Sunday, January 25, 2009

What a Real Maverick, Maury Jr., Called Succotash

Communication Toward Positively Ethical Applied Community Ecology. If we can view local community from the inside and from the outside in a holistic way, it helps in doing what’s "right" and making constructive change toward quality life for all for a long period of time. … And there are many ways (knowledgeable, courageous leadership; grassroots community organizing; good investigative journalism; petitions; op-eds/letters to editors; etc.; etc.) to effect such appropriate change, i.e., change to:


o Respect the need for scientific knowledge of ecological principles and processes, which includes socio-economic/political actions of what is now the dominant species (humans).
o Target the poor with power and resources.
o Curb consumption and increase ethical transformation of energy. (This must include fewer automobiles, low square-footage of home space and built capital per capita, local production of food, fiber and shelter, small neighborhood and rural schools promoting “Lands On” ecological literacy, and local community-directed preventative-health care and healthy living.)
o Give the nations of the world—and people of the world—the courage and means to lay down all arms and armaments.
o Establish holistic, dynamic and sustainable decision-making processes in manageable wholes, and involving goals (of desired quality life, landscape, and needed production), policies, strategic and tactical plans, monitoring, analysis, evaluation and replanning.
o Redesign our current socio-economic, political systems in a holistic way toward sustainability.


Efforts to Turn Around Global Climate Change and Other Ecological Disasters Must Lead to Sustainable Livelihoods for All. Those who worry about losing jobs because of concerted efforts to deal with global climate change have reason for concern if they plan to continue doing “business as usual”.


o Consumption and lack of conservation, growth, rampant conversion of natural capital to human financial and built capital, use of GDP as a measure of sustainability and quality life are major aspects of “the problem”, and we who have undue power need to come off of our consumption levels of up to 400, 000 kilocalories per capita per day, and help billions of others to increase their levels from a few thousand kilocalories per day to 5-10 times those current levels.
o Present ways of “living” involving conventional consumerism and capitalism are very problematic. … We need to move from such systems of bio-destructive livelihoods toward sustainable livelihoods
www.livelihoods.org/ .
o We must begin to make the transition from our currently very broken systems dependent on economic growth to systems involving ecological economics proposed by Herman Daly, H.T.Odum, David Pimentel, Robert Costanza, Gus Speth, et al.


Learning About “Ecological Economics”, “Sustainable Livelihoods”, “Conservation and Development of Sustainable Community”, and “Positively Ethical Applied Community Ecology”. There is much really good educational scientific information on conservation and sustainable community coming out, and I hope we all will become more knowledgeable in these areas and truly begin to work together for PEACE. (I’ll try to list some of the really great books, scientific journal and magazine articles, film, pieces “on-line” and in newsletters, etc. that have come out recently.

But in the meantime, … “Google on!”)

Doing What’s Right in Seguin (and Other Communities). I do hope our community leaders (Mayor & City Council--and associated governmental entities, County Commissioners Court, School Board, etc.) will have the courage to do what is right, and-- through creative and critical thinking and courageous/prudent risk-taking--


o Move us toward a system of small neighborhood & rural schools providing holistic ecological literacy.
o Promote local agricultural food (fiber and shelter) production, community gardens, farmers markets, etc.
o Encourage conservation and develop creative curbside trash and recycling pickups that are fair for the poor, and involve sliding-scale fees--that encourage a reduction of disposables and decrease in consumption.
o Facilitate a transition to intra- and inter-city transport/people-moving systems involving walking, bicycling, and mass transport.
o Curb growth and protect and enhance green space and biodiversity.
o Develop a healthy, relatively drug-free community of citizens among all ethnicities and economic levels.


We (Seguin/Seguinities) could be a model for President Barack Obama, other communities, and the world, rather than always cautiously following in the footsteps of others—oftentimes not thinking about whether the direction is “right” or wrong.

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