Do you want to save the world?

The world/earth/animals/plants yes. The human race? Well, I vacillate.

I think it kinda takes care of itself. It’s all a matter of balance.

Well isn’t this what life is about? I think we all do our best to save each other, or perhaps we could do better at times. We work on saving our relationships, we desire to save our friends from heartache, from economic strife, from whatever folley may come upon them. When working in numbers, we can band together to help save men, women, children, families from starvation, from poor health, from homelessness, from the miseries of life. In the end, we are working towards saving the world by giving life, by giving hope, hope of something better, simply by paying attention to each other’s needs and then doing whatever we can to serve that need. This is why the world is full of superheros out there saving the world. They are those who truly care, those who listen to cries of despair and do all in their power to wipe those tears away. They are the ones who are actively engaging in acts of love and service. And so it is, I have always dreamed of being a part of this ideal that so many join in on, this ideal to save the world…one life at a time.

only if it doesn’t press charges later.

Hey, my friends chinese name is daloon, I think. Yes I want to save the world. I always wanted to do something great. When I was 16 I learned what to do. Now in college, I’m learning how. Its about saving the environment and slowing climate change so our kids can have a comfortable place to live.

I wouldn’t say I am out to save the world , but I hope I don’t do anything to further damage it. BTW, what is that in your avatar? It looks like a tattooed butt to me. Is it?

I’ve scaled back. I’m no longer convinced the world as a whole can be saved, but I try to improve my little corner of it. I think it’s like dropping a pebble in the water…it ripples out. If enough people start little ripples, eventually they’ll intersect, and the world as a whole will be better for it.

I try and be my authentic self everyday, do my personal best, love everybody, especially the unloveable, and live one moment at a time….and in that moment I’m doing all I can to save the world.

How much time have I got?

4 minutes.

I believe it can be “saved.” I think we can reduce our propensity to kill ourselves. I think we can reduce the magnitude of the impact of global warming. Indeed, I think that if we focus on the coming human dislocations (due to sea levels rising and increased storms), and prepare for the need for mass migration, then I think we’ll be set. And even if global warming doesn’t happen, we’re still prepared for the huge dislocations that are already happening.

Certainly, we can preserve more of our genetic heritage, by preventing or slowing the destruction of rain forest and other less-distrubed areas of the world.

On a more human scale of things, I believe we can learn to solve problems in a more effective and less conflict-oriented way. We can learn to feel more connected with each other. We can learn each others stories, and reduce the fear that so many feel with respect to others they think look different or funny.

There are so many other things we can do; so many of which we already know how to do. What makes it tough is that there is no concensus that we should do these things. Many people don’t believe we really have to work hard on behalf of others. Many believe that if we focus on ourselves, others will do the same, and it’ll all work out in the end without any conscious intervention.

So if it can be saved, do we want it to be saved? Well, I do. I want my children to be able to have children, and so on for millenia. I want humanity to do interesting and fun thngs. I don’t care if they are great, but I want us to be ever curious, and to always be able to work towards satisfying that curiousity.

Of course, evolution gave us the gift of curiousity (those who weren’t curious ended up dead without reproducing much more often than those who were curious). So this urge to save humanity in order to feed our collective curiousity is probably built into my genes. Ditto, fun.

I love to have fun. And for me, solving problems has always been fun. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t thinking about the world, and being taught it was our responsibility to work on this problem. I was just wondering if others had similar stories to tell.

@daloon: “It’s fun to have fun, but you have to know how.” – Dr. Suess

“May the conscience and the common sense of the peoples be awakened, so that we may reach a new stage in the life of nations, where people will look back on war as an incomprehensible aberration of their forefathers!” – Albert Einstein

I, myself, was never taught that the world was my responsibility…I learned it the hard way. I make every effort to pass on this knowledge to my children, and hope their generation will make a bigger (and better) difference in the world than mine has.

personal lifestyle action is nice, and i tote around my cloth bags and coffee mugs with the best of them. but honestly, it’s not what’s going to save the world. we need coordinated political action in this country to avoid the worst consequences of global warming and make progress on all the other problems out there. we’ve got to hold our leaders accountable, pressure them, make sure they know we’re watching them and expecting them to do the right thing, vote the right way, and will raise hell if they don’t.

@annies: political action is important, and nothing serious will happen without it. However, at this point, there is no action we can take that will ameliorate global warming any time soon. The earliest any action could have an impact is probably 100 years from now.

I think we need to plan for the disruptions of global warming. We need plans, primarily, for the vast increase in migration of people People will be moving away from the more troubled areas, the areas that are inundated by water, primarily.

And, of course, this will not happen. Not until the disasters happen, anyway. The human race is perpetually closing the barn door after the horse has been stolen.

I’m afraid that if any change will happen, then individuals will have to create companies that make the change possible. Govt won’t do it, not even if we get the right politicians, and we raise hell. There are some things you can’t hold politicians accountable for, I think.

If only any one of us could. I want to do my part and then some.

It would be more fun to take over the world, or at least blow it up.