Blog No. 1 SOUNDING THE ALARM!

When I look at the world we humans have created on this Earth, I am profoundly concerned. Consider any of the conditions that are necessary for sustaining human life on the planet: water, air, food, energy, enough room just to live…all are seriously at risk.

Prior to my retirement in January, I was a professor of human development at a community college. I asked my students to read a monologue from my book On Being Human[1] titled, “Humanity’s Crises.” In the discussion that followed, several students felt that I was being an alarmist; “…things are not all that bad.” My response was “YES!” I am being alarmist; that’s the point! I am sounding an alarm! Things are that bad. The Earth and all that dwell upon it are at genuine and serious risk. Really.

We are, I believe, a culture in denial; we just don’t believe it. Some folks, for example, still argue that global warming is not a crisis and not connected with human activity. I am hopeful that there are enough critical thinkers out there to recognize the preponderance of evidence not just about global warming, but about the drinking water crisis, the over-population crisis, the homelessness crisis, the global disease crisis, the land crisis, the biodiversity crisis, the energy crisis, the political crisis, the food crisis, the economic crisis, the religion crisis, the education crisis, the hunger crisis (and ironically) the obesity crisis…the list goes on!

AN EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM  

While I do believe, as I argue in my monologue “Individuals Can Make a Difference,” that individuals really can make a difference, I also believe that one of the beginning steps in making that difference is to reach out to others of like and similar mind. We can’t save the world by ourselves, folks; it’s going to take a lot more of us, talking, teaching, listening, learning; reaching out to the whole world with a message of peace.

There are today and there have been in the recent past many eloquent speakers on the topic of peace. Many people have heard these words and been moved to passion and action. One need only “google” terms like peace, peace education, or social justice to see that there have been a plethora of words spoken, written, read and heard.  But still, planetary risks grow at alarming rates. In other words, even with all of us who are already working on the problems, the problems are getting worse. There are too many holes in the dam and not enough thumbs. We need more thumbs. We need to engage the thinking, passions and actions of exponentially more people. And this, in my view, may be framed as an educational problem.

Please join me as I continue to explore “the educational problem” in subsequent issues of The Peaceful Educator Blog and please visit www.thepeacefuleducator.com. I invite and encourage good spirited feedback and creative ideas. Thank you for your kind attention.

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[1] My new book, “On Being Human” available on-line at: https://www.createspace.com/3576601 for only $15.00.
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