posted 02-09-99 07:00 AM ET     

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Greetings to all.

Before I say anything else, I wish to thank you for taking the time to read these words. Beyond this, I wish you long life and peace as a fellow citizen of Chiron. No matter what nation you may claim fealty to, we represent the last of humanity, and the very hope of our species rests upon our shoulders. If any differences come between us, then let them be explored in thoughtful words and not threats. If any disagreements come between us, then let them be spoken in debate and not resolved through warfare.

I have a belief, so blinding in its crystalline clarity that it outshines the sordid history we have left behind. I have a dream of something beautiful, something powerful, something within our grasp. This vision springs from the very caring of life itself -- the vision of Preservationism. I humbly come to share this vision with you. I come before you with the words of this dream. I come before you as neither an orator, nor statesman; I am only in a position to offer these words. And if you find these words to be lacking in truth, I will not consider you richer or poorer for your opinion.

Humanity is now at a unique crossroads; for the first time in recorded history, we are free to choose allegiances not based on heredity or family settlement, but on thoughtful choice. The barriers which would normally preclude one from switching allegiance (loss of family, loss of property, loss of wealth) are completely non-existent, and it is truly the duty of the new citizens of Chiron to choose the nation that suits them best. I will not attempt to force your choice in this matter; you, and you alone, must make the decision that will affect not only the rest of your life, but the lives of your descendants as well. No one else can make it for you. Therefore, it is imperative that you think well about which nation suits you and the generations that will follow you the best. I do not claim to have all the answers in this regard -- the only purpose behind this document is to encourage the thoughts of those who seek reward in their destinies.

There is a famous quotation that says those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it. It is with this in mind that I turn our attention to the fate of Earth and our past days upon it. This is not a reactionary attempt to turn back the clock and recreate Earth on this new home world; such an action would be futile, since the past can never be emulated by any amount of human power or technology. This is an attempt to reconcile our past so that we may better understand our future.

REMEMBERING EARTH

If Fortune favors us, there will come a time in the near future in which an entire generation of people living on Chiron will have no memories of Earth. People who know nothing of the glorious blue skies, the velvet purple twilights, the incandescent crimson sunrises that marked our days on that planet. People who will never know what it means to look out on fields of golden wheat and feel secure that they belonged there, that they could truly feel affection for that special place as Mother Earth. We must pray that they will not remember, for if they remember, they will also feel sorrow at how humanity chose to foul its home world with radioactivity and mass destruction. Even though many still hold out hope for humanity's continued existence on Earth, we must consider the sobering fact: within a matter of minutes during the Great Voyage, all contact with our previous home was cut off without warning. Unfortunately, there can only be one logical conclusion -- that the apocalyptic war that we feared would take place occurred. With a few pushes of a button, nearly all of humanity was eradicated. The question we cannot help but ask is, "Why?". Why did mankind, perhaps at the peak of its intellect as a species, actively choose its own destruction?

First, we must remember that the Earth was entering a period of unprecedented expansion, and its wealthier nations were consuming materials at an unsustainable rate. Yet, the wealthier nations of the world refused to acknowledge this, preferring to believe that any consequences from this would not affect them in their lifetime. As a result, the world fell into two extremes that had a sharp disparity: the poorer nations that bore the brunt of industrial waste and pollution, and the wealthier nations that continued to overconsume while exploiting the former for their natural resources and cheap labor.

The cause of the final war is not as difficult to determine as one might think. Even with the subsiding of ideological tensions between formerly communist nations and their Western democratic counterparts, new conflicts had sprung full-grown in the economic field. As the richer nations on Earth could only sustain their consumption levels through outside labor and raw materials, the desire for sustained economic dominance of other countries through corporate control grew. Thus, the impending tensions were not so much due to ideology as the desire to gain wealth and prestige, as measured by land and control over other resource-giving nations. This lust for power in all probability provoked conflict and the ultimate destruction of mankind's presence on Earth.

And yet, even with the death of our home planet, we often refuse to acknowledge the cause of its ruin: the burning greed for more. The greed for more material things, for more visible wealth, for more power over others.

THE DARK SPIRAL

Throughout recorded history, mankind has been led by a beguiling siren song: the promise of fulfillment through limitless desire. Desire all you can dream, grasp at all you can reach, and the world will follow. Many fear to change this because doing so would logically mean wholesale changes in lives and beliefs. Yet, this dream has lead mankind down a dark spiral of greed and destruction.

It is an uncontestable fact that any planet cannot support unlimited growth with correspondingly unlimited material consumption by its citizens. Yet, the comforting thought of a world without limits clouds our vision. We have been conditioned from the outset to be accustomed to desire increasing wealth and material goods. This conditioning continues with the rapacious industry of the megalithic corporations, forever promoting more material goods and comforts as the cure for all ills, environmental considerations be damned if they cannot hold sway with the stockholders. This leads to increasing consumption with decreasing satisfaction with one's present state, which in turn leads to ever more consumption with less results. The ecological impact of this way of thought is sobering indeed.

Consider the following scenario: a head of household, a man of good education and mild manner, has a modest sum of monetary credits budgeted for his family. He then makes the claim that he can easily spend twice as much and more in the near future, and furthermore claims that the innate nature of money will take care of the problem when the time comes to spend more. We would consider him reckless, daft, short-sighted, perhaps even frighteningly unintelligent. And yet many ignore the environmental budget of human civilization, claiming that the environment will somehow adjust for whatever poisons we spread into it, claiming that resources will never run out as long as humanity lives. What, then, shall we call those who subscribe to these beliefs?

The desire for more goods and wealth leads to increasingly frantic activity to acquire more with diminishing satisfaction and fulfillment. The desire for more power prompted the arms race that caused our near-extinction. The desire for increasing consumption of goods spurred on the rush to exhaust Earth's declining natural resources. The underlying message is inescapable: the alluring illusion of unfettered greed has jeopardized humanity's very survival.

Fortunately, we can free ourselves from falling into the same tragic pit that claimed Earth. Providence has bestowed us with a new planet, free from any traces of human exploitation. It is a common belief that our new home, despite the challenges it presents, is a chance for humanity to begin again and right the mistakes it has made throughout its history. However, no changes will ever take place if we do not realize why we came so close to destroying ourselves. No changes will ever take place if we do not realize that it is the dark pit of unchained greed that sets humanity on the path to ruin. No changes will ever take place if we do not realize that our core values and beliefs need mending to avoid catastrophe.

Many people have argued tirelessly about why a society should choose an unfettered free market, or why a society should choose a carefully planned economy. What they fail to see is this: for all of their differences, both the free market and the socialistic models share one common trait -- the siren song of unlimited growth and unlimited industrial production. It is this flaw that prevents either model from being a viable alternative for a society that values a future for its citizens.

THE MEANING OF PRESERVATION

There is one alternative -- a society based on preservation and conservation rather than consumption and possession. This society is starting to flourish under the Nation of Gaia, the very first of its kind to articulate and set into motion a national blueprint that focuses on preservation over consumption. The rhetoric of other nations is admirable, and there have even been rumors of other nations following the example of Gaia, but to date only the Nation of Gaia has taken direct action to implement a preservationist constitution and teach corresponding values to its citizens. To prevent any government from blindly labelling itself "green" without corresponding action, it is important to note there are several basic characteristics of a preservationist society.

First and foremost is that this society will always focus on optimization rather than acquisition. We have seen the consequences of societies that have let greed run untrammeled; the clarion cry for "More!" has paved the way for disregard of other life forms in search of more, leading to a disrespect even of other humans and a tearing of the social fabric. The preservationist society will instead cry, "Hold, enough!" It is apparent that human societies must live within a constrained ecological budget, just as they live within a constrained monetary one. And as in the monetary analogue, disaster quickly ensues with deficit spending. While the preservationist society need not always choose the decision with minimum environmental impact, the recognition of limits give its citizens the freedom to choose how it should be spent while living in reasonable living standards.

The key piece of knowledge for a preservationist society is that the pursuit of wealth for its own sake never leads to permanent satisfaction. This freedom from blind desire of material possessions has freed the citizens of Gaia to grow in unexpectedly satisfying ways. Already, Gaian citizens are recognized leaders in many fields of art and music, and it is not unusual even for a Believing citizen to turn the pages of a Gaian novel or two. With the cultural values placed toward conservation and optimization of current resources, the citizens of a preservationist society leave the world and its resources in equal or better condition for the next generation.

Second, a preserver society will value life in all its forms, particularly those of native flora and fauna. One reason for doing so is purely pragmatic; the immense base of native species provides ever greater resources and discoveries that can benefit human society. An often-used example is the relatively recent Cure For Cancer. This wondrous discovery was only made possible with the proteins found in a near-extinct plant located deep in the Brazilian rain forest. New vaccines and serums are found almost yearly with direct analogues in natural life forms. Beyond the immensely practical purposes of retaining diverse species, however, is the mindset one gains from it. In an insulated and completely man-made setting, it becomes easier to forget how humans interact with nature, to forget that every action taken by mankind has an effect on the environment. A mindset that does not value diversity of life and instead seeks to 'tame' the surroundings is a troubling form of human arrogance: the belief that humans exist separately from Nature, and that they can treat other species any way they wish. A true preserver society will value life in its bountiful glory and seek to preserve its communities -- not just human communities, but the communities of the soil, skies, and waters.

Third, a preservationist society uses modern technology with great care, and is prepared to jettison any technologies that cannot be ecologically responsible. Many opponents of preservationist society have argued that its citizens live with Dark Age technology, and that any mention of modern advances will be met with derision. This is a mere caricature of a conserving society brought forth by elderly skeptics in ivory towers. Some technology has helped in no small measure to limit not only pollution, but the overall impact of human civilization on the environment. Such advances are freely welcomed. However, much technology is fast approaching the pace where irreversible damage to the environment can quickly occur if left unchecked. Simply put, if a new technology cannot survive without causing ecological damage, it must not be allowed to operate. Technologies in the fields of nuclear physics, chemical manufacturing, and genetic engineering in particular must be carefully monitored. If products cannot be produced in an ecologically sound manner, we must be prepared to look for natural substitutes, which will not be scarce if diversity of flora and fauna is honored. This does not mean a preservationist society must do away with all the benefits of technology; it simply means that any technologies that unbalance any community, be it human or natural, must be subject to stringent examination.

Fourth, the conservationist society will be inherently peaceful. This is a natural outgrowth of the preservationist respect for life in all forms -- this most certainly applies to human life as well. Many nations that build huge armies for "defensive" purposes claim to do so for noble goals such as security and survival. Their true intentions are laid bare when they find themselves hampered by international treaties: they tread on nothing less than the same path of hunger for power and prestige that destroyed Earth. Beyond this, however, the presence of new weapons precariously threatens the balance of planet ecosystems like never before in history. Nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons pose grave threats to all forms of life and must be banned by mutual disarmament. Since the scars of war can leave indelible marks on the environment, it also behooves a conservationist society to become active in international affairs and aid in the peacemaking process whenever possible.

Finally, a preservationist society recognizes that there needs to be a system of accountability in place for both financial markets and private property. Too often in the past, the focus on land rights would become a battle for the owner to do whatever he or she pleased with it. Preservationists recognize that with freedom comes responsibility; more specifically, the freedom of ownership entails a duty to do right by the at-large community. The same principle holds for two of the most critical goods on Chiron -- arable land and potable water. The two are currently at a premium, and any society that does not treat its precious resources with respect will soon find its future in dire straits.

Of much more importance, however, is the accountability for financial markets. Left to its own devices, the free market has proven that it has no mechanism to hold itself accountable for environmental damage without outside interference. At best, it manages to keep one area, region, or even country relatively safe from pollution while dumping its industrial harm on other regions or countries; at worst, the free market actively encourages ecological harm for the sake of higher profits. The unfettered market has also proven to be unable to control its use of non-renewable resources when left to operate alone. Thus, any preservationist society will hold its markets directly accountable for their effects on nature. This does not mean the death of capitalism, as some money-minded critics charge; it simply means a restyling of the entrepeneurial spirit to focus on environmental issues and optimization of resources rather than simple acquisition.

COMMON OBJECTIONS TO PRESERVATIONISM

By far the most common objection to a preservationist society is that it advocates a dull life of subsistence materialism. If one has to live within imposed limits, even self-imposed ones, it is argued, why bother living this way at all? The problem with this argument is that it mistakes material wealth for satisfaction. It seems evident that true happiness is attained through experience rather than endless desires for material possessions. Granted, any humane society must protect its citizens from squalor, and preservationist society is no exception. But living within the ecological budget is very much compatible with a comfortable living standard -- the key is knowing the value of moderation. Once one knows that the ever-increasing spiral of gaining material wealth will never lead to total satisfaction, it is very liberating indeed. To assume that the act of imposing limits is tantamount to restricting happiness is simply incorrect.

Human life itself is a limited endeavor: one has limits on one's physical abilities, one's mental capacity, and one's lifespan. Yet, very few claim that life itself is unfulfilling. This is because most humans already view life in terms of optimization rather than acquisition. Consider two human beings, each with identical life spans of seventy years. One lives life in terms of optimization: he knows he has a limited amount of time to live and thus gathers as many satisfying experiences as he can in his time frame. Another lives life in terms of acquisition: he refuses to believe that he will die, and accordingly, eschews experience in his lifetime, trying vainly to extend his life as much as possible by shutting himself up in a sterile cubicle and eating proto-nutrients. Who can we say led the more fulfilled life?

This also relates to another typical objection, the seemingly permanent nature of human self-interest. One can hardly blame many people for arguing that self-interest is impossible to subdue; several even argue that self-interest will be the downfall of any attempts at a conservationist society. First of all, I am not arguing that self-interest should be eradicated entirely -- such an endeavor would be improbable, if not impossible, at this stage of human evolution. However, most people make this argument only because they have no frame of reference for self-interest but in terms of acquisition. For the first time in human history, we have the opportunity to build a society based on optimization and preservation. And those that doubt self-interest can be directed toward optimization instead of acquisition need only remember the example of the aforementioned two human beings. Human self-interest not only can, but already has been shown to direct itself toward optimization; it is simply a matter of inculcating this in society through education and cultural value systems.

THE FINAL CHANCE

The tides have turned in the times of men, and the waters have landed us on the shores of fate. Time is fast upon us when we will be forced to choose our destiny. It is unlikely, in this hostile climate, that a second opportunity to colonize another planet will take place for millenia. Any mistakes that are made today, and any that are made tomorrow, could prove fatal for the children of Earth.

Two paths lie before the whole of humanity. One path seems clearly lit and trod by eons of travelers -- the path marked with the enchanting promise of a world without limits. But for untold centuries, humanity has reaped the bitter harvest of its foul seeds of greed and power, a harvest of human blood and tears. The desire for more at the expense of everything else has driven humanity to the brink of destruction. If we make the same choice again, it is sheer foolishness to expect another outcome. Humanity may well add its own name to the numerous species that it has rendered extinct. One only need look back to the empty shell that we once called Earth to see the future.

The other path is dimly lit and completely unexplored -- the path that acknowledges the reality of our world. It is a path strewn with obstacles and pits, and there is no guarantee that any who choose this path will emerge unscathed. Yet, this path ends in the tranquil waters of peace. It is the only path that allows us to escape from a future of hate and avarice. It is the only path that gives hope to those who are not yet born. A path that breathes life into the world instead of savaging it for personal gain.

If you feel that my words hold truth, if you feel that humanity must mend its ways to survive, then I invite you to join the nation of Gaia. Let us build a future, not for the sake of raising our names to the Heavens, but for the others who will come after us. Let us build a future free of the destructive spiral of human greed. Let us build a future that mankind can truly look upon with honor.

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Markael Peacewood
First Speaker of the Gaian National Council
Stepson of Gaia