillars of the press.
This is a stunning fact to sit with, given our entire tech economy's reliance on such metals, not to mention the human cost and exploitation to mine them: "When it comes to gold specifically, Neville Bergin did the calculations and found it took over 10 megalitres of Water (that’s 10,000,000 litres) to produce one pound of gold. "
Following suggestions from Manda Scott (Accidental Gods) I have adopted the practice these last few months of seeking to recognize, thank, and praise water (spirit of water - the miraculous fact of water) whenever I encounter it. Rain fall. What comes out of the tap. Washing dishes by hand. The absolute wonder of a warm shower. What I found is initially I would not remember until well after I had, for instance, washed my hands. Ten minutes later... "oh, I should have thanked water."
Over the weeks, the window of recollection became smaller and smaller until finally I remembered last Saturday while I was actually still standing under the shower, and I burst into tears at the depth of my awe, reverence and gratitude for the humble, most basic fact that we are water, require water, it is our first and primary nourishment along with the air itself. It is what bathes us in the womb, and what washes us our first day and our last day in this life. How can we not honor water every moment we touch it? To have lost touch with this conscious connection is just one more recoverable aspect of what was misplaced/displaced by our mechanistic dominant culture. It need not be so any longer.
I commend the practice to you all.
I am grateful for the comment by Alexis Morgan (WWF) shared in the Reflections. I found great resonance in his recent writing on the linkage between our perceptions of value and the language we use to describe water https://www.ooskanews.com/story/2021/03/ooskanews-voices-value-water-revisited
"Reflecting upon our journey in #ValuingWater, I believe we need to revisit our framing of value as much as we must revisit our language. Swamps are life-giving sources of huge ecosystem service benefits. Bogs are some of the most treasured assets for trapping and sequestering carbon. Floods deliver critical nutrients, sediment to protect our coastlines and replenish our groundwater systems. Droughts too can be positive; they lower pollution levels, and help to “reset” systems (not unlike forest fires) and establish conditions for life to return and flourish again. We need to see freshwater systems in a new light, and bring forth new, positive associations that indeed 'value' water."
Having lived on a country where water shortages are rare, this is a very powerful and thought provoking read. The video from Cape Town was so powerful. Thank you Adam and Musa