Paying it Forward

Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, has a wonderful essay on confronting climate change in today's New York Times (Our Moral Footprint).

He is not alarmist in terms of the earth's destruction, as the earth will continue to exist, be it hotter or colder. But our place on it may be jeopardized. It is an argument for "a consciousness of the commonality of all living beings and an emphasis on shared responsibility," lest we lose freedom by virtue of profligacy and inaction, versus reasoned choices.

Havel appeals to the corporate mindset and fiduciary responsibility (something our current leadership has forgone):

"Maybe we should start considering our sojourn on earth as a loan. There can be no doubt that for the past hundred years at least, Europe and the United States have been running up a debt, and now other parts of the world are following their example. Nature is issuing warnings that we must not only stop the debt from growing but start to pay it back. There is little point in asking whether we have borrowed too much or what would happen if we postponed the repayments. Anyone with a mortgage or a bank loan can easily imagine the answer."

Today the figure of $800 billion was floated as the cost estimate for the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars thus far. Our leaders are spending resources while wreaking havoc on lives and the environment like there is no tomorrow. Perhaps they know something we don't.

--Lisa