When Sputnik went into orbit a schoolteacher asked her second graders to write some verse on the subject. One child wrote:
The stars are so big,
The earth is so small,
Stay as you are.
I came across this story in "Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man" by Marshall McLuhan and it made me think. If we stay on Earth we will certainly have to take better care of it. We are living in a junkie house, ripping up the floorboards for firewood and shitting everywhere. Some think that humanity will eventually spread out into the cosmos but we should not let that vision distract us from attempting to achieve long term sustainability on this planet.
So what should we do? "Think global, act local" as Hazel Henderson suggested in the 1970's or "think local, act global" like Izumi Aizu did in 1985 while saving Ikego Forest from developers? I do a bit of both and although I tend to avoid party politics, if I use my vote I am inclined to vote for the Green Party.
www.zenatode.org.uk Ian Gregory 2010