Penumbra is the word of the day. The mariner doubts it will be replaced by “get” or “got.” The general meaning is to stand in the shadow of something. More than just a shadow, it alludes to a shadow that doesn’t have an edge like our shadow or the shadow of a building. An example may be an eclipse or, on a sunny day, standing beneath an altocumulus cloud – high enough that its shadow line is diffused by the time it reaches the ground.

The mariner will confess that penumbra is not one of his usual words. He doubts there are very few except scientists who need a word like penumbra. It is a word the mariner remembers from something he read long ago; it comes to mind whenever the word “eclipse” is mentioned.

It is the appropriate word for our thoughts about the Advocacy at Home (AH) series of posts. AH has advocated a form of behavior; it has set standards for that behavior. AH is, in fact, a law book. It is a law book without an end.

There is no line between advocacy and no advocacy. We may have a lifestyle that involves low grade advocacy, that is, taking note of an issue and having an opinion, and then have something else catch our attention. We may have strong feelings about a subject, idea, or activity and may physically react in some way to counter the situation. But there always is advocacy; else, prejudice and accomplishment would not exist.

The mariner looks back at the brutality and stupidity of Homo sapiens referenced in AH. Humans are no different than any other animal except humans are capable of malice aforethought, destroying just to destroy, or destroying because it is easier than assuring optimum or fair conclusions. Defenders of this characteristic claim it is done in the name of progress – akin to Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest.’ Progress for whom? Perhaps not progress for humans. Malice aforethought is part genetic and part sociopathic.

Referenced in the post, Po Pouree, from letters to the editor in Scientific American, Robert E Marx responded to an article about why neandertals became extinct (apologies for repetition of earlier posts):

“Kate Wong’s suppositions about what brought about neandertals’ extinction in “Neandertal Minds” are contrary to the known history of anatomically modern Homo sapiens (that is, us). Her assertions that neandertals were just out competed and that the 1.5 to 2.1 percent neandertal DNA within people outside of Africa is the result of occasional “dalliances” would be historically unlikely.

The most likely scenario would involve waves of immigrating anatomically modern humans taking over land and causing death by plunder and disease, as Europeans discovering the New World did. And it would be naive to think that our neandertal DNA was the result of consensual dalliances when rape went hand in hand with the pillage of every other civilization.”

From Walt Kelly’s comic strip, Pogo, April 22, 1970.

Putting aside our treatment of other species, consider how we treat human beings – our own species.

John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834-1902). The historian and moralist, otherwise known simply as Lord Acton, expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

The letter was written at the end of the Victorian era when the Edwardian era was emerging and which peaked during the years of 1901 – 1910, then slowly disappearing as the First World War drew near. That was a time very similar to the United States today: a very few were incredibly wealthy and the rest of Great Britain was in a crisis.

Is it true that if the reader or the mariner were given absolute power, we would be “bad men?” At the least, would we be immoral? Would our arrogance and indifference be obvious? Vladimir Putin has absolute power. Would he be less immoral if he had no power? Assume we had absolute power over one person. Would we abuse that person? Would we, in a twisted desire for absolute power be like Phillip Garrido, who kidnapped and kept Jaycee Dugard in a backyard shed for 18 years and had two children by her? Famous studies of power over another person show that, indeed, immoral if not violent behavior will occur.

What is it about power that is so destructive?

The oldest reference to rule by law was written by the reformist King Urukagina of city-state Lagash in Mesopotamia during the 24^th century BC. It consisted of a list of rules that were generally beneficial to the very poor and the labor class. The rich were curtailed in their abuses by what the mariner calls “Clintonesque restraints,” that is, in exchange for paying silver to their laborers, one could have 1,500 sheep instead of 500. Good people die young – King Urukagina was overthrown seven years later by his neighbor city-state Urek.

The reader would think, after 4,600 years, humans would have mastered the three elements of ruling by law. The three elements are power, intervention of power, and individuals. If intervention or individuals weren’t present, who would need rule of law? Perhaps the less powerful would lust after those who may be more powerful. Intervention would become battles between powerful people and individuals would become a commodity like chickens. Isn’t that called the Dark Ages (500 – 1100 AD)?

The reason for this run around Robin Hood’s barn is to highlight the similarities between AH and rule by law. We must be firm, committed and assertive in our AH laws. It is the only way to fix our dysfunctional nation.

Earlier it was mentioned that there were three elements to rule by law: power, intervention of power, and individuals. The dysfunction in the US is that it is the powerful that write the rules for intervention of power. Individuals are out of the loop. So AH is a beginning. The more individuals that create their AH rule books and enforce them, the sooner individuals may take their place in the triumvirate known as rule of law.

Ancient Mariner

There was a post earlier in the series that addressed global ecology. The post focused on one’s philosophy about living things and the ecological needs these many things may have that we ignore. We focus on only our human need without regard for other forms of life. We spill oil, spread disease, destroy millions of acres of habitat to make homes and highways.

There are very few positive examples of note, perhaps the Glenwood Canyon Project on I-70 west of Denver, Colorado. Citizens pressured the Department of Transportation into saving the beauty of the canyon and the Colorado River, to respect the need of wildlife to move back and forth across the canyon, and to make I-70 almost disappear into the canyon walls. The project was a true integration of human need, wildlife need and respect for the sanctity of nature.

Now, we deal with the darker side of the human relationship with wildlife and species of every kind. Humans, with violence, psychopathic vengeance, and intense selfishness, deliberately attack nature’s creatures. Below is a table and pictorial display that may not be pleasant but will show that this form of human behavior is not just self centered but demonstrates a malfunction in Homo sapiens that endangers the planet itself.

Endangered Species List

There are many more brutal and upsetting photographs and stories – too terrible to use. The point is made that humans allow their planet’s ecology to be destroyed through favorable laws for factory farmers, unenforced standards for treatment of pets, livestock and experimentation, poaching for a single part of an animal, deliberate brutality, uncontrolled and indifferent destruction of whole ecological environments – wiping out thousands of plants, insects, animals, fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds – all in one purposeful effort without regard for the fact that we are destroying our own ecology. The short gain of profit and self gratification is metaphorical to the short existence of Homo sapiens in Earth’s history.

Those who study anthropology and population predict that human population will double by the year 2100. Science and technology will scramble to keep up with growth but the planet is no larger, perhaps less cooperative, and humans may have shattered the very ecology that keeps them alive.

Without doubt, human misbehavior toward its own environs, which includes the species above and their habitats, is too destructive to lay blame on any one ecology or on population explosion. To be clear, these animals are part of our habitat. We are destroying ourselves. Elizabeth Kolbert is right. WE will bring about our own extinction.

Of all the global threats in this series, including war, corporatism, dysfunctional government, cultural decay, organized greed – ecology is the most pressing crisis. There is a famous Cree proverb that goes,

“Only when the last tree has died, the last river been poisoned, and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.”

The mariner spoke of the good fortune of having his town remove three of his six large Ash trees two weeks ago. As fortune would have it, two days ago the last three were victims of a horrendous thunderstorm. His yard stands bare, now – the remaining logs and debris lying about. The trees gave the property character and timeless sustainability. Now, it is naked. The squirrels scramble about the debris confused and homeless; the grackles and robins no longer sit in branches noisily complaining; the doves sit on the rooftop of the house; where to go? He felt a bit of melancholy for the animals. The mariner’s trees were the victim of nature’s way. How terrible it would have been to watch humans deliberately destroy this tiny eco-culture with bulldozers and burning piles of trees still alive – for the useless reason of man’s unfeeling will.

Advocacy at home in behalf of species and their habitats is the hardest advocacy of all. The reader is a policeman, a saint, a restorer of good. Not tomorrow. Now. With the spirit of a Knight Templar, the intensity of Thor, and the unyielding will of God Almighty, the reader must pursue action:

• Belong to an organization that defends our many habitats and creatures. There are many. Choose one and contribute what you can. The mariner suggests World Wildlife Fund or others very similar in commitment and format. Pick one the reader can believe in and trust. Your two hands and Knight Templar spirit are not enough; you must join the activists.
• Never waiver from your disciplined manner. A tightly chained dog? Report it to a humane society – today. Obviously abused or under fed animals? Report it. Not tomorrow. Today!
• Absorb news and information with a highly sensitive awareness of the impact on the world’s many ecologies. The gibbon will disappear within a decade because of bulldozers and housing. The reader must act sooner and with greater force (we are dealing with Congressmen, you know) to prevent destruction of land and water habitats. Three cheers for Greenpeace; they are our navy seals. Three cheers for those who lay their body on the line in front of bulldozers and backhoes; they are our ground troops.
• Adopt an endangered creature. The reader must become a genuine guardian. Learn everything the reader can about the creature, its necessary ecosystem and be acutely aware of human imposition.
• The next vacation the reader takes, use it to travel to the land of the reader’s creature; do what one can with hands on the situation.
• Be an advocate. Solicit legislation; go to where the action is and make something happen.

Does the mariner sound melodramatic? Perhaps. But it must be clear that not only is the reader saving specie ecologies, the reader is saving the human race. Time is much, much shorter than one may think.

Ancient Mariner

The price of vegetables will be higher this year because of the California drought. That was reason enough for the mariner to increase the amount of ground dedicated to home grown vegetables. The great majority of readers have some amount of ground, even as little as a dozen square feet that could support vegetable gardens. Also, check with friends and family; they may be willing to share space. At least one reader belonged to a community garden club. A modern twist on vegetable growing at home is to have a pot farm. Virtually any vegetable from scallions to squash will be happy in a pot or wooden box.

The price of food is one reason to grow one’s own vegetables but the real benefit – guess – is saving water. Most truck crops are grown in irrigated fields because these soft vegetables contain a lot of water and need constantly damp soil. Generally, the source of water for irrigation comes from underground aquifers or rivers. There have been news headlines for years about underground aquifers losing water at rates that threaten many western states with drought and no crop yield. In 2005, the latest year on record, about 410,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water was withdrawn from aquifers for use in the United States. Processing (washing, etc.) requires additional water.

For readers with little experience in growing anything but grass, growing vegetables is similar in management except one doesn’t mow the vegetables. However, one must remove weeds that will crowd the vegetables and reduce productivity. Open the following link to see how easy it is to grow one’s own bell peppers:

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/much-water-used-grow-green-bell-peppers-41234.html

If the reader has any interest in gardening, it won’t be long before sunny windows and grow light devices will provide whatever the reader wants to grow year round. The mariner has found that fresh herbs add noticeably more flavor to a recipe than dried herbs.

Home advocacy is a matter of degree. However, if everyone grew only one vegetable or herb, that’s one plant that didn’t require water from an aquifer.

Of all the home advocacy recommendations in this series, home grown vegetables provide the largest payoff in water preservation, food quality, and personal selection. Further, readers who want to avoid insecticide toxins or artificial hormone growth, home grown is the way to go.

If the reader grows enough crop that there is too much to eat before the vegetables go bad, one can freeze the excess or can it. Some shrewd shoppers wait until a vegetable is deeply discounted at the market then buy large amounts to freeze or can. This practice protects the buyer from price issues but this practice doesn’t save water.

The mariner hopes this series on home advocacy provides a link between the huge issues of the world and ways that each of us can contribute to resolution. We may not bring the oil industry to its knees but our efforts reduce pollution and natural resource abuse – if only by a tiny bit.

Ancient Mariner