SOS #33    J. Morris Hicks    (11-26-19)  
New Conclusion Sparks Joy on Thanksgiving
Last week, I ended my SOS Memo with this statement:

At the end of the day, I believe that our enjoyment of life, for whatever time we have remaining, is more fulfilling if we never stop searching for a way to save our species.

So that is what I intend to do for as long as I may live. On this Thanksgiving-week SOS Memo, I begin by harkening back to what I wrote this time last year.

November 2018.  This year I am most thankful for finally being able to see a green and sustainable pathway forward for humanity - something that I have doubted for the past few years.

Two months ago, I posted the first BSB that focused on what I am calling a futuristic "green" region in the USA - a true "big picture" solution for humanity. I called that piece:


That "idea" in September of 2018, was sparked after I  concluded that it would be impossible for the world's eight billion people, acting independently, to ever come remotely close to living in harmony with nature - even if everyone tried as hard as they could. 

It was that realization that led me to conclude that we must re-examine the "big picture" of human life on Earth, with an eye toward a totally new way of living that can co-exist in complete harmony with nature - indefinitely.

Back to real-time in 2019. A fter 52 consecutive weekly SOS Memos on this topic, I now see a few glimmers of hope - but have not seen any serious, high-level discussions among powerful leaders on the topic of urgently replacing our civilization with one that can survive a 2 to 3 degree centigrade rise in global temperature.

We can forget the Paris target of 1.5 degrees. That ship sailed long ago.  Earlier this year, James Cameron described our situation thusly:
The world is completely delusional and going to hell in a handbasket as fast as humanly possible. The only relevant question is: How do we make the crash as soft a landing as possible for some kind of continuation of human civilization?

Softening the Crash. I like the way Cameron describes our predicament and I choose to believe that the greater the effort we put into saving our species, the greater the chances that we will succeed to some extent or that we will at least succeed in delaying our ultimate demise.

Softening the Crash; where's Captain Sully when we need him?

Delaying our demise? Yes. With eight grandchildren under 20 years old, the thought of delaying our ultimate demise another few hundred years sounds a helluva lot better than the complete annihilation of humanity this century.

Why is working to delay our ultimate demise a better option than doing nothing? Three reasons:
  • Some well-respected scientists have concluded that we may have already passed the point of no return, but even if we have, I figure that we might be able to delay the inevitable.
  • If that's the case, the children of today may still have a chance to lead long, reasonably comfortable and meaningful lives.
  • As such, they will have a chance to monitor our progress as we adults work to save their civilization and, as a result, they will be better equipped to make more informed family planning* decisions themselves.
* I notice that some young people today are choosing to adopt because of their concerns about the possible demise of our civilization. I can easily see two reasons why this makes sense.

So what am I thankful for this year? Two things:

First. This is the one that sparks joy for me.  I am thankful for having arrived at the above conclusion to work on slowing down our demise - because it provides me with an argument for those scientists who think we have no chance whatsoever of saving our civilization or our species. 

I bet that most of them would admit that if we urgently pursued something like the GRATOLA model for sustainable living, that we just might have a chance of slowing down our ultimate demise.

Or we might even hit a home run and figure out a way to live in harmony with nature indefinitely. In whichever case, we must do all that we can for all of the children that follow us on this planet.
Secondly, I am thankful that we are finally beginning to see other bold, futuristic ideas regarding how we might learn to live in harmony with nature on this planet. Here are two cases in point:

Case # 1.  Check out this image of a fully sustainable, modern city in Mexico that is in works.

 
The futuristic city pictured above, while not perfect, illustrates the kind of totally "outside the box" thinking that we must have to maximize our chances of survival. 

From the online slide show, you can see what they have in mind. From the news release:

An Italian architect firm has unveiled innovative designs for a nature-infused smart city in Cancun, Mexico that will serve as a model for resilient and sustainable urban planning.

Now that's what I call thinking outside the box, and in line with the GRATOLA or GBN vision, they're talking about a way of living where ALL lifestyle options could be green.

Case #2. In this "2040" trailer below, I see the same kind of thinking. It's not perfect, but it demonstrates that more and more people are beginning to think outside the box when it comes to our future. Two-Minute Video:

2040 - Official Trailer

Here's my favorite image from the video above. Notice the modern train station with HyperLoop tubes prominently featured on both sides of the image. Imagine stepping onto that train and taking a trip from Atlanta to L.A. or from Boston to Seattle in just a few hours.

   
A Thanksgiving Prayer. About this time last year, I wrote about a Prayer for all Faiths aimed at helping us take responsibility for repairing the global mess that we aging adults are in the process of leaving for our children.

Let's revisit that prayer this year and begin to get real serious about working to repair the damage that we have caused. Instead of asking God to magically fix all of our problems, we must embrace the fact that our creator has already given us the wherewithal to fix those problems ourselves. That prayer ended like this:

Therefore, WE pray to you instead Oh God,
For strength, determination and willpower
To DO, instead of just pray,
To BECOME instead of merely to wish.

Consider having the group around your Thanksgiving dinner table read this uplifting prayer together. ( Printer-friendly one-pager)

One more thing, if there are ANY foods on your table that are NOT plant-based, God (and some of your guests) may conclude that you're not very serious about trying to save this planet for the benefit of the youngest, and the most innocent, among us.


The Bottom Line. My earlier statement bears repeating. 

At the end of the day, I believe that our enjoyment of life, for whatever time we have remaining, is more fulfilling if we never stop searching for a way to save our species.

Because even if we fail, we just may be able to "soften" the landing for all the children of the world - such that their suffering will be minimal.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Once again, thanks to Craig B. for sharing 
this prayer with me last year.

J. Morris (Jim) Hicks

PS: You may be wondering what you can do to help promote the never-ending search for a way to save our species. You can get me in front of some audiences that you think might be ready to hear about the long-overdue, global "conversation" about our survival.

******************** 

As for speaking, I continue to search for mainstream audiences who may have an interest in learning more about a realistically hopeful vision for our future - and their role in making that vision come true.

As such, I will travel anywhere for an opportunity to speak to one or more groups in each city that I visit. I will create a custom presentation for each audience and I only ask for travel expense reimbursement and a modest honorarium.

In the months ahead, I will continue to focus on the urgent need for a totally reinvented greening of our civilization - beginning with a model in the USA that could be applied globally over the next fifty years. 
My first blog on the crucial topic of totally reinventing our civilization was  posted 9-21-18 and  heads the list below. It was all about GRATOLA, an acronym that refers to the "green region" corridor running from Atlanta to Los Angeles.

Since then, I have posted more than forty additional pieces on that topic, including this one on 9-4-19 in which I introduced the GBN (Great Big Northern) - one 25-mile wide corridor along the USA's northernmost border that would theoretically be capable of sustainably housing ALL 300+ million Americans in an area the size of Oregon.

You can find all of my SOS Memos at this page on my website. Here are a few of them:
As always, I will continue to focus on this crucial topic - in my research, my writing and my speaking.   

Recently scheduled talks: A  VegFest in Sedona, Arizona in January and at Camp Plant-Stock in Black Mountain, NC, in August of 2020.

As for the specifics of my topic, I invite you to  contact me directly  about how I might tailor my presentation to best suit an audience you may have in mind: 

Universities,  churches,  think-tanks, legislative bodies, environmental  organizations, alumni associations, leadership clubs, PTA's  and/or civic groups who may appreciate a message of reality and hope for our future. 

Please let me hear from you directly regarding any ideas or questions you may have.

What else can you do to help? Three things:

1. Live as greenly as possible while doing all that you can to raise the awareness of "big picture" solutions that are crucially necessary for saving our civilization.

2. Share this BSB and my  "Mama Ain't Happy" BSB with prominent journalists, thought leaders and/or elected officials whom you respect. They need to learn a lot more about the many reasons why  Mama ain't happy.

3. Here are a few more GRATOLA-related blogs that you can share with your most powerful friends, leaders, journalists and movie producers.



Click here for links  to all blogs and SOS Memos since 2016

Until next time, just remember...

Humanity is on a collision course with Nature.
A damaged Nature will survive. We may not.
We must change course to avert an ecological disaster.

This SOS Memo series was created by:

J. Morris (Jim) Hicks 
CEO, 4Leaf Global, LLC

I welcome your feedback and/or questions at:  jmh@4leafglobal.com

In the past 12 months, I have spoken at a  VegFest in
Fort Myers, at  vsh.org  in Honolulu and Kahului, Maui, the   College of the Holy Cross  in Worcester, MA, a  Plant Powered Manhattan  event in New York, at a lakeside health conference in  South Haven, Michigan, in Buffalo, NY, at the University of Scranton and at the Dr.  Joel Fuhrman  Golden Gate Health Getaway  in California near the Silicon Valley. 

To schedule a presentation at a venue near you, please contact me at   jmh@4leafglobal.com


Promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth

Moonglow J. Morris Hicks

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