Emerging Ray of Hope for Humanity (NYC)
A rare combination of talent, knowledge & leadership
SOS #132 -- J. Morris Hicks -- (11-16-21)

That emerging ray of hope is the Mayor Elect of New York City, Eric Adams, who was featured toward the end of my SOS last week.

As I mentioned in that SOS, It turns out that just three years ago, as he was about to go blind, he was able to quickly reverse his type 2 diabetes -- simply by shifting to a 100% whole food, plant-based way of eating.

Too bad the cozy relationship between the animal food industry and our schools of nutrition have prevented this kind of world-changing information from making its way to the general public or into the profit-oriented healthcare industry. Speaking of healthcare, or "disease care:"

Shannon Brownlee, an industry journalist surmised:

“We have a disease care system, and we have a very profitable disease care system—it doesn’t want you to die and it doesn’t want you to get well; it just wants you to keep coming back for the care of your chronic disease.”
After reversing his diabetes in just a few months, the new mayor wrote a book, pictured here, that was published in 2020. Click on this image to visit the Amazon page.

Here are the first few sentences of his amazing book that will end up saving thousands, if not millions of lives:

In March 2016, life was good. I had the best job in the world: representing Brooklyn as borough president. I had just turned 56. I felt healthy.

Maybe I was a bit overweight, but so were most people my age. I exercised regularly, and like all New Yorkers, I walked everywhere. I even got on the basketball court now and then. I looked and felt fine—that is, until the day I woke up blind.

As soon as I saw that video and read his book, I knew that I wanted to reach out to him soon. My letter to NYC's mayor elect, who takes office in 53 days, begins here:
November 16, 2021

Dear Mayor Elect Adams,

First of all, congratulations on your election as the next mayor of the most influential city in the world. While not a member of your constituency now, I have spent most of my career in and around New York City and am an avid reader of the New York Times.

While we have never met, you do know three of my good friends and professional colleagues: Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn of the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Dean Ornish of UC San Francisco and Dr. Dr. T. Colin Campbell of Cornell. Also, just last week, I included a few words about you in my most recent SOS Memo (Save Our Species). 
The title of that SOS was Anger, Nausea and Disappointment with COP 26. Toward the end of it, these were my closing remarks about you:

  • I found a short video yesterday that features the Mayor Elect of New York City. It turns out that three years ago he was able to quickly reverse his type 2 diabetes by shifting to a 100% whole food, plant-based way of eating.
 
  • Maybe knowledge of Mayor Adams' personal experience with diabetes can make a huge difference in the lives of many Americans and, indeed, many citizens of the world.
One of the readers of my SOS Memos asked if I had seen the piece about you on the T. Colin Campbell Center of Nutrition Studies website. I had not yet seen the article but, after reading it, I immediately bought an e-copy of your 2020 book, Healthy at Last.

As I read your story, my excitement steadily grew as I began imagining the positive influence that you could have around the world. I was thinking to myself that you are now (or soon will be) the most prominent person in the world who totally “gets it” about food. And, with that comes responsibility.
You may very well know this already, but the world’s love affair with animal-based foods is now, by far, the #1 driver of climate change. Of late, at the end of my SOS Memos, I have been including links to two peer-reviewed scientific papers that were written by people who I now consider friends. Here are links to those papers:

A 2019 piece, Animal Agriculture is the Leading Cause of Climate Change, by Dr. Sailesh Rao. Also: Livestock and Climate Change, a 2009 piece by two World Bank researchers, Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang. I know Dr. Rao and Mr. Anhang and was getting to know Dr. Goodland before his death in 2013.

His 2009 paper concluded that “at least” 51% of climate change was driven by animal agriculture and the 2019 piece put the number at 87%. Dr. Rao’s 2019 piece was mentioned recently in an August 2021 article in Forbes
You may be wondering where I am going with all of this. I can sum it for you succinctly.
 
While your constituents elected you to look after the needs of what is likely the world’s most complex city -- your rare knowledge regarding the power of our food choices, coupled with your visibility as one of the best-known leaders in the world -- makes you perhaps the most capable person on Earth when it comes to saving our species.

I know that is not in your job description, but I would argue that the health, well-being and future of your NYC constituents are all hanging in the balance -- alongside all the other humans on this planet.

We're talking about a likely collapse of our civilization along with the demise of Homo sapiens. Yet, our world leaders say nothing.
Think about it. President Biden's Special Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, never once mentioned the leading driver of climate change during the entire two weeks of the COP26 event. In fact, hardly anyone at that conference ever mentioned our food choices.

And, of course, over 75% of the food items on the COP’s official menus were various forms of meat, dairy, eggs and fish. One writer suggested that it was like “serving cigarettes at a lung cancer conference.”

Watching what played out in Glasgow, I concluded that the world’s 195 heads of state have absolutely zero chance of taking the necessary steps to save our civilization. Heck, the vast majority of them don’t even “get it” about animal-based foods being the leading driver of climate change. 
Let’s face it, the governments of the world are not going to get it done. As such, I have concluded that our only chance may rest with people like yourself -- in concert with the world’s independent media, the fourth estate if you will.

The world desperately needs to know the truth about what we're up against -- along with what we all must do to have the best possible chance of slowing climate change and modifying our living arrangements enough to save ourselves.

I wrote about that crucial topic in my third book, OUTCRY --published on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in 2020.

Given all of the above, I request that you consider assigning me to some kind of “stealth” position on your staff, reporting directly to you. My full-time role would be to work on what I describe in the previous two paragraphs: promoting the full-blown, unvarnished truth about what we're up against on this planet.

Maybe you could commission me as your Special Climate & Sustainability Envoy with an ever-expanding role that could evolve as fast as politically possible.
A closing note. I started writing this letter shortly after midnight today. After going to bed early last night, I awakened a few hours later for a quick trip to the restroom. Sometimes, I like to guess what time it is before turning on the light.

So, I guessed out loud to myself, “It’s probably about 12:30 am.” Then, I glanced at my iPhone and saw that it was precisely 12:30. I consider that a very good omen for hopefully what will be our upcoming journey together. 

Finally, I feel like my entire background since starting college has prepared me for this moment in time. It would be an honor and a privilege to serve with you on such a crucially important mission.

Congratulations again on your victory in the election. I look forward to meeting you soon.
 
Sincerely, Jim

J. Morris Hicks
PS: Earlier this week, I prepared other back-up content for this particular SOS Memo and have included it below, in the form of attachments, for your convenience. One more thing regarding my friends Caldwell, Dean and Colin, mentioned earlier in this letter:

The works of all three of them contributed mightily to my first book, Healthy Eating, Healthy World, published ten years ago.

The title perfectly describes what's in that book. Colin and his son Nelson wrote the foreword, Dean wrote the praise blurb on the front cover and Dr. Esselstyn provided this concise endorsement inside the book: 

“In Healthy Eating -- Healthy World , the title tells it all, as author Jim Hicks masterfully resolves global challenges in a sensible, well-written, highly referenced, must-read.”
PPS: I will let Mother Nature have the final word in this letter to you. She came to me in a dream in early 2020, just before I published my third book, OUTCRY.

Click this image below to read what she had to say.
Attachment #1 -- Eric Adams Letter
Background information
We humans live on a very small planet in a tiny corner of the Milky Way galaxy -- which, according to Carl Sagan, is just one of billions of galaxies. Our planet Earth is home to Homo sapiens who have been in existence less than 1/100th of one percent of the time that there has been life on this planet. 

Yet, in our very short time here, we have developed into a form of life that is quite possibly the most intelligent species in the history of the known universe; although, we have absolutely no way of knowing that for sure.

For several thousand years, we have been the ruling species on Earth; although, it’s just in the past few hundred years that we have inflicted tremendous damage on the delicate ecosystem that keeps us, and all of our fellow Earthlings, alive.
As for our fellow Earthlings, our reckless way of living has led to an alarming rate of species extinction, as it is now running at over 1,000 times the historical rate. (according to peer-reviewed scientific literature)
Now, we find ourselves in the midst of an enormous crisis -- not just for ourselves, but for all forms of life on Earth. The science on that topic is well-known and widely-accepted, but our way out of this mess remains un-solved and unsettled.

For the past two weeks, delegates from 195 countries have been meeting in Glasgow, at COP26 -- trying to hammer out an agreement on how we can prevent the worst effects of climate change.

In my opinion, that group has zero chance -- for many reasons -- of slowing down the runaway train known as climate change. Heck, they never even talked about the primary driver.
Since no one is taking the right action to slow it down, that train is still rapidly picking up speed. And it seems apparent to me -- and to most of the journalists at The Guardian -- that the UN’s COP26 method of dealing with the problem is not working. 

Notably, the COP did not invite the most highly regarded and globally renowned, "big picture" scientist in the world — James Lovelock — who probably has a better understanding of what we must do to preserve our ecosystem’s ability to keep us alive -- than anyone.
Attachment #2 -- Eric Adams Letter
4 global problems that must be solved
Most well-informed citizens of the world are in agreement that the vast majority of environmental challenges that we face today -- and that our children will face -- were caused by human activity. We made the mess. Now we must fix it.

Here is a short list of human activity that we must aggressively address if we want any kind of future at all for our children. If we fail to address any one of these four, our species will very likely not make it to the end of this century.

The first three listed below will be impossible to solve quickly, but we must at least get the ball rolling now. As it stands today, the world's elected officials are not even acknowledging that the first three are serious problems.
ONE. Overpopulation. We continue to add a net six million humans to our numbers every month.

All of those people have to eat, wear clothing and have a place to live. We live on a finite planet and every third-grader knows that we can’t behave like this indefinitely, but our leaders are not even talking about this obvious reality.

TWO. Overconsumption. Driven in part by the first one, this is another issue that our elected officials don’t talk about -- because, if they did, they would not get re-elected.

They know that it is very important to keep our "system" working so that people keep buying more "stuff" at an ever-increasing rate. Despite the almost exclusive focus on it by the politicians and the media -- simply changing our energy source will not fix this problem.

Three. Capitalism. Some people call it neoclassical growth economics. Whatever you call it, we are talking about a global "system" that demands never-ending growth in a world of finite resources.

Clearly, we must have a better way of keeping score on this planet. And we better find it quickly, because it is now late in the fourth quarter and time is running out. It is a dilemma that we addressed in Chapter 11 of Outcry.

Four. Food Choices. This is the only one of the four that can be solved relatively quickly.

All of the above issues must be addressed eventually, but for us to survive as a species, it is crucially important that hundreds of millions of humans begin moving rapidly in the direction of a plant-based diet just as rapidly as possible. It's action that most people in the developed world can take relatively quickly on their own.

The first three issues are complicated and may take many decades to resolve -- but changing what any single person chooses to eat can literally be done overnight.

And if enough humans move rapidly toward plant-based eating -- we just might be able to buy ourselves enough time to address the first three issues on the list above.
I wish to acknowledge that I am acutely aware that most people in the world simply do not want to give up their favorite foods.

It's going to be a very difficult task; and that's why we need the world's media to research carefully and actively, and continuously publish what's at stake.

Many would rather die. I get it!
I did a little research last week:

  1. The numbers vary, but over 90% of the people in the developed world -- routinely eat some combination of meat, dairy, eggs and or fish on a regular basis.
  2. There are now more ex-vegans than there are current vegans in the United States. That's right, even though there are more who identify as vegan today than ever before.
  3. It seems that many people try being vegan but later return to previous eating habits.
  4. New York is now the most "vegan" city in the world, but it is still under 10%.
Attachment #3 -- Eric Adams Letter
Where to start the global transformation
Ultimately, we must solve the four primary problems listed near the beginning of Attachment #2 -- and only one of them can be solved within the next decade.

Of course, I am talking about a huge reduction in the world's consumption of animal based foods. Where is the best place to get that ball rolling?

You got it -- it's where the entire world looks in order to find their way.
I did a little research this week on identifying the top cities in the world when it comes to five crucial elements that would affect our ability to uncover the truth about what we must do to stop, slow or reverse climate change.

Without a doubt, we must aggressively and urgently begin to focus on the #1 cause -- the wildly popular typical western diet with meat, dairy, eggs and fish at almost every meal.

That said, until proven otherwise, we've got to put 100% of our efforts into promoting an urgent global shift in the direction of the optimal diet for humans.

For a number of reasons, I think that project should be launched and coordinated indefinitely in New York City. It just makes sense for so many reasons.

For each of the following crucially important categories, just "google" them yourself and you will see that New York is #1 in several on this list and in the top four in all of them.

  • Top media city in the world. I mentioned earlier that we're going to have to unleash the best media talent anywhere. COP26 has let us down big time.
  • Top "vegan" city in the world. You can look up the numbers. I did and NYC is always near the top.
  • Most important city in the world. You can look this one up too. It's a fact.
  • The world's most influential city. Here again, if you tally up all of the above, you will have to conclude that the Big Apple truly takes home the blue ribbon in this category.

There's one more crucial category that is not on the above list. And it all boils down to 3 words:

LEADERSHIP, LEADERSHIP & LEADERSHIP
There is no person on Earth who is more qualified to lead this civilization-saving project than the mayor elect of New York City
It is simply not possible that any other candidate can beat this list of readiness factors that Mr. Adams brings to the table:

  • Newly-elected mayor of Earth's most influential city
  • A great city that is also the media capital of the world
  • He is one of the world's 100 best-known leaders
  • He has deep, personal knowledge of the most powerful driver of climate change
  • Meet Candidate #1. Indeed, he is the leader with the best possible chance of slowing climate change, soon enough, to save our civilization.
  • Meet Mayor Elect Eric Adams of New York City
The Bottom Line. Now that COP26 is over, I have no hope or expectation that commerce and governing as usual on this planet will yield the sustainability results that we need in order to survive as a species.

On that note, here is the headline a few days ago that caught my attention.



The first paragraph in the above referenced story tells us all we need to know. The 27 years of kicking the can down the road has yielded zero progress.

World leaders will have to return to the negotiating table next year with improved plans to cut greenhouse gases.

...because the proposed targets agreed at the Cop26 summit are too weak to prevent disastrous levels of global heating, the three architects of the Paris agreement have warned.

After watching the ineffectiveness of the COP26 for the past two weeks, I have concluded that we need to come up with a totally different approach -- and I have featured that approach in today's SOS Memo.

Please spread it around by sending it to everyone you know.
PS: A great film for grasping the "big picture." If you wish to really understand the deep mess that we have created for ourselves, take just 83 minutes to watch this powerful 2015 film (free) by Dr. Stephen Emmott.

In it, he points out that our survival challenge goes far beyond just swapping out our sources of energy. He suggests that animal agriculture also is a huge part of it.

It's near impossible to solve our most challenging problems if we don't have a grasp of the "big picture" -- an understanding that only a tiny sliver of the world's scientists, elected officials or educators possess.
This powerful film will certainly help more people grasp that all-important "big picture." I will continue sharing this link in my weekly SOS Memos >>>>>>
PPS: Powerful Data re Leading Driver of Climate Change. Beginning in September of 2021, I have been including links to world-changing scientific information that thought leaders everywhere should read and and share with others.

What can you do? For starters, you can buy the new documentary -- Eating our way to Extinction for $6 on Netflix -- and watch it often with your friends and family.

Also, you can:

  • Share this SOS Memo with everyone you know.
  • Get an e-copy of OUTCRY. Visit Outcry page on Amazon and get a much bigger understanding of the situation in which all humans find ourselves.
  • Inform all the young people in your world that you are deadly serious about this topic. Urge them to read these SOS Memos and OUTCRY.
  • Completely stop eating meat, dairy, eggs and fish today and tell everyone why you are taking such a "radical" step. You're doing it for the innocent children of the world.

  • As noted above, do yourself a favor and make sure that your plant-based meals of the future consist of whole plants -- the kinds of foods that prevent or reverse most chronic diseases AND enable your body to effortlessly seek its optimal weight.
A final word. Hopefully, the kind of crucially serious situations expressed in these SOS Memos will soon replace the trivial topics that dominate a ridiculously large percentage of all of the conversations in the world.

We must all start talking much more about what's really important. That is , we must start doing everything possible to maximize the chances of a meaningful and pleasant life ahead for the young people of the world.

I volunteer to help you do that. For Free. Invite me to collaborate with you and your group via Zoom. To help you jump-start that all-important conversation, I will be happy to present and discuss this topic at length. Here's an advance link to my standard presentation: 62 slides.

“Food, protein, pandemics and the future of humanity” This is the latest title slide that I am currently using for those kinds of sessions:
The image above is a clue regarding the essence of my "family game plan" that is revealed only in my talks. I do not put that in writing.

Want to share some of my SOS Memos with others? Visit my SOS Memos page where the most recent ones are listed first.

Finally, I am confident that if a few million people carefully read and digested OUTCRY, that there might at least be a more robust conversation taking place about our grossly unsustainable way of living in the developed world -- and what it will take to get us focused on maximizing our chances of survival as a species.

To be sure, we must do a lot more than change what we eat -- and OUTCRY helps explain the "why" and the "how" of that proposition. 

To my knowledge, OUTCRY remains the only book ever published that features an envisioned, totally-green, ultra-sustainable, super-desirable, future way of living for humans -- along with ideas for how we might get there as quickly as possible.



J. Morris (Jim) Hicks
PS: Regarding the free Zoom conferences with your group, Send me an email and let's get started.
Our book, for a host of environmental reasons, is only available as an e-book on Amazon. As such, it contains hyperlinks to hundreds of references and videos, is less expensive, does not kill any trees and does not have to be manufactured and delivered. 

The links below to earlier SOS Memos will help you understand how these ideas unfolded since 2018.
You can join my mailing list and/or find all of my previous postings by visiting the SOS Memos page on my website. 
As always, I am just trying to help spark the all-important "conversation" about what is needed. By sharing a vision of what I believe is possible, I hope to influence others to think bigger, faster, better and bolder. 

You will find that there aren't many books that cover both the health of your body and the health of your planet. This is one of them -- a book that my son Jason assisted me in writing. It was published ten years ago this month.
Order e-book on Amazon
What else can you do to help? Two 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.

Promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth
Want to see earlier SOS Memos? Click here
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