If people worldwide thought of themselves as Earth Club members, they would more likely keep the Earth clean and respect their fellow members. When 6 billion people fill the planet and environmental degradation and climate change threats us, we must adopt the perspective of one Earth, one home and one family as the way to live in harmony and peace, and collaborate to solve the big problems facing humanity. Humanity needs to choose a new vision of who we are ? Earth Humans ? and how we should behave to benefit the Earth and society.
How important is the Earth as a reality and symbol in the current struggle of humans to make it with global warming, and terrorism and war? Earth is the common, central value around which we can rally, the root of our existence, the actual reality of our lives. No truth we seek, or any value we live by can exist without the Earth. To make this concept an assumption of our thinking and behavior would lead humanity in the direction of respect for the Earth and for humanity, including world peace.
Our understanding of the Earth and our relation to it and responsibility for it is changing rapidly these days. The perspective floating blue, green and white in dark space and we living on it is compelling when we focus on ecology and humanity. The Earth is not a private club; it is a universal club. Being born allows you to receive a membership card; It is the most beautiful club that we know of in the universe. If people thought of themselves as Earth Club members, they would more likely keep the Earth clean and respect their fellow members.
For too long people have taken the Earth for granted, judging by the way we have exploited it, and the dangerous consequences of global warming. We would not amount to much as a species if the Earth failed us. The body of the Earth consists of the mountains, seas, rivers, plants, and animals. It includes the atmosphere that surrounds it, the clouds that float above, and the rain that quenches the land. Human beings are, of course, part of the Earth, born and raised by the generosity and the bounty of the Earth. We human beings can think rationally, and have the capability of creating an environment to suit our needs and wants. But we cannot exist outside of the Earth, at least for the foreseeable future. More humility and gratitude would suit Earth's citizens.
Seekers of world peace would be wise to look to the Earth as the core concept to break old, negative habits and form ones that will assure that human beings as we know them will survive. When Earth becomes our collective source of life values, then we will realize that the boundaries that we have set for ourselves are unnecessary, that the endless competition and conflicts driving our society.
Humans have co-existed so far, but this does not mean that our religious and political differences are not hampering our progress. We have to learn to co-exist and tolerate the religious, political and cultural preferences of fellow human beings. We must learn to appreciate the concept of one earth, one home and one family. We are all members of a universal home and like any happy family we have to learn to appreciate the different view points of fellow human beings. With nearly 6 billion people inhabiting our planet, unless we start taking steps to improve our understanding of each other we might never get another chance on the planet. We need to envision earth as one home and its inhabitants as one large family.