The 11th Hour

It's no surprise that we are destroying archeological sites in Iraq. Like Chris says at AMERICAblog, we don't need history.

"There are 10,000 archaeological sites in the country. In the Nassariyah area alone, there are about 840 Sumerian sites; they have all been systematically looted. Even when Alexander the Great destroyed a city, he would always build another. But now the robbers are destroying everything because they are going down to bedrock. What's new is that the looters are becoming more and more organised with, apparently, lots of money.

"Quite apart from this, military operations are damaging these sites forever. There's been a US base in Ur for five years and the walls are cracking because of the weight of military vehicles. It's like putting an archaeological site under a continuous earthquake."

Of all the ancient cities of present-day Iraq, Ur is regarded as the most important in the history of man-kind. Mentioned in the Old Testament – and believed by many to be the home of the Prophet Abraham – it also features in the works of Arab historians and geographers where its name is Qamirnah, The City of the Moon.

It's our style to destroy. I saw The 11th Hour yesterday, which reinforces how clueless we are. Why would we be concerned about the destruction of ancient Biblical cities? Hell, we are on a bigger mission. We are attempting to destroy the earth! The problem is, if we succeed, it will kill us.

One of the scientists interviewed in the movie called each of us a pixel in a larger picture, and we each have the opportunity, or responsibility to paint that one pixel, according to how we live our life, to fit in harmony within the larger picture. I liked the diversity of people interviewed, and that an American Indian had the last word. I'm sick and tired of Republican white men (and their token people of color)running the government. The movie didn't have too much Leonardo DiCaprio, which was good. I think I was a little Al Gored-out after his slide show.

We have to change our thinking. We are no longer mentally connected to nature, and see it as "resources" for our use. The abuse of nature is accepted as normal. We need to create a balance through sustainability. The greed of unbridled capitalism is destroying the world. We are a society of consumers, led by a man who encouraged us to buy things after 9/11. He talks about "filling the ol' coffers" as how he will spend his retirement. Right now both political parties prostitute themselves to large corporations that rape and pillage the world.

We need a paradigm shift, a tipping point, toward a realization of the connectedness of all living things, legal protection of the environment (the environment has rights), sharing of wealth, a reassessment of what is really valuable, and balancing our needs with the needs of all other living things.

Can we do it? If we stay on this road of greed and destruction, there will be a tipping point, but it will be toward our own destruction. The earth will regenerate and go on without us. We will have been a blip in the earth's existence. Like the movie says, we are in the 11th hour.