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Interdependence Day

Earth flagBy Colin Walsh
 
It’s time we realize and act upon our interdependence. 
 
During the Cold War they called it mutually assured destruction. If either super power provoked the other and war ensued the result could be complete annihilation of all life on the planet. Each country dependent on the other to not destroy everyone. We were taught to live in fear of our adversaries. We were taught they would kill and or enslave us, and they were taught the same, but in truth we were interdependent for our continued existence. 
 
We have a lot to unlearn.
 
Today with climate change we have a new more active mutually assured destruction. If we don’t start acting together globally we will surprisingly quickly find large parts of the world uninhabitable. Our old "adversaries" must become our allies and we in turn must become their allies in a quest for mutual sustainability. 
 
We are interdependent whether we acknowledge it or not. The migrant and refuge children in camps are our children. It’s time to beat our swords into plow sheers and turn our science and industry of war to a science and industry of global sustainability. If we don't our destruction is mutual and mutually assured.
 
After generations of a scarcity mind set and entrenched camps it won't be easy, but we have to start somewhere.
 
So if you see me today, I may optimistically wish you happy interdependence day. Now you know why.
 
 

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Comments

3 responses to “Interdependence Day”

  1. Eileen Samitz

    Thanks much or this thoughtful and excellent article. I had not thought of the comparison of how the cold war compared to what we are facing now which is equally if not even more dangerous, which is climate change. Now, if we could just get this out-of-touch president to acknowledge that, but sadly it is not likely. We so need to get him out of office so we can address climate change and all of the other problems that he has brought onto our country.
    On this 4th of July all need to celebrate our historical independence from oppression and to appreciate so much that enjoy in our beloved country, but we also need to understand that we need to save the U.S., and the planet, from climate change deniers like Trump.

    Reply
  2. Roberta L. Millstein

    Great piece, Colin, and I agree 100%. I would even take it a step further. It’s not just our human interdependence we need to recognize — it’s also our interdependence with non-human organisms as well as non-living entities like soil, air, and water. Only when we take all of those into account can we truly think about achieving sustainability.
    And for those who can tolerate academic writing (I barely can), as coincidence would have it I have been working on a project emphasizing the centrality of interdependence in Aldo Leopold’s land ethic. For example, here: http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/14103/ (officially published here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/699721).
    Happy Interdependence Day!!

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  3. Nancy Price

    Thank you, Colin, for your post. Many elected officials are talking about supporting “No First Strike” legislation….but as you say that is MAD! The key meme of the Nuclear Freeze Movement of the 1980s that eventually led to Gorbachev and Reagan signing the Intermediate-Rage Nuclear Forces Treaty INF in 1987 that Trump has now pulled the US out of…which is a MAD thing to have done.
    Soon the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, US will launch their I CAN, YOU CAN, WE ALL CAN …together abolish nuclear weapons campaign through education, advocacy and political action in support of ican, the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons and for countries, including the US to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. WILPF US will be working with cities and states that earlier passed Nuclear Freeze Resolutions and US Mayors for Peace.
    Davis is not a Mayors for Peace city and should be. Just recently, at the 87th US Conference of Mayors Meeting a Resolution was passed: “Calling on All Presidential Candidates to Make knows Their Positions on Nuclear Weapons and to Pledge U.S. Global Leadership in Presenting Nuclear War, Returning to Diplomacy, and Negotiating Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.” This resolution was passed by all US Mayors present, except for Mayor Billy Hewes (City of Gulfport).
    Now, let’s find out if Mayo Lee attended this important annual conference.
    Stay tuned for more on this I CAN, YOU CAN, WE ALL CAN campaign.

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