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Uniquely Us

Most of my friends know that I tend to look up every evening after dark as I walk outside or step out of a car.  I just feel that, since we are the only living creatures on earth that can perceive of and appreciate the wonder and beauty of our surroundings, we should take full advantage of it every chance we have.

Astronomers, cosmologists, even pseudo philosophers go out of their way to remind us that we used to think we were unique in the universe. But now that we can look all the way back to just a few billion years before the beginning, (I don’t like to call it “The Big Bang” ‘cause there probably was no bang) we see billions upon billions of galaxies and trillions upon trillions of stars and we realize that we are nothing special. They are certain that there are other intelligent beings scattered throughout the cosmos. I do too. In fact, I have no doubt that we are being visited by entities other than ourselves all the time. But I tend to bristle just a bit when these learned intellectuals continually try to remind us that WE are not special in the universe.

I can’t imagine how much more special we could be!  In fact, since we are talking big numbers, billions of things had to occur in order for us to exist at all.  Then, for US to have developed into a walking, talking, intelligent entity in our own right, certainly gives us the undeniable justification to announce that “We Are Unique!” and “We Are Special!”  Our human brain is the most complex, sophisticated biological organ in at least 25,689,593,615,256 miles. (I rounded to the nearest mile). That’s pretty special is it not?

Our universe is special too. Did you know that if the rate of expansion of the universe had been 1 millionth of a degree slower, it would have imploded upon itself and . . . OK - you know the rest.

To take this specialness to the next level, we are not just special because we live “on” the earth, but because we participate “with” the earth.  We, and every living plant and animal are an integral part of the earth’s formation and its beauty and the special, wonderful balance that makes it all work.

I’ve never seen a UFO.  But when I do, I’ll feel pretty smug knowing they are looking at us with awe and reverence because we are a very special part of our wonderful universe.

But, as usual . . . I’m just sayin’

DOING MY PART

I will begin this by saying, I don't know what I'm talking about. That is to say, I can't be certain of anything regarding global warming or the new disaster, climate change. But it seems I'm in good company. Apparently, nobody knows. In any point/counterpoint debate, both sides make excellent arguments. I have been watching the new Cosmos series regularly and did not miss last week's thorough discussion about how the earth is going to evaporate if we don't stop mowing our lawns. OK . . .that wasn't in there. But that is how I felt. I am practically single handedly at fault for what will soon be a rise in the oceans so devastatingly bad that the Daytona 500 will soon be a boat race.

So here's my problem. To this point, it still appears that either side could be right. Knowing that however, naturally leads to the argument that if the world is warming up, humans must drastically change their lives to keep it from happening. “We just can't take the chance that we are wrong”, they say. I understand that too. What has me a bit skeptical about this entire issue is the fact that the topic's point and counterpoint fall strictly down political lines. Liberals urge the need to control human behavior and conservatives say, “Not so fast”.

In the late 1990's I attended a talk by Mikhail Gorbachev at the University of Georgia that disturbed me just a bit. Throughout his career, he was pretty good at disturbing people. He discussed the fact that he had founded an organization called Green Cross International in 1993, just 2 years after the fall of the U.S.S.R. He eluded to the idea that GCI's purpose was to infiltrate environmentalist organizations and, with the right propaganda and phony climate fraud, environmentalists would be easy targets as unwitting minions. He said that with an issue like Global Warming, the only way it could be solved, if it even could, assuming it were real, would be by a global government dictating and rationing the worlds resources. Being somewhat amazed by what I heard, I though maybe the translator was mixing up words and that Gorbachev hadn't said it exactly that way. But as time went on, that is exactly how it played out. The “Green Movement” became a liberal base from which governments could control human behavior. And Mikhail Gorbachev was one of their leaders.

Jumping up to today, most of how it all got started has been replaced by a general acceptance that Grandma is a scumbag if she doesn't get rid of her Cadillac Escalade and buy a Smart Car.

So, I'll end this where I began. I don't know. It does seem though, that there is a rush to judgment that is driven by political motives rather than humanistic concerns. Maybe a political compromise should be considered. Here is mine. Someone please tell Barack Obama that if he would OK the Keystone XL Pipeline Project, I'll stop mowing the lawn.