Will he or won't he? Like Putin, Trump is unadulterated evil. Not to his supporters, of course, but to anyone who’s paying attention to his character, his policies and his crimes, he’s a slime ball. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that he — like Putin— isn't and won’t have a significant impact on the future. He’s turned the Republican Party in the US into a cult of personality. He’s legitimated authoritarian rule on a worldwide basis. He’s the hero of the entire “Might makes right” crowd. So, if and when he is ever held accountable for his crimes and his personal corruption, the rule of law will receive a reaffirmation and if he does not, paranoia will become an increasingly rational response to regimes of fear coming to power in multiple settings.

To survive and thrive in the Anthropocene, humanity must develop a higher level of consciousness. If we proceed as we have since the beginning of this era around 200 years ago, our species and some form of life on the planet will likely have a life expectancy of another couple hundred years that will be characterized by a continuous decline into the kind of dystopia depicted in Blade Runner, Mad Max, or Waterworld. Amoral technology of either an advanced or retrograde nature will be combined with human desperation and nihilism. Not a good look. The higher level of consciousness that the emerging era requires of humanity has been calling our species from an array of mountain tops for eons. It entails a fusion of our minds with the deeper kind of knowing that sages of many cultures and backgrounds have found, experienced, and promulgated in multiple ways. I believe that the Emerald Tablet of Hermes is a message to the ages that is worthy of study and reflection. There are many others, of course, but this one fascinates me because I believe it heralds the sort of science that is increasingly being conducted now. Others may, of course, dismiss the attention I pay to information like this as that of a neophyte mystic grasping metaphysical straws, to which I say, “Different strokes for different folks.” I read The Emerald Tablet of Hermes for the first time in 1969. I knew immediately that it would always be important to me. Like many texts that are considered sacred across millennia, the exact origins of the Tablet are shrouded in mist. When I was first exposed to it, the Tablet was associated with the Book of Thoth, allegedly the ancient Egyptian name for Hermes. I didn’t know the word when I first saw the Tablet, but I’ve come to understand that it is an alchemical text. My understanding is that the objective of alchemy is to raise “normal” human consciousness to an awareness of superconsciousness. We can build upon that awareness through various modalities, such as dreams and specific types of concentration that enable higher knowing to access the channels of our mind and flow through us. I believe that the Tablet is about that process. In the popular imagination, alchemy is associated with the transmutation of metals, e.g., turning lead into gold. Certainly, there are plenty of folks who tried to accomplish this feat and maybe some did. I believe this whole get-rich-quick perception of alchemy doesn’t understand the science’s metaphor. An internal and esoteric pursuit is conceptualized as one that can be understood in external or exoteric language. Lead is the normal state of human consciousness; gold is that state of enlightenment. Gold is the human mind lit up and in interaction with transcendent understanding. It is also a way that the Merlins of the world get the money-crazed crowd off their backs. Here is the Tablet. Following the translation, I intersperse the text with my thoughts in italics: True it is, without falsehood, certain and most true. That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above, to accomplish the miracles of one thing. And as all things were by contemplation of one, so all things arose from this one thing by a single act of adaptation. The father thereof is the Sun, the mother the Moon. The wind carried it in its womb, the earth is the nurse thereof. It is the father of all works of wonder throughout the whole world. The power thereof is perfect. If it be cast on to earth, it will separate the element of earth from that of fire, the subtle from the gross. With great sagacity it doth ascend gently from earth to heaven. Again it doth descend to earth, and uniteth in itself the force from things superior and things inferior. Thus thou wilt possess the glory of the brightness of the whole world, and all obscurity will fly far from thee. This thing is the strong fortitude of all strength, for it overcometh every subtle thing and doth penetrate every solid substance. Thus was this world created. Hence will there be marvellous adaptations achieved, of which the manner is this. For this reason I am called Hermes Trismegistus, because I hold three parts of the wisdom of the whole world. That which I had to say about the operation of Sol is completed. Here are my thoughts, per section, in italics... True it is, without falsehood, certain and most true. That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above, to accomplish the miracles of one thing. This is the fundamental precept, which has been used in many contexts. To me, it means that there is a superconscious/metaphysical realm that is “above” that is or should be or could be reflected in our own consciousness, which is “below,” waiting to act as a mirror. And as all things were by contemplation of one, so all things arose from this one thing by a single act of adaptation. This reminds me of the Big Bang, the emergence of something out of nothing, the singular prime mover from which all that we see in the external universe. The beginning of the Universe is a koan; it defies explanation and blows my mind. Nothingness/metaphysics precedes being. The father thereof is the Sun, the mother the Moon. The wind carried it in its womb, the earth is the nurse thereof. This speaks to the four elements of antiquity, Fire, Water, Earth, Air. The “father” of this knowing is like the sun. We are currently 83,000,000 miles away from the Sun. This is a good thing. Quoting Bruce Springsteen, Manfred Mann warns us that our eyes can “get burned out by the Sun.” It is the father of all works of wonder throughout the whole world. The power thereof is perfect. There is a lot in the world that is probably not best described by the word “wonder.” But, if you get down to the level of particle physics, for example, which is the current definition of material reality, all is wonderful and glorious. I’m not speaking of understanding. I’m talking about feeling it. Plus, it looks like a Jackson Pollock painting. Another text, which claims to be alchemical, proclaims: “In all things great and small, I see the beauty of the Divine expression.” Divine is a word that is out of currency for many people. In explaining why I use it here, I’m reminded of Hobsons Choice, a 1954 movie starring Charles Laughton and John Mills, in which someone says, “30 seconds of revelation are worth more than 30 years of not knowing.” If one is lucky, one will have blazing insights along the way which can legitimately be called “divine.“ They knock us off our feet. and we never forget them. In The Candy Colored Tangerine Flake Baby, Tom Wolfe asserts that sex is the original psychedelic. A tooth-rattling orgasm is pretty damned divine! It’s a doorway to feeling and knowing wonder. It’s perfect (and so is the afterglow). If it be cast on to earth, it will separate the element of earth from that of fire, the subtle from the gross. Metaphysical knowing achieves ever-finer levels of discernment. It generates an infinite number of taxonomies, both in consciousness and in the definition of what material. With great sagacity it doth ascend gently from earth to heaven. Again it doth descend to earth, and uniteth in itself the force from things superior and things inferior. The human consciousness that mirrors superconsciousness sets up a vibration, a cosmic music, a dance, and a whole lot of shakin’ ensues. Thus thou wilt possess the glory of the brightness of the whole world, and all obscurity will fly far from thee. It’s worth the effort to wise up. This thing is the strong fortitude of all strength, for it overcometh every subtle thing and doth penetrate every solid substance. Knowing about the metaphysical ground of being is the strongest force there is. It’ll get you through Hell and high water. Thus was this world created. Hence will there be marvellous adaptations achieved, of which the manner is this. All science derives from delving into this force. For this reason I am called Hermes Trismegistus, because I hold three parts of the wisdom of the whole world. He knew a lot. That which I had to say about the operation of Sol is completed. He was a man of few words. -- Translated by Steele, Robert and Singer, Dorothea Waley 1928. “The Emerald Table” in: Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 21, pp. 41–57/485–501, p. 42/486.

I gave a talk about the Security and Sustainability Guide at an Earth Day celebration in April. This clip starts mid-sentence. I had just said something about work that Anika Savage and I did in a field we entitled "anticipatory leadership". The Security and Sustainability Guide’s mission is to provide decision-makers and activists with valid information they can use to develop foresight in this mile-a-second age we call the Anthropocene. Anyway, here's the talk on YouTube. KC Schulberg (right), the Collier County Waterkeeper introduces me on stage at the Save Our Planet Earth Day event in Cambia Park in Naples, FL on April 23rd, 2022.

This is my doctoral dissertation. It’s long, but its saving grace is that it probes and describes the interwoven nature of interpersonal and political dynamics in organizational settings. It studies and details the evolution of a 900-member community arts organization in which every member had the chartered right to participate as equals in all decision-making contexts. Many people believe that fully democratic systems will and should proliferate in the Anthropocene. This extensive analysis of what happened to one organization that started out with this commitment may provide some insight into the challenges implicit in these aspirations. Read it here.

To survive, capitalism must shift its strategy as an economic system from one concentrating solely on returning the highest rate of return to its investors as possible to one recognizing that the preservation of the natural environment is a co-equal obligation. This report, which will be updated in 2022, provides an overview to over 100 private sector associations that are pursuing strategies that support environmental responsibilities. They could do more and they could be more vociferous about their work. Read the report. The upcoming revised edition of this report will assess what progress has been made.

This video discusses the Anthropocene, the Age of Humanity, a new geological era that began about 200 years ago. Most geological eras last for tens of thousands, if not millions of years. Unfortunately, the Age of Humanity is auditioning to be very short-lived. Humanity is in charge, but it's evident that, much of the time, we don't know what the heck we're doing! The Security and Sustainability Guide (SSG) is a way to orient yourself to this new era. There are thousands of organizations and tens of thousands of dedicated individuals doing wonderful work on all sorts of wicked problems. The SSG is a reference resource to hundreds of them, and new ones show up constantly. Overtime, the Guide will assist good people who want to make powerful connections to improve the prospects of life on Earth surviving and thriving.

I Don't Get No Respect" - Rodney Dangerfield I like my dentist and my chiropractor. Sometimes their treatments can be quite painful. I put up with it because I don’t question their insights, qualifications, or skills. I see diplomas and certificates of professionals standing on their walls. I know they must keep up with well-researched standards of practice to maintain their licenses to practice. I get good results from seeing them. They have my confidence. I contrast the way I feel about these practitioners with the way in which I see so many public-school teachers, educational administrators, and academic institutions treated by many parents and politicians. Instead of respecting educators, the news is filled with stories of public educators being denigrated. As reported recently, thousands are leaving the field of public education: "Why are America’s schools so short-staffed? Experts point to a confluence of factors including pandemic-induced teacher exhaustion, low pay, and some educators’ sense that politicians and parents — and sometimes their own school board members — have little respect for their profession amid an escalating educational culture war that has seen many districts and states pass policies and laws restricting what teachers can say about U.S. history, race, racism, gender, and sexual orientation, as well as LGBTQ issues." Oddly, public school educators are being replaced by men and women who have no training as teachers or in other positions in the educational system, e.g., school boards. Public school educators in America sit in the crosshairs of social conditions and culture wars: The consequences of poverty Racial tensions The prevalence of guns in American life, in particular The impact of fundamentalist religion on schools Broken and unhappy families The status of higher education for teachers and educators The existential context of climate change Public school personnel are sitting ducks. Well-to-do elites understand some of the elements required by and unfolding in the Anthropocene. They purchase a lot of learning-related equipment and often send their kids to private schools, and/or they live in a zip code where public education is a very high priority as demonstrated by college entrance results. But in the ordinary world of the 66% of American families earning $100K/year[1] or less, kids go to public schools, and their educators are bombarded with all the deficiencies of American democracy in peril. It turns out that a heck of a lot of personnel engaged in the public education system working with these millions of kids and young adults have qualifications like those of my dentist and chiropractors and their staffers, those people whose qualifications I do not question. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville provides an illustration of what I mean. The University, founded in 1794, is a secular, public university with about 30,000 students. It is a solid state school. It is not ranked among the top 50 graduate school programs in education in the United States. ­­­­­­­I thought it’d be useful to look at what kind of training one must receive to qualify for teaching or educational administration credentials at this non-elite institution. At the undergraduate level, UT Knoxville offers credentials in 8 courses of study. There are 36 graduate-level education degree or certificate granting programs. The master's program in Literacy, for example, works with educators and administrators to enhance their understanding of how reading and writing develop, and on ways to support learners from the initial stages of reading, spelling, writing, and thinking acquisition to later stages of critical thinking through technology, writing, while promoting self-regulation, motivation, and a growth mindset. It requires a minimum of 33 credits to receive the degree. At least four courses in Literacy are required, covering topics such as Assessment and Instruction of Emergent Learners, PreK-2, Literacy, and Literature in Middle School, and Advanced Studies and Theoretical Models of Reading. In addition to earning a relevant degree, most states and schools require teaching professionals to earn a minimum number of continuing education units (CEUs) or continuing education credits (CECs) every five years to renew their teaching licenses. Nebraska, for example, requires its teachers to complete at least 18 hours of continuing education every two-year period. In other words, if you get a 3.0 or better at the Bailey School of Education at UT Knoxville, you’re going to work your butt off and, once you do, you’ll know stuff. You’ll be a rigorously trained educator. If you want to stay in that profession, you’ll have to continue your education indefinitely. My point: a certificate to practice as a teacher isn’t the same as meeting the training demands faced by dentists or chiropractors, but it is deserving of respect. Increasingly, that respect is not forthcoming. Instead, what is swelling are politicians, angry parents with no background in education, and various kinds of agitators screaming at teachers and school administrators and threatening them with violence over: Curricular programs like sex education, social-emotional learning, the Common Core, anything having to do with racial injustice and oppression, science-based public health interventions, or not being nice enough to their “special” children Bans on prayer in school or on school grounds Any recognition that there are alternatives to heterosexuality People who’ve never cracked a serious book about teaching, why the goals of education (e.g., the ability to read widely and write well) exist, the racial, ethnic, and religious differences among students, the disciplinary dynamics of a classroom, the management of students in the same classroom who possess different kinds of aptitudes, the evolution of human development across a diverse population, how curricular choices prepare students for life in a democracy, the complications of institutional bureaucracy, etc. are absolutely sure they are right about everything! Right enough to threaten and beat people who don’t agree with them. They see “left-wing plots and conspiracies” in math. They ban and burn award-winning books. They force teachers of the year into retirement because they are gay. They denigrate the arts, humanities, history, civics, and social studies. They attack public schools as an entity that have no right to exist, “government schools” intent on the indoctrination and grooming of children without conservative parents having any influence. They believe that our government “of the people, for the people, and by the people” is a lie, and that the United States government is pushing a “woke” agenda through the schools. They believe Alex Jones, but they’ve never heard of Robert Hutchins. Here’s what a veteran history teacher has to say about the hostility she faces: The headlines in North Carolina, the state where I live and teach U.S. history, civics, and economics, read: “North Carolina House approves bill to limit teaching of race.” ….This cannot and will not continue. And it’s not just North Carolina. Lawmakers in states around the country are attempting to block the teaching of critical race theory, which looks at how racism continues to affect individuals and society. (One such bill was signed into law in Tennessee very recently.) I am a Black woman and teaching my history — telling the truth about it — should not be controversial. Teaching historical facts in context should not merit a parent email that turns into a parent conference with the administration. An award-winning, vetted book should not be why calls are made to the district central office. Teachers are professionals, and while every lesson is not perfect, each teaching moment has the potential to challenge students, help them grow, and inspire their love of learning." I am not contending that there aren’t lousy teachers, non-performing schools, dysfunctional school systems, legitimate controversies surrounding educational programs, or misbehavior by educators at all levels. The police – another large and diverse community – have demonstrated that corruption penetrates many of the professions we depend upon repeatedly. I am saying that educators deserve at least the level of support and trust shown to the police and the military. I am saying – like the thousands of health care heroes that sacrificed themselves at the height of the COVID crisis – that most educators care deeply about their work and their responsibilities. I am saying that the percentage of educators who possess at least the same level of expertise in their profession is equal to what the cops and members of the military do in theirs. The most vociferous public education critics should spend more time inquiring into the thinking and the choices of professional educators and less time yelling at them. This Age of Humanity we have entered, this Anthropocene, has spun itself into far past equilibrium territory. In The Anthropocene Reviewed, John Green writes of the love that he has come to feel for the stability of Indianapolis. I’ve been to Indianapolis a number of times, and I found it as boring as it is stable. But I know what Green means. It’s damned difficult to feel anything but off-kilter if you really feel the turbulence of the world around us and maybe the world within us as well. Those who can teach us to think and to act with intelligence and character are so critically important to the success of the Anthropocene. They are the allies of families that sense the nature of this inflection point, not their opposition. [1] Statistica

Most, maybe all, local school boards or committees hold regular open meetings in which the public can speak near the opening of the proceedings. I’ve been observing some of these meetings in a county that voted 2-to-1 for Trump in 2016 and 2020. References to “Put parental rights first!” “Parents know best!” “Praise Jesus for the installation of a school board that will finally listen to parents!” and “There is no reason to teach anything about sex besides abstinence!” are commonplace. Given the incessantly increasing turbulence of the Anthropocene, it is understandable that many want public education to conform to whatever it did in the “Duck and Cover” Era, when America Was (supposedly) Great. The sheer volume of information in the Anthropocene is simultaneously intimidating, exciting, and completely overwhelming. Simpler ways of comprehending and dealing with reality are understandably attractive. While this graphic is dated, it does give a sense of the exponential growth of information technology (and many other sciences) during the last 125 years of the Anthropocene. It asserts that “the Singularity” is coming when computing power will surpass the capabilities of the human brain. As evidenced by the graph’s estimate of 2023 as the arrival date for the Singularity, its exact beginning won’t be known until it happens, presuming humanity doesn’t precipitate a global calamity before then. But the extraordinary advances being made across multiple scientific and engineering fields such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and genetics make it clear that an inflection point in history and evolution are fast approaching. When it comes to the pace of change, we ain’t seen nothing yet. The 50,000,000 young people attending America’s public schools need to be equipped with the facts and the frameworks that will give them a shot at leading meaningful and relevant lives as this century unfolds. Given that so many members of their parent and grandparents’ generations are in a state of ignorance mixed with denial over something as basic as the reality of climate change, these kids also bear a great burden of responsibility for helping their elders cope with the reality that is unfolding. The idea that educating the young to move the old toward a better understanding of how to use new thinking and new tools is nothing new in American social policy. The Department of Agriculture set up the 4-H Clubs in the 1890s explicitly to achieve this outcome: In the late 1800’s, researchers discovered adults in the farming community did not readily accept new agricultural developments on university campuses but found that young people were open to new thinking and would experiment with new ideas and share their experiences with adults. In this way, rural youth programs introduced new agriculture technology to communities. The idea of practical and “hands-on” learning came from the desire to connect public school education to country life. Building community clubs to help solve agricultural challenges was a first step toward youth learning more about the industries in their community. The impact of students who were more equipped for modernity than their parents was key to the adoption of technological advances in agriculture, an on-going trend that has contributed the steep decline in the number of rural Americans engaged in farming in the same time frame that the productivity of US agriculture as a totality has increased multifold. Floria, Where Ignorance Comes to Thrive In several Southern states there is a concerted effort to keep kids from even knowing about let along grappling with and understanding many features of the Anthropocene. Florida’s attack on education is particularly onerous and well-organized. Its governor, Ron DeSantis, is basing his administration and his likely presidential run on a culture wars agenda, with the public schools in the cross hairs. DeSantis boasts that Florida is “Where WOKE goes to die!” When pressed to define “Woke” while unsuccessfully defending DeSantis “Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees” (Florida 2022’s Anti-W.O.K.E. House Bill 7) before a Federal judge, DeSantis’ lawyer described Woke as "The belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them."§ That’s actually not a bad definition of the term. To my understanding, Woke refers to being aware of the intersectionality of such as race, gender, social class, disability, and possessing a curiosity about the physical and social sciences and their findings. These sociological drivers are constantly present in social, economic, judicial, and political life. The unwillingness to explore the dynamics of the interaction among these and other life-permeating influences creates a network of oppression of many Americans based on anti-intellectualism. As Richard Hofstadter’s classic article, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” reminded many, the roots of these “systemic injustices” date back at least as far as the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. DeSantis’ is attacking on Woke on several fronts: 50% of math texts proposed for classroom use in 2022 were rejected after nearly 6,000 pages were examined and state reviewers flagged several traces of critical race theory and inklings of “social emotional learning” in proposed texts, two topics that have been explicitly targeted by the DeSantis administration. DeSantis publicly blasted publishers for attempting to “indoctrinate” students. The Florida statehouse passed legislation in 2022 to expand state anti-discrimination laws and prohibit schools and companies from leveling guilt or blame to students and employees based on race or sex. Dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act” by DeSantis, it created new protections for students and workers, including that a person should not be instructed to “feel guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” due to their race, color, sex or national origin. Teachers are removing or covering all books in their classrooms because they fear they might be violating state law by not having the texts approved of by a librarian, or “certified media specialist” Professors are being denied podiums because their presentations might be related to Critical Race Theory in some fashion. The State is refusing to allow the College Board’s Black History Advanced Placement pilot to be taught in the state because its lessons delve too far into political agendas, broaching topics such as queer studies and abolishing prisons, which “significantly lacks educational value.” There’s a Special Place for Sex Ed in DeSantis Hell The deep hostility toward sex education expressed by many in the anti-Woke crowd is especially alarming. Their bodies are ever-present objects of curiosity and study by all young people, and no one is more interested in sexuality than adolescents. They don’t have a choice. Puberty foists the topic on them. This uneasiness about giving children and adolescents information about sex and sexuality is certainly the case in Florida. The most recent survey of sexual behavior among Florida public high school students by the Florida Health Department was completed in 2017. Having been a sexually active teenager, which was commonplace when I was that age 60 years ago, I was not surprised by the current findings**: 34% of high school females and 42% of high school males reported that they had ever had sexual intercourse. Overall, 38%, or about 4 in 10, reported that they had ever had sexual intercourse. 5% of the students had had intercourse before the age of 13. 22% by the age of 15 and 57% by the age of 19. 10% of high school students had had sex with four of more partners 13% of those who were sexually active did not use birth control during their last intercourse. This survey labels sexual intercourse as “risk behavior.” Understanding that adolescents having sex and every child having an interest in the functioning of their body at whatever age is more appropriately defined as “a fact of life.” It is true that the sexualizing of pre-pubescent children is repugnant to many, me included. Sexual activity is completely natural post-puberty. It’s what’s supposed to happen. Education can give younger children information about what sex is and how it works without encouraging them to obsess over feelings their bodies aren’t yet having. But the idea that giving young kids some information about the facts of life isn’t the same thing as “indoctrinating” them into a sexual orientation. Nor is providing teenagers with information and contexts with which they can learn about their own feelings, needs and the dynamics of relationships. Doing so helps a population that is going through many kinds of mood swings and hormonal changes comprehend themselves and make thoughtful choices. The linkage between sex ed and social emotional learning (SEL) is part of what makes SEL such a target by frightened people who want sex and the kind of self-reflection promoted by SEL to remain taboo in places like Florida. SEL’s objectives is to increase “students’ capacity to integrate skills, attitudes, and behaviors to deal effectively and ethically with daily tasks and challenges," for example, sex, sexual orientation, and gender dynamics. The anti-Woke campaigns inflamed by politicians like DeSantis are an effort to maintain the discussion of race relations, sex and the influence of science on understanding the Earth’s history and social activity in line with norms established before and during the first half of the 20th century in place with only marginal changes. They are right to believe that Woke shakes up unscientific beliefs regarding these matters. Gender is not binary. It is largely determined by the way in which people act in their specific cultures. There are many shades of gray in sexual behavior. Heterosexuality seems to be predominant among 80% of the population worldwide. Given the taboo on the expression of anything that is considered to indicate homosexuality in many cultures, one might assert that this figure could be as much as 10% higher than the true demographics. Regardless of what the statistic is, there are lots of variations in the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of heterosexuals. This is a truth about the Anthropocene that millions and probably billions of parents do not want to admit. When the prophet, Isaiah, said “a child shall lead them,” (Isaiah 11:6), he might well have been referring to the task that lays before the young today. They are the ones who are and will be so aware of the truth of Dylan’s words for this time as much as they were when they were written in 1963. Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth savin' And you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin' They are the ones who can impress upon their parents the truth that it time for them to abandon the “old road.” The tsunami of the Anthropocene will wash away all outmoded ideas and idols. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don't criticize What you can't understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin' Please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand For the times they are a-changin' It is said that “our children are born to transcend us.” They deserve an education that equip them to do so as well as possible in this roller-coaster called the Anthropocene. § Judge Mark Walker declared the Stop WOKE act to be unconstitutional and forbade it implementation in higher education. “If Florida truly believes we live in a post-racial society, then let it make its case,” the judge wrote. “But it cannot win the argument by muzzling its opponents.” ** I was not able to determine the sample size of the survey.

"I am red, I am blue, I am green, I ain't scared of you." https://youtu.be/TCQW0cTR4T8 Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas - 1914-1953 Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

The past is beating the dickens out of future Dr. Michael E. Mann made a fundamental contribution to the "Observed Climate Variability and Change" chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Scientific Assessment Report published in 2001. That analysis established humanity’s responsibility for global warming and climate change. He and ardent climate activist, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, recently addressed the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media, where Mann is the Presidential Distinguished Professor. Their conclusion: "A future of abundant, affordable, sustainable energy is achievable – if politics don’t stand in the way." The problem, of course, is that politics are obstructing the adoption of the many technological solutions to the climate crisis on a worldwide basis. Solar, wind, hydro, conservation, etc., etc. are tested and ready to go. Infuriatingly, fossil fuel interests cynically fund misinformation and doubt, which promote a general inertia and fear of the globe’s population. Massive social and economic changes are necessary to transition to a green economy, but they are not happening. Achieving a net zero by 2050 is like a mirage that becomes ever more out of reach. One emission reduction deadline after another is missed. Progress is being made, but it is way too slow. The facts are very depressing to anyone who is paying attention. Folks who’ll be alive for most of this century have every reason to be panicked, disgusted, and enraged. The assumptions, thinking and behaviors of the past are strangling the bright possibilities of the future. Organizational interoperability is the path to victory Interoperability is the capacity of differing organizations to work together without losing their distinctive identities. Interoperability is all around us. Think of furnishing a room with purchases from ten different vendors. They fit together when you put them in a space, but they never lose their unique qualities. They act as a unit. If you move, you don’t have to take any of them with you. Organizations can and need to operate in harmony. People create organizations to pursue specific missions. Every organization has its own culture. When they are asked to or expected to “partner” or “merge” with each other to accomplish goals that seem similar but aren’t the same, there are frequently problems. Like people, organizations cherish their independence. Great plans turn out to be bad ideas. An enormous number of organizations know something about managing Earth’s resources rationally and sensitively. Unfortunately, they are losing the battle. The political strategies of denial, egomania, and greed have been and are more successful than the tactics of us who see the climate crisis clearly. Their ignorance, disinformation, and short-term thinking dominate and distract. Many/most cultural and educational institutions, and media outlets don’t act like there is a climate emergency. Aware people need to stop complaining about the callous politics of their opponents. We need to develop political strategies that defeat their contempt for our impotence. We must win this is existential battle for the future. The security/sustainability nexus Expanding the definition of a problem is a creative way to see it with new eyes. Climate change is usually thought of as an ecological issue. Given the fact that many people and organizations dump their pollution, waste, and filth into the natural environment without any concern, it’s clear that billions think of the environment as being someone else’s problem. Meanwhile, huge sums of money are being made off the general public’s ignorance and inattention. It’s not so easy to dismiss security problems, however. Try kicking a grenade down the road; it might just kill you. The world’s security situation is deteriorating. Nations and sub-national groups are expanding arsenals and fighting ruinous wars within and between nations. The detonation of nuclear weapons remains an ominous possibility. Cybersecurity, actions by terrorist organizations and violent “lone wolves,” economic instability and rising inequality, and devastating pandemics spawned by drug-resistant superbugs or new bioweapons are all part of the security mix. And they all can and do have devastating and immediate impact on the climate, nature and on scores of thousands of people. Security experts worldwide view climate change as a threat in and of itself and as a threat multiplier when other problems arise. Al Gore recently compared climate struggle to nuclear war. Both are “civilization ending.” If climate change were to be seen as a clear and present danger to life and limb today, not tomorrow, humanity would start paying serious attention to it. People may not care about what happens to an old growth forest hundreds of miles away, but their kids getting shot at school or their water being poisoned by terrorists will get their attention in a heartbeat. Like Mark Twain said, “Nothing so focuses the mind as the prospect of being hanged.” Humanity has built its own gallows; we just don’t want to admit it. Make the security threat immediate, and the center of the world’s attention will change quickly. Luckily, serious organizations are working on the problem The Security and Sustainability Guide is proof that thousands of organizations, tens of thousands of committed and trained people, and billions of dollars in resources are working on some aspect of the security and sustainability nexus. Unfortunately, these organizations frequently don’t know about each other, don’t always “play well” together, and/or don’t necessarily trust each other. Organizations are usually internally focused. They pursue their unique vision and mission. Many security-oriented organizations and personnel neither pay attention nor have respect for environmental activists. Similarly, many ecologically-focused organizations assume that they are working at cross purposed to security institutions and their personnel. Both sorts of institutions often compete with others in their own fields and never even think about making connections across the larger security and sustainability context. And, of course, individual and team interests and egos are always involved and frequently in conflict. Informal coalitions and formal alliances frequently work better than marriages or mergers Interoperability reduces common organization tensions. Think of this Venn diagram as a network, where each character represents a specific organization. Each of the circles contains a set of organizations, and each circle intersects with the other two. The organizations in each of the circles share some common features with each of the other organizations in that circle. Their missions are similar and/or their operating infrastructures are parallel. Notice that there is a “sweet spot” where organizations in all three circles share common characteristics. Organizations achieve interoperability when they all unite around what they can do better together than as one. Once that objective is accomplished, they can move on to other activities, including ones where they may disagree. Ukraine is demonstrating the power of interoperability: Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine is a vivid illustration of the security and sustainability nexus. Ukraine is a diverse society in a global context. Tens of thousands of organizations are involved and affected. All the world is amazed and impressed by the tenacity and the resilience of the Ukrainians, who face an overwhelming and brutal military force. On the first night of Russia’s invasion, President Zelenskyy and his senior staff emerged from their bunker. They announced to Ukraine and to everyone everywhere that they were still there and that they weren’t going to give up their democracy without a fight to the death. As President Zelenskyy said, “Ukraine became a single fist.” Non-critical differences continue to both plague and be put aside by Ukraine and its allies. Ukraine’s viability depends on the interoperability achieved by the larger system. When the climate situation is seen as the threat that it is, security and sustainability organizations, worldwide, can became one fist Thousands of approaches and solutions to the ecological crises are sprouting up everywhere daily! Imagine what it would mean if the international security systems were to agree that the climate crisis is a Code Blue emergency for the planet. The impact on education, economics and the media would be profound. Perhaps then humanity would take an ancient and wise teaching to heart: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became an [adult], I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11, King James Version) Climate activism is an antidote for depression and anxiety Ecopsychepedia is an effort to understand and treat the mental health wide-spread consequences of climate anxiety. A recent study by Yale and Suffolk University demonstrated that collective climate activism is a way to break free of the chains of this kind of depression and distress. Climate anxiety can paralyze young people. They are woke to the scope of the crisis in a way that many of their elders are not. Tragically, many psyches are dominated by a narrative that assumes the inevitability of humanity’s extinction … soon. That feeling makes people pessimistic, nihilistic, depressed, enraged, fatalistic, numb … you name it. Collective activism is the way out of this doomsday space. the room with the “No Exit” sign over the door. Interoperability supports massive collective action. Distinctiveness is expected; diversity is a positive. Interoperability is a strategy for victory. It creates a narrative of hope. ARTICLES AND ONLINE SOURCES Climate Change Is at a Political Tipping Point, published by the World Economic Forum on March 10, 2022, a podcast by Al Gore Climate change is a risk to national security, the Pentagon says, National Public Radio story, October 26, 2021, by Noel King. Erlanger, S., “Spat Over Patriot Missiles Reveals Deepening Rifts in Europe Over Ukraine,” The New York Times, December 10, 2022. “Extreme Avoidance: A future of abundant, affordable, sustainable energy is achievable – if politics don’t get in the way.” The Pennsylvania Gazette, November/December 2022. (Full coverage of the event can be found at the Perry World House YouTube site.) Light, S, “The Surprising Role the Military Plays in Environmental Protection,” Knowledge at Wharton, July 29, 2014. Maloney, C., Chair, US House Committee on Oversight and Reform Press Release, “Internal Documents Reveal the Industry Is Making Long-Term Fossil Fuel Investments as They ‘Resist and Block’ Climate Regulation,” December 9, 2022. Resilience policing and climate change: Adaptive responses to hydrological emergencies, published by Taylor & Francis in The Routledge Handbook of ‘Policing within a Crisis’ (Eds. Gary Cordner & Martin Wight), 2022. Sales, M, “The Security and Sustainability Guide: A Compass for the Anthropocene,” December 2022 podcast. Yale researchers find collective activism can be a buffer for ecoanxiety and depression, published by Yale News on March 8, 2022, by Chole Nield. Sixty Minutes interview with President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy, “We became a single fist,”https://twitter.com/60minutes/status/1513302827044589573?lang=en on April 10, 2022 Was This $100 Billion Deal the Worst Merger Ever?, published in The New York Times on November 28, 2022, by James B. Stewart BOOKS AND REPORTS Alinsky, S, Rules for Radicals. New York: Random House, 1971. Argyris, C and Schön, D, Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1978. Department of Defense, Office of the Undersecretary for Policy (Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities). 2021. Department of Defense Climate Risk Analysis. Report Submitted to National Security Council. https://media.defense.gov/2021/Oct/21/2002877353/-1/-1/0/DOD-CLIMATE-RISK-ANALYSIS-FINAL.PDF Fuller, R.B, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1963. Lakey, G., How We Win: A Guide to Non-Violent Campaigning. Brooklyn: Melville House, 2018. Michael Marien, Michael Sales, and David Harries, Principals, and others, The Security and Sustainability Guide: Beyond Fragmentation toward Cooperation Moran, D., editor, CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATIONAL SECURITY: A Country-Level Analysis, published by Georgetown University Press, 2022 The National Security Implications of a Changing Climate, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/National_Security_Implications_of_Changing_Climate_Final_051915.pdf, published by the White House, May 2015. Oshry, B. Seeing Systems. San Francisco: Berrett-Kohler, 1995. Sales, M. “Understanding the Power of Position,” in Organization Developments, A Jossey-Bass Reader, Gallos, J., editor. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, 2006. Schwartz, S.E.O., Benoit, L., Clayton, S. et al. Climate change anxiety and mental health: Environmental activism as buffer. Curr Psychol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02735-6. Senge, P. The Fifth Discipline. New York: Penguin Random House, 2006. United Nations Development Program, 2022 Special Report on Human Security New Threats to Human Security in the Anthropocene: Demanding Greater Solidarity, published February 2022. Ury, W. and Patton, B., Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. New York: Penguin Group, 2011. von Oech, Roger, A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative, New York: Grand Central Publishing, April, 1990. Zelm, M., et al, Enterprise Interoperability. Newark NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2018.

I started smoking in 1955 when I was 11. By the time I was 26, I had about a two-pack-a-day habit. My dad was my hero. He went through three packs a day. He had a triple bypass in 1985 and died of cancer two years later. By the time I was 23, I realized that cigarettes weren’t good for me. It took me three years to quit. G.I. Gurdjieff got me to stop. Although some dismiss him as another hokum slinger who used women, was intolerant of anyone who wasn’t heterosexual, and scoffed at applying science to analyzing his claims and methods, Gurdjieff exerted a remarkable influence on those who became his students. I was attracted to his fundamental assertion that folks are mostly asleep even when they think they are awake and that few of us have engaged in the inner practices necessary to open our souls fully to the true depths available to consciousness. He taught that most people are creatures of habits of which they are virtually completely unaware. He describes people constrained by their habits as being like a single musical octave that constitutes the permanent resting place of being. This Stuckness is epitomized by going round and round the same cycle of thought and action without realizing it dynamics or being able to affect it. We assume that intention proceeds as a straight line from resolve to result. Smoking was a way that stuckness showed up for me. I started every day for years with a sincere intention to stop, an intention I’d remind myself of 17 hours after having my last cigarette of the night. Gurdjieff reminds us that we assume that intention proceeds as a straight line from resolve to result. His observations and analyses led to exactly the opposite conclusion. According to Gurdjieff, every action plan has an octave-like structure, and there are two points – intervals – in every action cycle where the conscious will is required to keep ascension to a higher octave or descending to a lower one is required. Without that will, distractions of various sorts will intervene and pull our intention away from its original objective. The result: we cycle back to a very similar point to where we started without realizing how our own thoughts and behavior contributed to an expenditure of energy that is essentially wasted. I started applying greater will to being in conversations and to smoking. Without an awareness of when will needs to be inserted in a conversation, many conversations go nowhere. There is no learning, no progression of thought. Take introductions. Many introduce themselves in a scripted fashion. “I did this…then I did that … and then I did this.” Unless someone interjects something like, “You mentioned X. What did you learn doing that?” and keeps taking that line of inquiry deeper, the person producing the script is unlikely to get underneath her or his existing definition of h/erself to h/erself or others. So, the next person or group s/he meets will hear the same introduction. The speaker may become bored of h/erself of put h/er introduction energy into honing the elevator speech ever more closely to impress whomever in some way, but not to truly be in relationship. I started noticing when I was talking without really having anything to say. I started listening to others with an intention of remembering how our conversation had unfolded from its initiation with some topic that was of interest to me to get back to the point in the interaction where it seemed to move in another direction (Gurdjieff’s interval), the point where I might form a closer connection to the other person or people with whom I was speaking and creating a deeper level of learning for all who were part of the interaction. I found that doing so made conversations more generative, more likely to open doors and lead down pathways no one had anticipated. With smoking, when I found a cigarette approaching my lips, I began to realize that there was some line of thought that was initiated at some point shortly before the brand of the day (Pall Mall, Marlboro, Cools, Sherman’s, Hava Tampa, Luckies, L&Ms, etc.) was being lit and my lips were opening to receive it. I forced myself to go back in my mind to the moment when I had that first impulse to light a cigarette. With close to a two-pack/day habit, I had to go through this exercise thousands of times. I finally realized that anxiety and creativity were stimulating to pick up a cigarette. When something worried me, smoking gave me a bit of relief. And, when something excited me, smoking gave me another kind of relief, i.e., not having to put in the energy needed to see an impulse through to its conclusion. By the time I’d lit the smoke, inhaled a couple of deep drags, and exhaled satisfaction, I’d completely forgotten whatever it was that got me started in the first place! Unless I had a strong creative impulse or a pressing worry, there was zero forward progress. I was back in the same place, a little older, but no wiser. Humanity as a species is largely stuck in a rut. It strikes me that, as with my smoking, humanity as a species is largely stuck in a rut. We’ve made extraordinary advances in technology, but our capacity for compassion and fundamental change doesn’t seem to have shifted very much. “Collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands." After all, the true statement by United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, that climate change has created a choice: “Collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands,” garnered another collective “ho-hum” from a world that continues to burn carbon at a rate of 50 billion tons/year, an uptick of 18 billion tons since the publication of the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was issued in 1990, establishing the direct connection between human activity, greenhouse gas emissions, and global warming. While climate change lies at the heart of many other crises, it is only one of the extraordinarily dire threats facing our species and our biosphere. Take war. According to the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, only 8% of the last 3,400 years have been ones where there has been peace on Earth. Those few years have been scattered throughout recorded history. Upwards of 108,000,000 were killed in wars during the 20th century. There are at least 27 conflicts happening right now. As of September 2021, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 387,000 civilians have been killed in wars since 9/11. Can there be any better examples of humanity’s stuck condition than our collective unwillingness and inability to address climate change and to end war?! The linkages between these two threats confront our species with a requiem scenario: we either get a handle on ourselves and move to the higher octave of environmentalism and peace that we say we want to achieve, or we’re kaput. The human psyche seems to have taken a stance that is metaphorically like that of Pharaoh in the Book of Exodus. According to Hebrew mythology, God threw ten plagues at Pharaoh. Each one was worse than the one before. I mean, yech and ouch!!!! With every plague, it seemed like Pharaoh was going to relent and free the Jews from their bondage, but, after a little while, his heart hardened and he decided “Not So Much.” We must find the collective will to push through these forces that distract us from our intentions of improving our conditions. While I don’t dismiss it completely, I’m not saying that the hand of the Deity is at work in the polycrises of wars, pandemics, climate tragedies, crime and violence, mass migrations, food shortages, poverty, and on and on assaulting life on our little blue speck in the universe. I am saying that we must find the collective will to push through these forces that distract us from our intentions of improving our conditions. Will to impose restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions; will to level the economic playing field; will to educate everyone regarding the carrying capacity of Earth; will to prevent and stop imperialistic aggression by egomaniacs; will to end the violence fanatical power holders inflict on those that are weaker… The list goes on. The United Nations was established to treat the plagues of the modern and post-modern eras, to exert the will necessary to focus the world’s attention on moving forward toward the objectives that have been espoused by world leaders for at least 100 years and probably more. In America, the work of the United Nations receives little attention, and its inability to address Russia’s aggression calls its global legitimacy into question. However, the UN is a massive organization engaged in peacemaking activities and thoughtful consideration of serious problems across the planet. To date, it has not been particularly effective at pulling the attention of humanity together, but it is an international body where the intent to do so still exists. A stronger UN would result in a clearer understanding and better management of the Anthropocene. A feckless and flaccid UN takes us ever closer to a bad end.

"James Marshall 'Jimi' Hendrix" by aeroman3 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0. In January of 1968, I drove from Chicago to New York to see my girlfriend. I was enrolled at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and she was working on a degree at Hofstra on Long Island. I had little idea what I was doing in Chicago except hoping to avoid getting drafted and shipped off to Vietnam. I was accompanied by an angelic underclassman whom I called “Little David.” He looked like Sal Mineo fresh out of “Rebel Without a Cause.” He had a friend at Oberlin College, and we stopped there around 10 PM. My ride was a Navy blue 1966 Ford Fairlane. It was a monster. Its trunk would have accommodated five dead bodies if it were owned by Tony Soprano. My friends kidded me that it was a used cop car when I bought it. Maybe they were right. We hit the Pennsylvania Turnpike just outside of Hubbard, Ohio around midnight and picked up a New York AM radio station via the facilitation of ionosphere-created skywave. It was faint at first, but soon it became clear that the station had just gotten hold of a radically incendiary album called “Are You Experienced” by an artist I’d never heard of, Jimi Hendrix. It was immediately clear to me – and I mean from the first note – that this album and the artist behind it were going to be in my life forever and that he would have a great impact on me. The deejay on the station must have been as excited about the album as I was because he played it nonstop till we crossed the Holland Tunnel and entered NYC at Canal Street at around 6 AM. Little David got out and, although I never saw him again, I’ve never forgotten him. We shared a magical mystery ride together and met one of the pathways to the future of the rock ‘n’ roll music that was being created in that period. The Flash, my car, wasn’t really a wonderful automobile. It was overheated from the long ride. This had happened before, and I needed to wait around for a couple of hours before I could drive it again. Fortunately, it died right across the street from a record store, and I absolutely could not wait to get in there and buy the album, which I still have with me. To my way of thinking, Hendrix with the Experience opened a phenomenally psychedelic vista, a portal through which many have tried to walk through. I read Charles Cross’ biography of Jimi, Room Full of Mirrors. Talk about living the blues! Abandoned by his mother essentially at birth, beaten and harassed repeatedly by his crazy father, living in abject poverty, ripped off by unscrupulous producers, and constantly assaulted by the needs of needy and/or manipulative people, it is painful to know that such a great talent had to live with a torrent of demons. I have a tee shirt displaying Hendrix’s image and emblazoned with the words “Voodoo Child” on the front. This is probably his most famous recording. Camille Paglia sums up a popular impression of Hendrix in her comment on the song, in which she describes him as a shaman: In “Voodoo Child,” Jimi Hendrix aspires with drug-induced titanism: “I stand up next to a mountain, and I chop it down with the edge of my hand.” Shamanistic peaking is aggressive and self-destructive. Unlike Paglia’s belief that Hendrix owes his impact to drugs, my view is that Hendrix was and remains a profoundly charismatic leader, which makes him and his energy important to me in considering the dynamics of the Anthropocene. The Experience’s Electric Lady Land double album included two versions of “Voodoo Chile,” the extended version, which runs for about 15 minutes, and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” which runs for about 5 minutes. “Slight Return” is played more frequently because it’s shorter, and one could argue that a couple of the solos in the longer version feel as though the band got lost. But for me, the opening 45 seconds of "Voodoo Chile" establish Hendrix’s authority immediately and unquestionably. One knows that it is definitely time to pay attention, that a master is standing in front of one’s concentration, and that it is a moment to erase all distractions to listen and take in an undeniable communication. Hendrix (and quite a few other artists, musicians, writers, and politicians) was a powerful rhetorician who spoke a transformative language through his guitar, his singing, and his lyrics. He was a commanding figure who communicated and still communicates with millions of people either looking for direction or for affirmation and insight regarding a direction they were already embarked upon. He demanded and got respect. The Anthropocene is an era in which many - perhaps most of us - are confused, adrift, and lost. We are all drinking information from multiple fire hoses simultaneously, even if we don’t want to. It is a time when hucksters and freedom peddlers of multiple varieties are fleecing good people out of a lot of money by promising that they have answers for questions that can hardly be posed, let alone resolved. We are grasping at straws and there are many fakirs who have gone into the straw-making business. ...there are rare people like Hendrix who will be imperfect humans, but who possess a real truth in spite of their limitations... But then there are rare people like Hendrix who will be imperfect humans, but who possess a real truth in spite of their limitations, a truth one can hear in those first 45 seconds of “Voodoo Chile*.” Such mythic figures are important in the Anthropocene and will continue to become even more so as this epoch unfolds. Hendrix’s technological wizardry was one of the keys to his lasting influence. Around 1966 he went from being a strong blues guitarist to expressing psychedelia through his instrument. His playing created synesthesia, combining senses that are typically isolated and, therefore, inventing an intelligence that few have ever known. He saw as he played and so did we see as we listened. Masters of technology who live poetically and speak from their hearts will make this 'Cene. They exert a magnetic force. Cross and others noted that Hendrix always carried The Book of Urantia and The Bob Dylan Song Book with him wherever he traveled. Urantia, not so much. Songbook, yes! * "Voodoo Chile" is a 15-minute improvised structured jam recorded at the Record Plant in New York City by Hendrix, Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell, organist Steve Winwood, and bassist Jack Casady. (Songfacts.com)