Food for Thought
“We say that America is a Christian and a democratic country. But I find nothing in the gospels or in the Declaration of Independence or in the Constitution to justify our support of puppet tyrants, or our slaughter of women and children, or our destruction of crops and villages and forests, or our herding of civilians into concentration camps in Vietnam. We do these things because we have forsaken our principles and abandoned ourselves to the inertia of power. We have come to depend obsessively on an enormous capability of violence -- for security, for national self-esteem, even for economic stability. As a consequence we have become blind to the alternatives to violence.”
Wendell Berry (1968)
Category Archives: Natural Patriots
Nature is hiring
[Editor's note: Following is Paul Hawken's recent commencement speech to the graduating class of the University of Portland. It is so inspiring, so filled with poetry and wisdom, and so dead on the mark that I feel compelled to reproduce … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Biophilia, Education, Natural Patriots, Science, Sustainability
Tagged heroes, restoration, soul
2 Comments
What the President(s) said
What a week it’s been. Martin Luther King Day followed immediately by the swearing in of a pathbreaking President of the United States. I would like to write at length about the tide of hope that President Obama’s measured words, … Continue reading
Posted in Natural Patriots, Politics
1 Comment
I have a dream
It’s as predictable as the seasons — every year, when I hear the excerpts from Martin Luther King’s historic speech on the radio at this time of year, it brings tears to my eyes. I just watched the speech on … Continue reading
The silent world
A few months ago I happened to pick up a copy of Jacques Cousteau’s classic first book, The Silent World, less from a burning desire to read it than for the mysterious and evocative cover photo, and out of a … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Biophilia, Books and media, Education, Natural Patriots, Oceans
Tagged heroes, soul
9 Comments
Herbert S. Zim: Natural Patriot
Over the last few weeks, while piddling around the project site (i.e., yard), pulling weeds, attempting to ferret out the invaders from the natives, puzzling over bugs, and pondering where I might site a small pond (and how to sell … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Biophilia, Books and media, Education, Natural Patriots, Science
Tagged heroes, kids
18 Comments
Got dirt?
[Editor's note: This just in -- and in time for Earth Day (barely). I reprint below an extract from the new, second edition of Richard Louv's classic and inspirational book, Last Child in the Woods. The new edition is expanded … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Biophilia, Books and media, Education, Natural Patriots, Sustainability
Tagged happiness, health, kids, soul
11 Comments
Friday poetry 5: Oh, Earth, Wait for Me
[Editor's note: Few have employed the Spanish language so masterfully as Pablo Neruda. I've often felt that an important incentive to improve my own rudimentary Spanish would be the ability to read and appreciate Neruda's poetry in his native tongue. … Continue reading
Posted in Natural Patriots, Poetry
4 Comments
The man who changed the world
199 years ago on this day, the 12th of February 1809, a child was born in the town of Shropshire in the West English midlands, and grew up to change the world. Charles Darwin spent a unique life studying nature, with the … Continue reading
Happy Birthday Natural Patriot!
Dear friends, colleagues, family members, sparring partners, lost souls, and passers-by, I am proud to say that, as of this day, the Natural Patriot has survived its first perilous year in this world (I’m referring to the blog, not myself. I … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Biophilia, Blogospheria, Natural Patriots
12 Comments
Autumnal reflections on the bounty of Nature
Right, I promised something about pumpkin pie, or at least some fare less likely to produce indigestion than the end of the world as we know it (although the conversation during the Thanksgiving holiday with the extended family did, perhaps … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Education, Natural Patriots, Politics
4 Comments
