Longer Step: Ideas for Justice and Sustainability

  I try to think like a Futurist. (That isn't to say that I ever do it well.) But the question churning in my mind is: At what point do we need to de-populate the coastal areas of Florida? I could imagine giving everything below, say, 50' elevation in Florida back to nature, and people would simply be moved to higher ground. Let Nature take over the coasts. People could go there for the day to play on the beach or marvel at the crumbling post-modern buildings as they rusted back to ground. That's short term thinking, however, as yet another hurricane forms to slam into Florida's west coast. Long-term thinking would be to anticipate 50' sea level rise, or even 200', when/if all the land ice melts. Might as well get started now in our preparations, instead of just rebuilding over and over in places where the new construction will only be destroyed again. That feels futile and misguided. And if Governor Desantis finds himself king of a smaller and smaller land, th...

  Most of us know that embracing diversity in human-to-human relationships is vital, and leads to better results in terms of overall justice, fairness, and group achievement. But diversity in many other areas is also important. Such as, diversity in your yard! Today I'm thinking about my neighbor's support of "No Mow May," where the idea is to allow flowers in what used to be your grassy lawn, in order to help important insects and other small animals. Golf course-style lawns are useless monocrops which hurt the planet. If you can't/won't just "not mow" (and I can't do that, due to HOA rules), then why not set your mower deck much higher, which will allow low flowers like clover, chamomile, and dandelions to flourish? And while you're at it, maybe stop wasting money on inorganic fertiizers and pesticides (which are poisonous killers)? Your planet will thank you. We should all be striving for diversity in our yards. Have a happy, diverse day! ...