I am often reminded of a scene from A Christmas Story where Flick has his tongue stuck to the flagpole. His friend, Ralphie, is heading back to the classroom after hearing the bell signaling the end of recess. Flick, talking the best he can with his tongue frozen to a pole, says, “Ahhhh, don't leave me! Come back!” Schwartz, who instigated the whole thing with a triple dog dare, turns to Ralphie and asks, “Well, what are we going to do?”, and Ralphie responds, “I don't know. The bell rang!”.
It’s a great movie, and almost daily I think of that bell ringing. For Ralphie, hearing it was an opportunity to walk away from an uncomfortable situation, to avoid having to act or make a decision, to leave the outcome to others. We hear the bell everyday, and most of us impulsively follow Ralphie’s lead. Our plates are already filled with financial concerns, work obligations, domestic chores, so when the news of social unrest or environmental warnings or government corruption reaches us we might be tempted to hear the bell and defer involvement. Besides, seriously, how likely will one person affect the outcome?
The DC administration has drafted a proposal that would scale back a century-old law protecting wild birds, and billions of birds could die as a result. This, when a recent study found that in North America alone there are 3 billion fewer birds than in 1970. The proposal would amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which dates back to 1918 and is one of the country’s first major federal environmental laws. Among other protective measures, it holds that industries can face potential criminal violations if their actions or practices result in accidental bird deaths. In 2017 the current administration ended criminal enforcement of the Act, so the purpose of the new proposal is to cement an interpretation of the law into regulation, making it harder to reverse by subsequent administrations. The White House is saying the deaths of waterbirds that fly into toxic waste pits, for example, should be treated as accidents and not subject to prosecution. To migrating shorebirds and waterfowl, a toxic pit can appear a pristine lake to stop for rest. The federal proposal declares that a bird setting down on such a pit is an accident. A mouse putting its head in a baited trap rings of similarity.
“I don’t know. The bell rang!”
The country and our world is reckoning with a new virus, the true impacts yet unknown. There are warnings from CDC and WHO that we are reopening too quickly. It seems most everywhere the masks are coming off and it’s full steam back to the future. The economy teeters.
“I don’t know. The bell rang!”
Top climate scientists in Australia just announced we are already deep into the trajectory towards collapse of civilization, which may now be inevitable. Globally, the month of May was the hottest on record, and the past decade was the hottest in recorded history.
“I don’t know. The bell rang!”
Tonight we took a walk around the pond on the dog’s insistence. At the north end we paused and surveyed the land. It was an ag field when we bought it, and we shifted its use to ornamental plant production. That action, while contributing to our livelihood, bore exotic plants that appealed to customers but were largely useless to native insects and, by default, the local ecology. Looking back, we played the fools, but in our retirement the land has been released, no longer controlled. Beavers have dammed the adjacent stream. The soil has grown mesic and now supports willow and equisetum and sycamore, native species that play host to native insects that feed native birds. This smidgen of land shows intent and determination and an effort to return to something timeless and balanced. It illustrates that the web connecting all living things lies at the ready, and it’s humanity’s decision in land use to either attempt a forced submission or establish a partnership designed for mutual benefit.
Not everyone follows Ralphie. In our Midwest community the county commissioners have approved the construction of a zinc recycling facility which independent expert testimony assures will be a major emitter of toxic mercury, lead, carbon monoxide and particulate. Effects on the health of our environment, residents and wildlife is assuredly not good, but dangerous. A growing number of residents are showing their discontent— organizing protests, writing letters, gathering signatures, filing suits— and might just bring a halt to construction. We're hopeful.
Protesters are gathering in streets worldwide, demanding racial justice. Bell? What bell?
Civilization’s definition of normality is out of sync with natural processes. We’ve built an economy and a standard of living based on unsustainable resource extraction and consumption, lacking the oversight to assure it complies with ecological rules. We’re destroying and losing our soil. We’ve altered our atmosphere, acidified oceans, contaminated or disrupted living systems everywhere on the globe in the process of creating a normality we now defend and are determined to maintain. It’s a dead end. We can't look at history-- epidemics, economic recoveries, stock market behaviors-- for hope or inspiration because the world is different now. Our life support systems are stressed to the point of collapse and there are more of us than ever clamoring for the support.
So we stand at a crossroads not seen in the history of the world, where the earth’s human population is uniquely united by a strange virus, giving us a moment of pause, an opportunity to reflect, to realize that so many injustices, economic divisions, industrial enterprises, were born or nourished on greed and principles that disregarded environmental consequences. We are staring at an opportunity, perhaps our last, to get it right.
“I don’t know. The bell rang!” Sorry, Ralphie. The time to heed its call has passed.
Wonderful, Joe.
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