Star Wars or Peace at Home?

By Ricardo Peres – São Paulo, Brasil June 2008

Humanity is at a crossroads and must choose one of two routes to pursue a way of life in the 21^st century: War in Space or Peace on Earth.

The present situation on Earth is precarious and war ridden due to a systematic denial of our inescapable dependence on Nature. Indeed, the conflicts between the natural limits of the Earth and our notions of growth, economic development and progress are well established by the “developed world” – continental USA and Europe – which has destroyed 99% of its own original forests in the course of the last few centuries, thus incurring irreparable loss of biodiversity.

But the hidden face of growth emerges everywhere: Most of the world’s forests have been destroyed, 90% of potable water is polluted, coral reefs (the home for 65% of oceanic species are dying exponentially, 33% of the planet’s territory is under threat of desertification, 11 of the 17 sea fishing reserves have collapsed, three quarters of the genetic diversity of crops are already lost and 60% of all ecosystem services are degraded. Also, the hidden face of growth shows that economic development is a most effective tool of wealth concentration and social differentiation: 2.8 billion human beings are presently living in abject poverty, 95% of the sewer volume in poor countries remains untreated while the wealth held by the top 250 richest people on Earth is equal to the wealth held by the bottom 40% of humanity – almost 3 billion souls.

Yet, instead of rethinking obsolete notions and devising equitable ways to develop in sync with the natural limits of the Earth, a group of powerful world leaders are now resolved to perpetuate the unsustainable growth that generated the deplorable scenario above. This time, however, they want to do it by controlling Space, from where they intend to navigate with the same old and defective economic compass. The USA military industrial complex, with the support of its clients around the globe and tax money from US citizens – the US military now controls just over 50% of every federal tax dollar – is planning to further this sorry state of affairs through the hegemonic control of Space. Their goal is to increase domination over the Earth’s biodiversity and resources in order to satisfy their appetite for more growth and more power at the expense of Life. If so, there is little doubt that warfare would become the modus operandi thereafter, possibly till the last human breath before the end of the century as environmental collapse disrupts the biological services that have kept us alive for millions of years.

On the other hand, while the challenges on Earth are many, at least here at home we stand a chance to attain peace. It will require a lot of discipline as we demand from world leaders that the true value of Biodiversity be incorporated into policy decisions. It will require a new value system; new economic and pricing systems that take Nature’s stock into account. It will take equitable governance, voluntary simplicity and sacrifices all around. Above all, it will take us to recognize that we are all children of Biodiversity and that all our systems represent a subsystem of Nature. We have much to reckon with and ought to waste no time if we are really serious about Peace.

A cohesive movement for Peace on Earth must be pursued diligently in order to show the world’s population that it is in fact possible to establish an alternative to the Star Wars Program. The challenge is immense given that adhesion to the movement would entail deliberate understanding and direct involvement of hundreds of millions of people around the world willing to focus on a single objective: Peace on Earth.

- Send comments on this article to Ricardo Peres at ricardo@bentivi.com.br