Memo for the Ruler of the World

Listening to NPR in my hybrid - which I wish was all electric or ideally that cars did not even exist and I was in a solar powered train between forested lands - I listen to journalists interviewing the Mayor of Phoenix and tourists in Zion National Park about the unbearable heat; stories of wildfires in Greece, Spain and Italy; and climate-charged Honduran migration.

I cried in the car when Russia sank 60,000 lbs of grain, enough to feed 270,000 people for a year. When a child in Yemen lost his leg from a bomb (likely American-made) dropped by warring factions. When Turkish quake survivors lacking promised housing began returning to damaged buildings for shelter. And the lack of mainstream news about ongoing genocide in Darfur is unbelievable.

The world needs help. Now.

You and I and countless others care to the point of desperation, but we are mostly powerless beyond sending voices, prayers, and money. We can live more lightly on the earth, but where are the mechanisms that allow us to do that in a meaningful way? We can march for peace and justice, but where and how when confused and corrupt heads of state (I will not call them leaders) make bad decision after bad decision?

The only solution is to will a benevolent ruler into being, someone with supreme honesty, power, and authority to manage the actions of humankind. I have prepared this memo to help the new ruler get started:

MEMORANDUM FOR THE NEW RULER OF THE WORLD

FAIL-SAFE DAY-BY-DAY INSTRUCTIONS TO LIBERATE AN AILING PLANET

Day One:

1. Repurpose all man-made weapons into art or helpful implements.

2. Provide food, water, and safe shelter for every being in need.

3. Stop all forms of fossil fuel burning and plant one billion trees.

Day Two:

1. Take all who are ill in mind and body (including prisoners) to safe locations where they can be healed / rehabilitated and not harm others.

2. Dismantle factories of war and weaponry, vehicles that use highways, most highways, all parking lots, petrochemical plants and refineries, concentrated animal feeding operations, and prisons.

3. Clean up all toxic spills and contamination.

Day Three:

1. Sort the dismantled components (see #2 above) for re-use into metals, organics, plastics, glass, asphalt, and cement, and repurpose as follows:

   1. Metal and glass: create

      1. factories for the production of solar, wind, and other renewable energy systems;

      2. a network of trams and trains covering and connecting every community on each land mass

   2. Organics: compost to support the growth of new forests and sustainable agriculture

   3. Plastics: set up competitions to

      1. create art from the waste;

      2. develop needed products that do not off-gas;

      3. figure out how to mimic the durability and flexibility of plastic using renewable, non-polluting materials

   4. Asphalt and cement: build new walking and bike paths and building foundations

2. Set up centers for the indigenous peoples of the earth along with eco-researchers to teach how, where, and what to build, plant, and eat to maintain a healthy balance of natural resources.

3. Where the highways and parking lots have been removed, based on knowledge shared by the indigenous peoples and eco-researchers, plant crops, flower gardens, and trees, and build vernacular architecture, adapted to location and climate.

Day Four:

1. End the use of currencies and establish a trade economy where no one goes hungry or homeless and everyone contributes what they can.

2. End private education and provide excellent schools for people of all ages and abilities by ensuring superior training for teachers and easy access to classes.

3. End health insurance and provide excellent health care for people of all ages and conditions by ensuring superior training for health care providers and easy access to those providers.

Day Five:

1. Nurture the United Nations; provide language training for all; and set up international opportunities for scientists, writers, artists, teachers, and others to learn from and collaborate with each other for the benefit of all beings.

2. Set up free and accessible centers for people worldwide to learn meditation, dance, music, art, science, and the trades.

3. Abolish the police as we know them and train peace keepers in psychology, mediation, and martial arts.

THANK YOU

All images from Pinterest