Every time I get on the freeway, I see, on the back ends of cars, a new crop of ribbons of Freedom. They are popping up everywhere. Often they are yellow, sometimes camouflage tan, or red white and blue. They say "Support Our Troops".
I'd like to see a campaign of bumper sticker ribbons that are brindled blue and green, and assert a different motto, "Support the Earth".
If you can't beat 'em, rip off their tactics. We need visible, positive symbols of resistance. Let's subvert that possessive loyalty that beats in the human breast from nationalism to worldism.
Reasons to be worldly:
Global warming is a greater threat to our children than terrorism.
Around the planet, 26 billion tons of topsoil are eroded each year from the world's farmland.
Deserts advance at a rate of nearly 15 million acres per year.
10 million acres of rain forest are destroyed annually.
There is a 6 million square mile hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica.
There are over 130,000 tons of known nuclear waste in the world, some of which will remain poisonous to the planet for another 100,000 years.
All those ribbons I see have a psychological impact.
The New York Times today has an article about the psychologically wounded, who are returning from this war. I heard on NPR that the fiscal debt we owe on the war by the end of next year will exceed 200 billion. Yet we can't keep our soldiers in flak jackets.
Humans are a herd animal. The Kerry lawn signs have come down, bumper stickers are scarcer, buttons are being passed on to antique dealers. We need to say to our neighbors- we're still here, and we count. Our values matter.
In millions of galaxies, in a vast emptiness of billions of miles of stellar space, one tiny speck is a shining citadel of burgeoning Life. Our planet's breathtaking beauty and complexity is a blazing psalm. We see God's work every day, in the flutter of little sparrows fluffing their feathers in the cold, in the great shining trove of Light that greets our eyes. This evident Miracle is greater than any one religion.
"Support the Earth" is not just about environmentalism, it's about diplomacy rather than pre-emptive war, about international cooperation as opposed to unbridled competition.
It's about every aspect of life on this marvelous marble.
In my own quixotic quest to be a voice in the maelstrom, I've used
Sticker Junkie, where you can type in your own pithy bit of political wit, try it out in a mock layout, and get 100 stickers for $25.
My current sticker is "Love a Liberal", which I pass out among my friends. I leave a stack in our local cafe, alongside the art postcards and the music scene leaflets. They fly off to parts unknown.
I'm not, by nature, political. I'd rather write poetry than invent slogans. I hate pulpits, and bullies, I recoil from using this blog to preach. But we have to act.
A couple alert readers recently sent me this essay, by Bill Moyers, which talks about apocalypse mongers.
Battlefield Earth
I keep thinking about Michael Moore's latest missive about a domestic violence counselor who argues that what the left is currently experiencing is intellectual and spiritual abuse.
It makes you think.
In millions of galaxies, we are the ones, the keepers of the Sacred Fire of Life.
Light a candle.
Use your voice.

I admit it. I had succumbed to post election retreat. In the face of what seems to me insanity- blood lust on the right combined with abject contrition by lily-livered Democrats, I'd retreated to Plato's cave. Today I received a wake-up call. It comes from Africa by way of Scandinavia. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded for the first time to an African woman, Wangari Muta Maathai.
Ms. Maathai is the antidote to Bushism. You might call her the anti-Bush.
In the face of a multitude of overwhelming problems in her country, Kenya, Wangari took hold of one issue, deforestation. Then, like a magician, she used that corner to whisk off the whole tablecloth.
Her Green Belt movement began with the simple act of planting a tree. But this was no ordinary tree. She turned that tree into a symbol.
Here in the U.S., by aggrandizing a slim margin, Republicans have been joyriding on their victory, and criticize the left as a disorganized, (read "undisciplined") anti-democratic polyglot of special interests.
The left itself seems demoralized, dazed and confused.
In her acceptance speech, Wangari Maathai makes vital connections between the issues that concern us. She reclaims the power of democracy, welds with it the empowerment of women and sustainable environmental practices, and points us toward economic growth through individual and international accountability. It's a profoundly moral vision. I've pruned her speech a bit, (it's long) but here's most of what she said.

"In 1977, when we started the Green Belt Movement, I was partly responding to needs identified by rural women, namely lack of firewood....

Throughout Africa, women are the primary caretakers, holding significant responsibility for tilling the land and feeding their families. As a result, they are often the first to become aware of environmental damage as resources become scarce and incapable of sustaining their families...

Together, we have planted over 30 million trees that provide fuel, food, shelter, and income to support their children's education and household needs. The activity also creates employment and improves soils and watersheds. Through their involvement, women gain some degree of power over their lives, especially their social and economic position and relevance in the family.

...Initially, the work was difficult because historically our people have been persuaded to believe that because they are poor, they lack not only capital, but also knowledge and skills to address their challenges. Instead they are conditioned to believe that solutions to their problems must come from 'outside'. Further, women did not realize that meeting their needs depended on their environment being healthy and well managed. They were also unaware that a degraded environment leads to a scramble for scarce resources and may culminate in poverty and even conflict. They were also unaware of the injustices of international economic arrangements.

In order to assist communities to understand these linkages, we developed a citizen education program, during which people identify their problems, the causes and possible solutions. They then make connections between their own personal actions and the problems they witness in the environment and in society. They learn that our world is confronted with a litany of woes: corruption, violence against women and children, disruption and breakdown of families, and disintegration of cultures and communities.

In the process, the participants discover that they must be part of the solutions. They realize their hidden potential and are empowered to overcome inertia and take action. They come to recognize that they are the primary custodians and beneficiaries of the environment that sustains them.

...Entire communities also come to understand that while it is necessary to hold their governments accountable, it is equally important that in their own relationships with each other, they exemplify the leadership values they wish to see in their own leaders, namely justice, integrity and trust.

Although initially the Green Belt Movement's tree planting activities did not address issues of democracy and peace, it soon became clear that responsible governance of the environment was impossible without democratic space. Therefore, the tree became a symbol for the democratic struggle in Kenya. Citizens were mobilised to challenge widespread abuses of power, corruption and environmental mismanagement. In Nairobi's Uhuru Park, at Freedom Corner, and in many parts of the country, trees of peace were planted to demand the release of prisoners of conscience and a peaceful transition to democracy.

Through the Green Belt Movement, thousands of ordinary citizens were mobilized and empowered to take action and effect change. They learned to overcome fear and a sense of helplessness and moved to defend democratic rights.

In time, the tree also became a symbol for peace and conflict resolution, especially during ethnic conflicts in Kenya when the Green Belt Movement used peace trees to reconcile disputing communities. During the ongoing re-writing of the Kenyan constitution, similar trees of peace were planted in many parts of the country to promote a culture of peace. Using trees as a symbol of peace is in keeping with a widespread African tradition. For example, the elders of the Kikuyu carried a staff from the thigi tree that, when placed between two disputing sides, caused them to stop fighting and seek reconciliation. Many communities in Africa have these traditions.

Such practises are part of an extensive cultural heritage, which contributes both to the conservation of habitats and to cultures of peace. With the destruction of these cultures and the introduction of new values, local biodiversity is no longer valued or protected and as a result, it is quickly degraded and disappears. For this reason, The Green Belt Movement explores the concept of cultural biodiversity, especially with respect to indigenous seeds and medicinal plants.
As we progressively understood the causes of environmental degradation, we saw the need for good governance. Indeed, the state of any county's environment is a reflection of the kind of governance in place, and without good governance there can be no peace. Many countries, which have poor governance systems, are also likely to have conflicts and poor laws protecting the environment.
In 2002, the courage, resilience, patience and commitment of members of the Green Belt Movement, other civil society organizations, and the Kenyan public culminated in the peaceful transition to a democratic government and laid the foundation for a more stable society.

Excellencies, friends, ladies and gentlemen,

It is 30 years since we started this work. Activities that devastate the environment and societies continue unabated. Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. This will happen if we see the need to revive our sense of belonging to a larger family of life, with which we have shared our evolutionary process.

In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other.

That time is now.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has challenged the world to broaden the understanding of peace: there can be no peace without equitable development; and there can be no development without sustainable management of the environment in a democratic and peaceful space. This shift is an idea whose time has come.

I call on leaders, especially from Africa, to expand democratic space and build fair and just societies that allow the creativity and energy of their citizens to flourish. Those of us who have been privileged to receive education, skills, and experiences and even power must be role models for the next generation of leadership. In this regard, I would also like to appeal for the freedom of my fellow laureate Aung San Suu Kyi so that she can continue her work for peace and democracy for the people of Burma and the world at large.

Culture plays a central role in the political, economic and social life of communities. Indeed, culture may be the missing link in the development of Africa. Culture is dynamic and evolves over time, consciously discarding retrogressive traditions, like female genital mutilation (FGM), and embracing aspects that are good and useful.

Africans, especially, should re-discover positive aspects of their culture. In accepting them, they would give themselves a sense of belonging, identity and self-confidence.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There is also need to galvanize civil society and grassroots movements to catalyse change. I call upon governments to recognize the role of these social movements in building a critical mass of responsible citizens, who help maintain checks and balances in society. On their part, civil society should embrace not only their rights but also their responsibilities.

Further, industry and global institutions must appreciate that ensuring economic justice, equity and ecological integrity are of greater value than profits at any cost. The extreme global inequities and prevailing consumption patterns continue at the expense of the environment and peaceful co-existence. The choice is ours.

I would like to call on young people to commit themselves to activities that contribute toward achieving their long-term dreams. They have the energy and creativity to shape a sustainable future. To the young people I say, you are a gift to your communities and indeed the world. You are our hope and our future.

The holistic approach to development, as exemplified by the Green Belt Movement, could be embraced and replicated in more parts of Africa and beyond. It is for this reason that I have established the Wangari Maathai Foundation to ensure the continuation and expansion of these activities. Although a lot has been achieved, much remains to be done.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

As I conclude I reflect on my childhood experience when I would visit a stream next to our home to fetch water for my mother. I would drink water straight from the stream. Playing among the arrowroot leaves I tried in vain to pick up the strands of frogs' eggs, believing they were beads. But every time I put my little fingers under them they would break. Later, I saw thousands of tadpoles: black, energetic and wriggling through the clear water against the background of the brown earth. This is the world I inherited from my parents.

Today, over 50 years later, the stream has dried up, women walk long distances for water, which is not always clean, and children will never know what they have lost. The challenge is to restore the home of the tadpoles and give back to our children a world of beauty and wonder.