Clemens: Compassionate leadership, peace agreements needed to save planet
Bill Clemens is a resident of Magnolia.
Presently, many Americans are fighting to preserve our democracy, the great American experiment and the American dream of creating “equal opportunity for all.” That is quite a challenging experiment, which has shown the fruits of its labors for many decades. Roadblocks have been created to stop this experiment by those who harbor different ideas of what makes America great. Greed and power are always the main forces that divide us. We have continued to create goodies and baddies, without truly attempting to create compromises to overcome evil with good among our various heterogeneous populations. Altruism is an almost forgotten ideal. We do not know what we do not know. Jesus, dying on the cross, uttered the words, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” How true!
The Moody Blues created an album back in the late ’60s titled, “Days of Future Passed.” One paragraph from their song, “Late Lament,” reads as follows: “Cold hearted orb that rules the night / Removes the colors from our sight / Red is grey, and yellow-white / But we decide which is right / And which is an illusion” (author: Graeme Edge, drummer). The Moody Blues band members were “lamenting” the failed opportunities over the passing of time to make our planet peaceful, instead of being constantly at war. They perceived that our hope for a peaceful future had been passing us for centuries.
We continue to have disagreements about what is causing global warming. Clean air is a vital ingredient everyone agrees is needed to nourish our universe. The world’s most respected scientific organizations share the conclusion that “humans are responsible for global warming” (Samantha Harrington, March 27, 2020). More than 99% of scientific studies agree: Humans caused climate change (Cornell University, Oct. 19, 2021). Temperatures have been continually rising since the onset of the second Industrial Revolution, which occurred after the Civil War. The further increase in carbon dioxide emissions occurring over the last 50 years from fossil fuels has caused an increase in greenhouse gas emissions that can no longer be absorbed solely by plant photosynthesis (e.g., trees continue to be cut down for profit instead of grown). Consequently, our planet is continually warming. This danger explains the transition to solar panels, electric vehicles and windmills. Naysayers’ big worry is that this transition to “clean energy” will cripple the economy. They remain ignorant of the fact that it will save mother Earth.
Learning the twofold military tenet of “accomplishing the mission and taking care of your people” was an invaluable learning experience in the military. Instead of “valuing every human’s worth,” we have too often bought into misinformation and false propaganda. Much of our discontent is the crisis at the Southern border. Illegal immigrants, many of whom are applying for asylum, are presently experiencing the highest rate of homelessness due to wars and oppressive government leaders in their countries. Members of the “Make America Great Again” movement do not desire comprehensive immigration reform. They fear it would dissolve their stronghold on power and wealth. Selfishness still rules the day. Compassionate leadership and peace agreements by all the countries on our planet are the only answers to saving our planet from the calamity that is lurking on the horizon.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
