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RESOLVE TO SHOW SOME RESTRAINT
The human species has a superpower. It could save the viability of our planet. "We're the only creature who can decide not to do something we're capable of doing," says environmentalist Bill McKibben, who has been warning us since 1989 about global warming.
What McKibben calls our superpower is the facility for restraint. We can create weapons of mass destruction and not use them. We can approach the brink of war and find a diplomatic solution. We can contemplate mountains of consumer goods and not consume them. We can live in a rich country and not withhold our wealth from disadvantaged nations.
Each of us personally may have the resources to put off making the difficult choices regarding the throwaway cultural ethic and still choose to change our lifestyles and life choices for the sake of the world.
Restraint is a highly portable ethic to take with us into routine conversations. It requires no religious affiliation, no political alliance. It's a measurable value we can reflect on as we determine our life commitments, employment, travel, and purchases large and small. Restraint binds us together—just as the destiny of this planet surely does.
"Another name for human solidarity is love," McKibben points out simply. In the coming new year, let's resolve to use our superpower for love's sake!
—Alice Camille,
reprinted with permission from TrueQuest Communications
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