Think globally, act locally

I have always liked the slogan “Think globally, act locally”. Here is my contribution to it.

Think globally

This involves seeing things communally and radically, and also intensely.

 

Facing the future

I am running out of simple solutions for facing the future, but I do have some questions.

How can Conservatives help us to cope with a future that is rapidly changing? The strength of conservativism has always been to give us a sense of stability by conserving what is good from the past. But what if things are changing so rapidly that the past parameters do not work any more? We need a rapid progressive change now. As an example, consider the situation with the COVID/Delta variant pandemic. The province of Alberta now has the worst pandemic statistics in Canada. Vaccine rates are the lowest and infection rates are the highest. Drastic necessary new measures are staring them in the face, but the Alberta’s Conservative government is incapable of acting in the face of this emergency.

An even greater emergency is occurring – the global environmental crisis! Here also conservatives seem incapable of helping us. Going back to the good old days will not work. The oncoming crisis is so drastic that a bold new paradigm is needed. The backdrop of a stable climate is no longer a realistic scenario. Whatever the future holds, rapid change is called for.

As I investigate the future two things emerge. Whatever philosophy we adopt, it must face up to the facts of science. With our present lifestyle and modes of operation, we are headed into a disaster. This is what our science is telling us. Any philosophy that does not square with this reality is useless. Accepting this as a starting point, we can then hope to forge a new future.

Secondly, a sense of hope and a striving for a better future is essential. As grim as the future may appear, if we slip into despair then we will make our own lives miserable and thus compound the problem. Our human species is in danger of sliding into mass madness. If that occurs, Stoicism calls. Grand calls to collective action are required. Together we need to rise above our differences. We can still mitigate the situation. We can together face environmental reality with a unified hope and action.

 

But, also Act locally

Here is a local action that we are working on in Ottawa. Trees are so valuable in in contributing to the health of the planet. A local politician has suggested that after cutting down those 600 old growth trees we could just plant some new ones. We don’t have time for this. Trees take so long to grow and we don’t have that much time any more.

Hello friends,

Do you know?

• Ottawa is planning a new hospital expansion
• After a six-month study, the NCC chose Tunney’s Pasture as the best site for this
• Within one week the decision was "flipped" to choose the Experimental Farm site
• Up to six hundred trees would be cut down at this new site

For more information on this go to: 

Opposition grows to aboveground parking garage on new Civic Campus site

You can make a difference, by going down to the site (preferably with a friend) and take pictures of yourselves, each with a tree. Then send your pictures to Jake Morrison and Jane Keeler (jake@withflare.org) together with your name and a brief comment about why you took the picture or about trees' value. See THIS pdf for maps of the area and details of the trees. 

These pictures will then be used to alert Ottawa citizens to this problem and to lobby Ottawa city councilors about this issue. For added effect, contact your city councilor by email and phone.

The pictures will be posted on the Urban Nature Action Network Ottawa Facebook page and on some future page on ReImagineOttawa.ca (the site itself is coming later this week).

Together we can make a difference,

Rebellious Seeker  

Ottawa