American Community II

January 5, 2011


The United States of America is very much a community. There is not much to debate about that, most all definitions of community would agree . Whether we are running on empty, running on two cylinders instead of eight, running against the wind no matter the level by which we fall short of some idealized version held by ourselves or others, we exist because we are a community.

Sometimes we refer to the fabric of society, that's us, as we shop, as we work, as we drive and engage with day to day life.

As we move on with our lives in the year 2011 many of us feel a deep anxiety about our direction, we see the trends and notice that for all the modern advances, for all the brilliance of our technology, our community has become a tougher place to live and thrive. Why is that?
If we are a free people with the ability to chart our own course why are we so helpless when it comes to improving this fabric, tightening up the weave instead of watching it unravel.

Maybe ' it is what it is ' ... isn't a good enough answer. Maybe we need to address our situation
and let go of this ongoing sense of drift and helplessness. Is that possible? Do we have the
ability to see through the 'mystery clouds a pouring, confusion to the ground' as John Fogerty sang back in the 1960's and maybe is still singing today. To attempt to address our situation may seem on the outset hopeless but to go out in this lifetime with this 'helpless' feeling inside us is not a good way to go.

What are the forces that unravel the thread?

Population Growth, New Immigrants, Politics, Wealth and Poverty, the Media, Enemies Abroad, Human Stupidity ... I am looking at some likely suspects, maybe there will be some
common ground of experience as I survey our 2011 landscape.

Population Growth. Most everybody has seen the graph of human population growth particularly over the long stretch, say a thousand years, the straight horizontal line that suddenly seems to take a 90 degree turn straight up at the start of the 20th century. What impact has that had on your life? The impact maybe experienced differently for someone 60 years old and someone 13 years old. When I was about 13 years old the population of the US was somewhere about 160 Million to 180 Million. Now we stand over 300 million, in about 50 years our country's population has doubled. The experience can vary state to state, if you are a resident of South Dakota you might say no problem in fact come on over I could use a few more neighbors. Most of the people of the US who have been around awhile have seen their streets get more crowded, watched as treasured pockets of nature, get swallowed up as more of humanity moves in. Generally as the US density of population has grown there is a corresponding reduction of something and I believe that something is quality of life.

Does more traffic encountered in your daily travel enhance your day or diminish it? Maybe you don't let it bother you. Bravo, but let's say you had a choice. Let's say you had a choice and you had a choice as to what the next generation might experience. Your next generation, your kids who you have struggled to do your best for. How do you cast your vote?

How do you feel about bumping into someone you know during the course of the day? Someone who says hello to you with a smile. Not bad really, kind of brightens your day for
a minute. Some of us may be fortunate than others having this a common occurrence. A lot of Americans are restless people, I am one, in writing about 6 paragraphs i have gotten up, been to the refrigerator about 7 times, have stopped to pick up the guitar 3 times, checked the outdoor thermometer 2 or maybe 3 times (It seems a little off, too high). Turned the vacuum on at least 3 times it still sits waiting for me to find another patch of dust, swore to give up caffein about three times, and so on and of course where do I move next. Where in America? What are we looking for? Well we are restless but let's get back to that experience. Bumping into someone you know while you are out and about and sharing a smile for a minute or two. It's not bad at all, sometimes maybe I take it for granted. Do I want more for me or the next generation of that type of experience? Much of that goodness will come from my or our own nature and the people who I or we have met over the years from living in one place. However that experience can be expanded or diminished with the increase of population in your community. Let's say we have a choice. Where do you stand? Do you have a community that you can call your own? I am writing from a small village in Maine. I am not sure I know where home is anymore.

I recall the governor of what might be my home state, California saying in his annual state of the state address about 2 years ago, right before things went right in the crapper. Governor Arnold with his warm smile informed Californians that the Golden State's population would reach 5o million by about 2050 from it's present 37 million. Therefore let's keep building, woohoo.. we have an economy to grow. He didn't say that exactly but for Governor Scwarzenegger and most political leaders, developers and many others that straight up projection of population growth means more money.

There has got to be a better way of living. Life is short humans, you know this there isn't a lot of time to enjoy yourself. What do I leave my children or your children since I don't have any of my own? Do we have a choice? It seems most of our elected Representatives would have us believe that population growth is inevitable and even desirable. The alternative, decreasing or achieving an equilibrium seems impossible yet the latest census suggested it might be happening on its own.

Maybe if the people of America agreed that slowing this population growth down quite a bit is a good thing perhaps thats how progress might happen. Maybe we if we think of ourselves as a planet of one people maybe we can share this planetary knowledge small families are a good thing, adoption is a good path for those who want the large family.

I hope we are at the crest of the great Population Spike. I hope that historically in 100 years 200 years or 500 years from now we will talk about the days in the first half of the 21st century,
when this country the USA and the World began to adjust to the new vision where the health of Community and the health of our Natural World became more important than the accumulation of wealth.