THE 800 POUND GORILLA WITH PET ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM

Once upon a time there was a new species in need of a place to live. Throughout the universe there were few suitable planets that such a unique species could inhabit. However there was one available planet both habitable and large enough to sustain this species for thousands of years. This planet was so well suited for them that they quickly occupied it with free access to all of its amenities. It was quite nice at first. Even among the other inhabitants they found balance and mutual sustainability within a system that recycled everything in its circle of life. They shared the fruit of their knowledge and labor which provided sustenance and life to all. They mutually found a way to live together in harmony. As this new species advanced they began experiencing problems while dealing with "the reality of growing complexities." The more they advanced and interacted, the greater the collaboration they required. However, the complications of equitable and mutual growth require careful management. The objective should have been interdependence but the focus was on personal enrichment and competitive independence. The astonishing complexity of that world's delicate balancing act knitted and interwoven in mutual exchange for thousands of years was broken. The more the new species advanced and the quicker they progressed the more they disrupted planetary harmony. As a result more and more divisions grew. And with no unified approach the new species splintered into multiple factions. The new species failed to create a common system of governance so their sense of family, unity and any mutual concerns eroded. As individuality and superiority grew they began exploiting and mistreating one another. This had a domino effect on all of the other species which had lived in harmony among them. Even worse then that, they began to exploiting and gradually exhausting the natural resources of the only planet they had. As they formed into various clans they further separated themselves by beliefs, cultures, race and any differences they could find. To make things worse they erected barriers, walls and borders among themselves. The less they talked the more the new species  fought and battled among themselves. As subsequent leaders rose and fell from within the various sects vying for power alliances and unions were formed. This in turn created more division, dissension and conflicts that lead to efforts to build more weapons for more wars of all kinds. Every type of war imaginable like trade wars, border wars, drug wars, food wars and military wars became the norm. Never-the-less the new species continued on in spite of their self destructive practices and occupied most of the planet. They knew that they had reached a point where their fate was inextricably tied together and even coined a term like "M.A.D." meaning Mutually Assured Destruction. They are now beginning to realize that the only way their severed structure can sustain their instability is through entropy. Entropy is the general trend of the universe toward death and disorder. As far fetched as this may sound this is a true story and we are living it! The planet is earth and the new species is the human race.

---

The animals depicted by the idiom in the title of this post bear a striking resemblance to the posture our world now finds itself in. The 800 pound gorilla represents the power to act without regard. The evidence that there is a problem with power being abused, is as obvious as an elephant in the room. By rereading many of our former posts we've become aware that we were forewarned of the manifestations described in our current posts. Rather then the traditional "I told you so," Let's comprise new preventative strategies to combat the newly revealed threats and take some remedial action on the already acknowledged ones. Current conditions prove that there is a problem. Let's understand the principles at work and how advance from where we are. In a time of multiple challenges with simultaneous threats of war, political unrest, economic instability, religious divisions, social upheaval and technological change it seems that there are just to many issues to address. But these matters although important, are distractions that divert our attention from the 800 pound gorilla with the pet elephants in the room. "The violence that exists in the human heart is also manifest in the symptoms of illness that we see in the earth, the water, the air and in living things." That quote from Pope Francis alludes to global warming. This is the theme of this post. The soul of our existence rests in our universal respect and appreciation for every aspect of life. The power of change does not reside under the control of business or government. In reality most advancements and changes are driven by the interests and response of the proletariat. The power of change rests in the will of our consent through consciousness.

---

It is not too difficult understanding our response to global warming when we consider the way we have responded in the past. The self inflicted perils of alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, slavery, violence and war are apparent. The evidence of the injustice, wrongness and  plain ole evil were obvious as they were occurring. The fact that such evidence became history proves that. There are still people who don't believe that the Holocaust (at least the one that Israel endured) ever happened despite all of the evidence to the contrary. We believe that it did happen just as the evidence suggests, but we were not there so we cannot prove it! We can deny anything that we choose to ignore evidence of. Many people form beliefs consistent with what they choose to ignore. To determine justice In a court of law we generally examine evidence, draw conclusions and make a judgement based on what we consider as p​roof. In civil law the burden of proof is established by the "preponderance of evidence." In criminal law the burden of proof is establish at a much higher standard, that is "beyond a reasonable doubt." Climate change, deforestation and the dismantling of environment protection laws are simultaneously undermining other efforts to change our current course. Let's face this one fact of truth that may not be evident. There is no definitive proof that we (mankind) are the main cause of global warming and climate change. We have evidence but not enough evidence to prove or convict. Climate change is a natural cyclical occurrence and it is nothing new. In fact it is only recently in the past 30 years or so that we even became aware of climate change. Prior to that we did not see it, test or measure for it. One of the most notable climate crisis's occurred with the ozone layer back in the 1980's, remember that! There was no definitive proof that our production and use of CFC's were polluting the atmosphere, however the evidence of an ever growing and expanding hole in our sky only detected by our scientist spurred us into action. Isn't it amazing that the accuracy in predicting weather, everything from hurricanes to deep freezes, has substantially improved but we doubt the forecast for global warming! It appears that only short term weather scientist have clout and know what they are talking about. We will evacuate whole cities and counties in light of weather predictions while ignoring predictions of global climate changes. We have sunk to the position of splitting hairs over the difference between evidence and proof. Although we cannot get a criminal conviction about climate change that is beyond a reasonable doubt, wouldn't it be wise to weigh the preponderance of evidence and err on the side of caution? Who cares what's causing it! Lets examine and address it, especially while it is in our power to do so. The fact is that mankind has progressed to the point that we are able to destroy ourselves simply through the weaponry we've developed and retain to fight wars. Mankind has always been in control of its own destiny. Now more so then ever we have the ability to shape the future into exactly what we want it to be. The way that the universe operates proves to us that we are interdependently yoke together. How much more evidence do we need. Exchange is the way of life! without exchange there is no life. Its easy to prove just stop breathing and exchanging O2 for CO2 and it will become evident. The idea that we can divide one interdependent world into multiple independent territories is outdated. There is only one race it is called the human race. There can only be one motive behind such behavior, and that is profit. Truly the love of money is the root of all evil. ​This is a part of the wake up call to all. There is nothing more important then our mutual existence. We have reached a point where we can no longer isolate our economies, cultures, countries, or climates. The United States is historically the largest producer of greenhouse gases and currently the second largest. The battles over the profits from the shared resources we sell to one another are increasingly being used as hostages and pawns to create divisions among us. We are all "beings" of equally endowed inalienable rights. We realize that any type of supremacy is terrorism against any other agency of life. Some readers may decide to believe that the conclusions drawn from the facts presented here are a bunch of conjectures drawn from a fanatical right or left wing mind set. We should realize that "confirmation bias" is the tendency to interpret evidence so that it confirms what we already believe and all biases like racism are defined by their results. It's not what it looks or acts like that matters most it's what it does in the end that defines it. There's plenty of evidence to suggest that the consciousness of the world is selfishly corrupt, lady Liberty has been blindfolded and we are on a downward spiral of dividing rather then unifying, but it seems to be increasingly difficult to Prove. Again nothing here is written in stone and as always in these posts we reserve the right to be wrong.

---