SOS #66    J. Morris Hicks    (8-9-20)  
Odd couple...same environmental concerns
Perhaps the oddest couple ever -- they apparently see eye- to-eye on the most terrifying dilemma in the history of humanity. Yet, I doubt seriously that these two people have ever met; nor have they ever been mentioned on the same screen or on the same page. 

Both are Catholic, although one was a bit more prominent in the church than the other. One of them died fifteen years ago and was admired and beloved the world over at the time of his death. Before he died, he left us some very simple advice that we have not followed:

Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyle. 

The other one is alive and well at 66 and just produced a blockbuster documentary that has been viewed over ten million times. And the message of that remarkable film was eerily similar to the sage advice above from his deceased counterpart.

So, who is this odd couple? They are Pope John Paul, II and Michael Moore: documentary filmmaker, author and activist. The quote on the slide below is attributed to the pope, but Michael Moore agrees with it wholeheartedly.


I created the above slide while preparing for my talk at the Plant-Stock virtual conference next weekend. Click this link for all the details, including the purchase of your ticket.

The title of my talk is shown below on this slide. Click here for a look at all 40 slides.


As for Moore's recent film, Planet of the Humans, it got mixed reviews primarily because it appeared to be attacking the non-profit, environmentally-focused, NGOs. But most of the attackers seem to be missing the primary issues that were highlighted in the film:
  • Our never-ending growth economy, coupled with the outrageous levels of consumption in our modern civilization, are grossly unsustainable -- regardless of the kind of fuel we are using to keep the whole mess chugging along.
  • More people, consuming more stuff, on a finite planet is a situation that any third grader knows cannot be maintained indefinitely -- regardless of the primary source of energy. 

Moore and his team explain on the TV show, Rising, that we must change our entire way of life, but they offer no clues as to how that new way of life might look - or how we're going to get there.



The Bottom Line. We believe that our book picks up where Moore's film leaves off. In Outcrywe provide a "visual" description of how a truly sustainable way of life might look on planet Earth. 

In Outcry we strive to spark a robust conversation about how we might totally replace our harmful and wasteful way of living with one that is far greener, and infinitely more sustainable - than the never-ending growth model (in a finite world) that defines how we are living today. 

The problem is that we are completely alone in that mission. Neither Michael Moore's movie nor this entire network of NGO environmental groups (shown below) is telling us how a truly sustainable civilization of the future might look.

Oh sure, there are, no doubt, many well-intentioned people working in these NGO's -- but NONE of them are talking about designing and creating a brand new civilization that will actually improve the biosphere that gives us life. 

Not a single one. Plus, they rarely even mention anything about our grossly unsustainable way of feeding ourselves.

They all collect a lot of money and pay their CEOs handsome salaries -- but they are totally missing the boat when it comes to truly promoting the development of a human civilization that the Earth can support indefinitely. 


Want to share this SOS Memo with others using email or social media? Just copy this link and send it along to them. 


In closing, we sincerely believe that the more people who read Outcry -- the more people will be talking about our sustainability dilemma that we all face together. And as soon as that conversation becomes widespread enough and loud enough -- we will be well on our way to learning how to live in harmony with nature indefinitely.


J. Morris (Jim) Hicks

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PS: To help jumpstart the essential global conversation that I keep mentioning, I am now offering to conduct Zoom conferences free of charge to groups of almost any size. I look forward to Zooming with you and your group in the near future. Shoot me an email and let's get started.

In preparation for those sessions, I have developed a one-hour format consisting of an opening statement followed by a slide show, discussion and Q&A with the attendees. The sessions that you organize will be far more interesting and productive if attendees have read Outcry in advance.

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. 

You can join my mailing list and/or find all of my previous postings by visiting the SOS Memos page on my websiteHere are a few of them where you can see how my vision has evolved since that first "creative idea" on 9-21-18:

As always, I am just trying to spark a global conversation about what is needed. By sharing a vision of what I believe is possible, I hope to influence others to think bigger, better and bolder. 
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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.

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. 

Upcoming talks: There are lots of open dates on my calendar and I look forward to the opportunity of tailoring my presentation to best suit an audience you may have in mind: 

Universities, churches,  book groups, legislative bodies, think-tanks, environmental organizations, alumni associations, leadership clubs, PTA's, family, neighbors 
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 two years, 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, at Dr. Fuhrman's Golden Gate Health Getaway in California and at the Healthy World Sedona Health and Sustainability Conference in AZ.

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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