Let's bring the world together

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a
green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and
deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man
of imagination, nature is imagination itself.
- William Blake, poet, engraver, and painter (1757-1827)

Despite the fact that Blake strutted his stuff two centuries ago, he could have been speaking of today. Around the world, we are not just abusing nature, but using up the non-renewable portions of it and tearing apart the renewable components.

In North America, about 85 percent of the population lives in urban areas, primarily cities. City people, not having any regular association with activities and life that is found in the countryside and in the wilderness, have little or no connection with nature. To them, it is "all ridicule and deformity."

In practice, it is more likely that most city dwellers don't give a thought to any life that attempts to survive in the countryside or the wilderness.

Ironically, humans are the most successful species at spreading itself around every part of the planet that is above water. This speaks to how unsuccessful people who do not live in cities have been at making a case for their own welfare and survival, let alone that of animal and plant life.

Unlike many areas of study that are expected to be taught in schools, nature and farm/ranch life have an abundance of teaching materials available, notably through television programs but also many other forms of media. But, for the most part, nature, country life and wilderness are not on school curriculums as whole concepts. Rather, they may be found in dissociated parts in biology, history or other classes.

This most severe problem is easy to fix. It needs to be put on the curriculums of several school grades and the available material aids need to be put int0 the hands of the teachers. This is our world, not a study of a foreign language or an arcane niche of science.

We want to put humans on Mars, find cures for diseases and find Osama bin Laden, but we don't put much emphasis on finding out about the parts of our planet outside of cities. These are the parts that provide the components that allow us to survive in cities.

Only when enough people care, and get together to express their concern publicly, will politicians prompt education leaders to change their curriculum. That's why the TIA (TurningItAround) group was formed, to give a forum for bringing people of like minds together so they can share their strategies and their plans.

If you care, why not join the group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/turningitaround/
You can set your email preferences at Special Notices so that you will not receive messages other than those that pertain to a gathering of like minds.

Let's make a difference together.

Bill Allin
'Turning It Around: Causes and Cures for Today's Epidemic Social Problems,' striving to help so many good people to find each other so they can act together.
Learn more at http://billallin.com