The Biology of Peace

Consumption Friday is upon us and the news will tell of whether it was a good one or not by the volume of things consumed. It will show people waiting in line for bargains... it will seem all normal.. except it all represents consumption and its subsequent waste. Goods are needed and gifts are fun to give.. but focus will not be on how to make our world saner, it will be on how our corporations did today... as if they are not subject to the laws of physics too..the laws of limited natural resources..... so I wrote this in defiance of a world we still have the power to change, if we want to badly enough...


I know the president who I helped elect is very busy preparing his speech for why we should send more troops in Afghanistan, but maybe someone can steer him to this poem and the feeling I have that as a progressive my only choices are to either be devastated by a leader I completely disrespect or be disappointed by a leader I like... I think he will be making a huge mistake one that is costly, unproductive and a drain our limited resources...


The Biology of Peace
By Karen I. Shragg

Now that we know
Now that we can prove
That we are all related
Thanks to the success of those brave
few who ventured out of
Sub-Saharan Africa just a second ago
Earth time
Its time to let go of all of the lies
Which tell stories of difference
Which plant the seeds of violence
Which perpetuate war

Now that we know that our kind left the trees
When the forests dried out to find food
Just a few Earth minutes ago
Its time to stop treating them like
Strangers forcing their ultimate extinction
As if we don’t owe them more than a ride on a
Circus train for they share all but a fraction of our DNA

Now that we know our power to make all ecosystems
Bow to our wishes and break in the process
Its time for full throttle focus on stewardship
Which is not a sacrifice
But a sacrament
The kind with real consequences here on
Our planet which science is telling us doesn’t
Have long to support us
All of us
In numbers which far exceed its ability to give

Now that we know our planet’s limits
Now that we know we can exhaust them
with our numbers alone
Its time to admit we have limits of our own.

Population is STILL our number one problem

The Economist opinion in November 2nd’s Star Tribune paper was right on several accounts but fatally wrong on several others. It is true that lower fertility has helped to spur economic growth in much of the world, but population growth remains a serious problem in sub-Saharan Africa and much of Southern Asia. Yes, global fertility rates fell sharply in the latter half of the 20th Century, but fertility rates remain stubbornly high in some of the poorest developing nations, and in some countries--like Kenya--fertility rates are climbing back up.

The bottom line is that though globally we have gone down globally from approximately 93 million additional people (births minus deaths) per year to 73 million we are still in serious overshoot of our natural resource base, as we have enough natural resources to keep only 2 billion people living on Planet Earth at a modest existence. On our current trajectory we are dangerously headed to 9 billion inhabitants of this limited place and beyond. The Economist article is as comforting as it would be to tell the passengers of the Titanic that the iceberg will hit next week instead of tomorrow.

Ten years ago, The Economist ["Drowning in Oil"] were completely of base on their forecast of oil reserves when they infamously declared that “The world is awash with the stuff and it is likely to remain so.” Now we are past peak oil and getting the remaining goo out of the ground is much more expensive and that’s before you look at its contribution to greenhouse gases.

Declarations in 2009 that “Population growth is already slowing almost as fast as it naturally could” or "worries about a population explosion are themselves being exploded," are equally false. This whole take on the issue throws a political monkey wrench into the efforts that must be done to educate people on the way our planet continues to rapidly grow while our natural resources continue to decrease.

In addition, the article declares that we can do no more about population growth so we need to focus on green technologies. This hopeless analysis is also false. Once we truly get the population issue we will be able to find many humane ways of solving this crisis, from tax incentives to education. If one truly understands that in the time it takes you read the Star Tribune ( assuming that is one hour) 9,000 additional people were added to the planet, then you will understand that no amount of green technologies can get us out of the hole we are digging for ourselves. The basics of life’s essential needs are in limited supply. Water is one of the main limiting factors, and solving how many people will need it in the future is where our efforts need to be, not on whether or not we can all drive electric cars.

Population Elephant

I met a new co-hort in the population field today. His name is Kurt Dahl and he has great insights into this profoundly difficult-to-navigate issue. Check him out at www.populationelephant.com I noticed that his list of knowledgeable people in this field is only a list of men. I plan to change that someday. It was a pleasure to have lunch with him today and discuss this critical key issue with a fellow activist in this area.

Congrats to Our New Senator

Dear Al, Frannie, Thomasin and Joe,

Congratulations to all of you on surviving the grueling months of challenges to your election as our senator. I am so excited. It has truly been a pleasure being a district and state delegate for you as well as a canvasser. I wish I could have done more.

Go and join Amy and be the senator of the people. You know what we want. What the people want hasn’t changed much over the years. We want everything you said you would fight for in your campaign. We want a chance for a better future. We want the rules to start favoring the average person and not the big corporations. We want education and health care that doesn’t rob us of our savings and put us under a mountain of debt. We don’t want anymore of us to be sent off to wars which cannot be won and will only drain our budgets and the best resource we have, our young people.

We want out leaders to be better educated on the issues than we are so that they may lead us in a direction to a better world. We don’t need them to test the political waters before making a decision and then do only what is currently popular. Time has taught us that equal rights for all is the right thing to do, health care for all including mental health coverage is the right thing to do. In the end, as our late great friend and senator said, “We all do better when we all do better”, that even includes those from the other side of the aisle.

As you begin your learning curve of how to negotiate the political hurdles and challenges of Washington, please keep in mind that keeping us headed in a direction of social and ecological justice is not ultimately possible without addressing one issue which no one is touching, the issue of our own numbers.

The Mayan culture died off because they overpopulated their resource base. Globally we are doing that to the tune of 9,000 people per hour net gain each and every day. The US with its high rate of consumption is much too blame for robbing the Earth of so many of its raw materials. People need to know that underlying that over-consumption is the fact that we are the fastest growing industrialized country in the world. 3,000,000 more Americans each year will need food, health care, housing, jobs, clean water, and let’s not forget wild areas to enjoy.

This factor alone will undermine any legislation which you may get a chance to author or sign. Humanely working on this issue is not only possible but necessary. While you will have many pressing challenges facing you in the senate, please keep this in mind as you do what I’m sure will be a great job as our senator.

If you ever need anything related to population, environmental issues, environmental education, or sustainability please contact me, I would love to be of some assistance.

Congratulations. I look forward more sanity and humor coming out of Washington in the days ahead.

Karen's Creamy Vegan Salad dressing

1 Cup Nayonaise ( this is made by Nasoya and is tofu based )
2 Tblsp Dijon Mustard
2 tsps Tumeric
2 cloves garlic shredded
1/3 cup water
2 Tblsp honey or maple syrup
2 tsps dill weed

optional 1 tblsp organic pickle relish, fresh garden herbs,basil, oregane to taste

Unworthy of a Green Label

If going green is to mean anything or catch on in a meaningful way it must not only be measured by a companies willingness to put on a green roof or distribute organic food. It must not only be measured by their use of energy efficient light bulbs. While it is fine to commend corporations for putting in place practices which help us all out by reducing carbon emissions, we need to stop referring them as green if they continue to have anti-family, anti-union and in general anti-employee practices.

The new green needs to be humane too. Twice this month I have seen where Wal-mart got an award for being greener than several companies which pay fair wages and offer their employees health care AND have other traditionally green practices in place. Natural Health Magazine gave them one of their top ten green company awards in their recent publication.

Wal-mart is now a part of the Twin Cities Living Green Expo, taking up a lot of floor space and ad space, while not managing to pay their workers fairly or give them health care benefits. The very wealthy owners of this mega-store have private jets which they use to come into towns and break up unions. They are responsible for burdening the hospitals of every state in which they do business because their employees use emergency rooms as the doctors they cannot afford. Essentially they fence cheap goods made with low wages abroad, forcing age-old local businesses to close in many a small town. This alone should prevent their entry into events which used to stand for something far more meaningful.

These very wealthy companies should disgust every American especially those who love following a greener ethic. These companies are not green, not by my definition. My definition of green is a company which insists on offering goods which are fair traded, locally and organicially-sourced necessary goods. They pay a living wage and give full health care. medical leave and vacation benefits to its employees. When we allow them to co-opt us because they are doing a few good things, we undermine our entire cause.

While it is true that just by their size alone they can effect a lot of green changes, they need to be told that they need to include fair labor practices in their green portrait.
These CEO’s can afford this without giving up too may golden seatbelts in their private planes.America will be a better country for it, and the Green movement will be able to attract many more members as they see that it is offers a wider umbrella. The Green movement will stand for more than green roofs and incandescent florescent lightbulbs, it will stand for people too.

Lessons I'm Still Learning from My Mom

Lessons I’m Still Learning from my Mom
( With thanks to my friends and family for your love and support)
By Karen I. Shragg

Before an illness grabs you
Like a dog grabs its favorite toy
Before it shakes you down to your very core
Leaving you with a body you barely recognize
Be sure you’ve accumulated the kind of
Friends and family who will love you beyond
The physical person to whom they’ve grown accustom
Take the time today to make one more friend
Call one more relative, make someone smile
For those who are connected to your inner beauty
Will be the ones to remind you
That to them you will always be beautiful
And they will tell you that just when
You need to hear it most
Holding your hand
Giving you courage just when you think you’ve run dry
Giving you a gift you
Need not worry about ever repaying
Because you are just collecting on an investment
You’ve made over the years
With each gesture of love
With each gift of your time
They will be there like beacons on a dark night
Lighting the way to a better tomorrow.