All things are connected

I can't end 2006 with a joke about reptiles and their erection problems. I'm leery of the karma that would produce for me in 2006!

So instead, here's a reminder from writer Vandana Shiva about how all of creation is connected, in some form. Shiva has a new book out, "Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability and Peace," published by South End Press. In 1993, she won the "Alternative Nobel Peace Prize," (also known as the "Right Livelihood Awards") which until now I had no idea even existed. Her take on Earth Democracy is that it is an ancient worldview that connects the particular to the universal, the diverse to the common, and the local to the global.

To word it in a way that doesn't fit so easily onto a bumper sticker (unless you use a really tiny font), she borrows some lines from Chief Seattle of the Suquamish tribe, who recognized life as a continuum between human and non-human species, and between past, present and future generations. Hail to the Chief...

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.

If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.

This we know; the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites our family. All things are connected.

Here's to a 2006 where the dominant worldview doesn't see the planet as a wealth of private property, but as a commons to be shared.