Defense. What comes to your mind when\nyou consider that word? There are so many uses for the word: military and weapons\nlike ballistic missiles help provide our national defense, karate and martial\narts help provide us self-defense, and seat belts and mandatory safety\ninspections help provide us defense in our cars. And the list goes on, a litany\nof applications using the word defense; the more you ponder it the more applications\narise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We aren\u2019t the only ones to do so: every\nspecies of plant and animal has their own unique means of self-defense ranging\nfrom poison, teeth and claws, powerful scents, and even vivid colors. Plants\nalso defend themselves, but lacking mobility they are not overtly effective of course\nbut consider poison ivy and the bane of my personal existence here in RI \u2013 bull\nbriars and their impenetrable thorns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what of our biological defenses?\nThere is the immune system itself, the primary means of protecting us from\ngerms, bacteria and illness. But we try to help it, bolster it, with little\nthings like good hygiene – washing our hands for example \u2013 and we use hand sanitizer\nand disinfectants. And during cold and flu season we try to avoid close contact\nwith people, but being humans, we invariably find ways to still catch something\nor another. And of course, we can\u2019t forget the granddaddy of self-defense: vaccines.\nWe inoculate ourselves against anything and everything for which medical\nscience is able to develop a vaccine. (At least most of us, incredibly and\ntruly sadly, but that for another writing\u2026.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But today\u2019s consideration is our blue\nmarble, the good earth; what is mother earth\u2019s defense? How does the earth protect\nitself? If at all? The question of self-defense from an inanimate object is moot;\nbut while earth may not be on many people\u2019s first cut of a list of living\nthings, it is decidedly not inanimate and is, most decidedly, living. But being\nas immense and complex as our planet is, figuring out which things are for the sustainment\nof the planet versus which are specifically for self-defense is difficult.\nCertainly the atmosphere \u2013 including the ozone layer \u2013 is crucial for survival\nof most everything that defines this a living planet and could be counted as\nself-defense, although the atmosphere protects the inhabitants, not the planet\nper se. Some might argue that earthquakes are a form of self-defense, but I\npersonally disagree. I believe that earthquakes are integral to the formation\nand preservation of our earth\u2019s surface \u2013 a rejuvenation of sorts. And much the\nsame with typhoons, hurricanes, blizzards and the like; all part of the larger system\nto regrow and replenish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frankly, the earth is such a perfect\nsystem that, in my opinion, it needs no real self-defense; not as one would\nnormally define self-defense. Anything I have been able to immediately think of\nas possible planetary self-defense can be argued to be for the plants and\nanimals, not for the geosphere itself. If someone has some thoughts on what\ncould be defined as an actual self-defense mechanism for the planet itself, and\nnot us who live here, I\u2019d be delighted. If you have an idea on this, please\nfeel free to leave a comment or email me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose that at the heart of the issue\nis how you define the planet; does it remain a viable entity if there are no\nlonger plants and animals? If humans cease to be? I say yes simply because that\nis how it began. I guess philosophically you could make the argument that the\nearth is here to provide a home to the species that reside upon it and if they (we)\nare no longer present, the earth no longer serves a purpose and therefore\nanything it does to provide for and protect its inhabitants is a form of\nself-defense, but I am not on the side of agreement with that argument. The\nearth spin on whether we are here or not. The moon is barren and lifeless but\nhas purpose; tidal effects alone are more than enough to demonstrate that. And\nthe same in one way or another with all of the planets \u2013 they are \u201cfunctional\u201d\nin one way or another, even if only to balance the gravity and equilibrium of\nthe solar system. So in this sense, the planet remains viable regardless of a daisy,\na butterfly, a sparrow, or a human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this all assumes a symbiotic\nrelationship between the planet and its inhabitants; or more specifically, a\nnon-parasitic relationship. As I discussed earlier in a post last year, there\nare three types of symbiosis: commensal where one organism benefits from the relationship\ngreatly while the other is not helped but is not harmed, a mutual relationship\nis one where both organisms benefit, and a parasitic is a relationship where\none organism benefits but at the harm and expense of the other. I am sure you\u2019ve\nall seen the bumper sticker \u201cCoexist\u201d? A common version uses a variety of\nsymbols from different religions to create the letters to help reinforce the message\nthat all different religions should live together in peace and harmony. Such\nthe same with relationship between earth and its inhabitants; the relationship\nshould ideally be mutual, but certainly communal at best; it should never be parasitic.\nNo species residing on this planet should cause harm or damage to the planet \u2013\nintentionally or otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can we, collectively, look into a\nmirror and affirm that we have not harmed this planet? Without getting into a\nwhole discourse on the ozone layer, climate change, groundwater contamination, strip\nmining, deforestation, and a lengthy list of similar sins \u2013 of course we can\u2019t.\nWe\u2019ve inflicted great harm to earth and the cumulative damage is now increasing\nthat harm exponentially. The earth is a marvelous and majestic system of\ncomplex and dynamic workings that renews and replenishes itself regularly. But\nevery time the earth finds another way to compensate for something we\u2019ve done\nto it, we go and do ten more harmful things to it and in my opinion, the earth\nis suffering \u2013 reeling \u2013 from our assault on it. And not just the earth, but\nthe other species too; consider how many other species we have either\neradicated from this planet, or about to eradicate. It is a somber read should\nyou take the time to research it dear reader, staggering actually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We, the former custodians of this\nround rock, have become parasites. We have brought great damage, devastation,\nand destruction to our planet and to those who merely wished to coexist with us.\nHow supremely arrogant and self-serving of us! Of course, I can\u2019t say it was intentional;\nit grew slowly and almost imperceptibly. And when the toll of our damage became\nundeniable to those who took the time to recognize it, they tried to warn us,\neven fifty years ago there were dire warnings on what we were doing to this planet.\nAnd much like the panhandlers I just wrote about in this blog, most people\nwanted to ignore the whole thing and criticized and made fun of those sounding\nthe alarm. They were labeled tree huggers, hippies, and pot smoking nuts who\nhadn\u2019t even the simplest grasp of science. How sad and how typical. The first form\nof self-defense with people who are scared by the message and wish it all to go\naway is to shoot the messenger \u2013 discredit them with ridicule and derogatory\nremarks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the least attractive forms of\nself-defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was part of it too; perhaps not\ninsulting or cruel, but I trusted in the concept that this earth is far more\ncomplex than our simple minds can comprehend and surely can, and does, protect itself\nfrom us. But without even spending a modicum of effort in research, it is\nbecoming painfully and horrifying clear to me that we are destroying our planet\nand it very well may not be able to survive us. So let those who don\u2019t wish to\nface the truth go ahead and feel free to make fun of me and call me a tree\nhugger while they stick their heads in the sand to ignore the obvious because\nit is uncomfortable. I\u2019ve been called worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can earth protect itself from us? I\ndon\u2019t think so, at least in the way you would think. Most self-defense is aimed\nat stopping the harmful behavior by some means or another and I do not see how earth\ncould muster a defense to stop all we\u2019ve done \u2013 are doing \u2013 to it. But I do\nbelieve that earth, nature, has another means to try and stop us \u2013 disease. Think\nback over the last 30 years or so. There was HIV, SARS, swine flu, bird flu, ebola,\nzika virus, and now the coronavirus. There is a long history of disease ravaging\nthe human population and arresting our growth, at least temporarily. Think back\nto the plague, the black death, yellow fever, smallpox, measles, and polio – prodigious\nkillers all. But in most every case mankind figured out how to arrest the\nspread and then to prevent the reoccurrence; especially over the last 30 years.\n(Editorial note here: measles killed 122,000 in 2012, this a disease all but eradicated\nthanks to vaccines but now resurging due to some irrational fear of the vaccine.)\nAre these diseases a result of earth trying to slow us down, shrink our\nnumbers, and focus our time and money on combatting the disease instead of developing\nnew ways to harm the planet? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When is it too late? I like to think\nnever, that it is never too late to start to turn things around, to help rather\nthan to hurt. But in this case? I shake my head in despair\u2026witnessing the\nsteadfast denial that anything is wrong with our earth, coupled with the\nderision and ridicule heaped upon those who suggest otherwise is leading me to\nthink there is no reversal. And our politicians and other people of great\nwealth and power lead that pack. Personally, I believe the reason is two-fold: it\nis logistically too huge and complex to even attempt to wrap your head around,\nso easier to disbelieve than try to fix it. And secondly, the world\u2019s economy is\ndeeply and I think, irrevocably intertwined with the very things that are damaging\nthe planet and to consider anything that will be impactful and positive to the\nearth will be damaging to industry and big business and will damage them financially\n\u2013 not in their best interests. Hate to be pessimistic, but that is my belief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That doesn\u2019t mean we shouldn\u2019t try\nthough! I recycle, as vigorously as I can. I am burning wood to burn less oil\nin the furnace (and as you may know dear reader, I am enjoying the side benefit\nof carrying on this time-honored tradition). I treasure our forests and woodlands\nand plant vegetation as often as I can. I donate to causes I believe are honest\nand sincere in trying to help our planet. And I will vote \u2013 not according to\nthe candidate\u2019s party, but their position on the environment. We need to use\nthe power provided us in our respective elections \u2013 it is a beginning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of the real problem though, is\nthat specific issues and the exacting responses remain unclear, at least to me.\nIncontrovertible and undeniable empirical evidence abounds showing our CO2 levels\non earth. That is a real and immediately pressing issue, but I have no understanding\non what, exactly we can do, to fix it. And as I have written in the past, whatever\nwe do has to be scientifically thought through, tested, and retested. We have\nto be sure we don\u2019t cure the disease by substituting a different disease; and\ndon\u2019t cure the disease and kill the patient. The solution(s) need to be\nprecise, clear, effective, manageable, and agreeable, palatable, (at least on\nsome level) to masses \u2013 the general populace. And mitigating large-scale\neconomic impact will be critical to ensuring the support of big business and the\npoliticians. Truly a tough task. But so overwhelmingly urgent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I treasure this planet every time I am fortunate enough to roam through the forests. And it is easy to be lulled into believing that nothing is wrong when you are out there \u2013 life abounds. But the melting of our ice caps, the deforestation of the Amazon as well as much the rest of our green earth, the ground and water pollution, the skyrocketing carbon dioxide levels, and thousands of more data points toughen the ground so much that I can no longer stick my head in it. This is real and this is happening. I beseech you all to do the little things that you can in your daily lives, but mostly to place the right people into the right places in order to help us all; vote based on a conviction to our earth and a plan to help it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Defense. What comes to your mind when you consider that word? There are so many uses for the word: military and weapons like ballistic missiles help provide our national defense, karate and martial arts help provide us self-defense, and seat belts and mandatory safety inspections help provide us defense in our cars. And the list […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanity","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\n