I sent this to Obama today - (repost )

I actually just sent this letter to Obama's camp - I HOPE (and know) he can see the possibilities and use this!!! IF you hear him use this word, let me know! It would be really cool!

Dear Senator Obama –

There are several words and talking points that are going around these days. One word I would love to see you use again & again is SUSTAINABLE / SUSTAINABILITY

You know our world is changing. The way we do business, the way we travel, the way we use oil in all means of production, our way of working and living HAS to change if we are to save our planet and its population. We need to get back to doing things on a more reasonable level. The hugeness of the banking and agriculture industries are the first example of this. Sustainability is the way to create the changes we want, rather than being at the mercy of the changes we are creating with our bad decisions. Even the banking crisis is a form of non-sustainable use of credit and non-existent money.

Peak oil and population critical mass are a reality on our planet. We can’t continue to ship and create things the way we do. Populations are going to have to become sustainable in much of their own areas. This is an extension of the concept that “I am my bothers keeper.”

Everything from infrastructure to agriculture and education and sharing responsibility is part of creating a sustainable world for our children and children’s children. We get to return to village mentality and from there, we can manage the largesse of the world village. I think we can even do this and still have manufacturing jobs and infrastructure jobs; we just have to scale things to make the most of resources.

I don’t know the specifics of how to make all these changes happen. I am sure as a leader and community organizer you would be able to tap a number of folks to come up with good plans for this endeavor. I just know that the best way to sum up what we need is by making our world SUSTAINABLE.

Please feel free to take this word and run with it!

( PS ...I am a single mom of 3 kids, living in rural Lake Tahoe CA. I am a Domestic Violence Survivor, been free for almost 5 years now. Still working 3 part time jobs to get by, but at least we are safe and happy. I want my kids to grow up in a world where they have a chance at a real life, the kind of chances I had but didn't understand until things got tough. My daughter is 6 and she knew you were cool even before I did! She wears your pin to school every day and talks to people in the store about you, now I do too!

Thanks for your inspiration during these tough times. Our country will be blessed to have a leader who carries us all towards building something greater. Thanks again! and have a GREAT TIME at that Debate!!!! Go Get 'em!!!!)
~~~~~~~~~~

I posted this earlier and it sank with all the market excitement & such.. I'd love to hear your comments though!

We need long-term solutions. It's one of the things that we no longer seem to value in this country. When did we lose our respect for wisdom? :(

Used to be the tribe had a sense of that continuity... because generations lived together and reaped the benefits of the whole.
Now people ship their parents off and their children go to daycare so mommy and daddy can continue pretending they are teens.

But on a diferent note - I have heard Obama "almost" say this time & again... he says that the fundamentals of the economy are broken. Why can't he take the conversation to the next level and lay out the idea that the way we have been sucking the planet dry is about to change drastically. You know lots of people don't want to look at that 300 lb gorilla...but we all know it is there. We need someone who is brave enough to just call a spade a spade!!!

and though I think it will be a really hard walk for many of us - it is SO freaking necessary to create even a slim chance that we don't extinct ourselves...!!!

That's a great letter.

I read your thread earlier today and am glad you reposted.

It's a simple concept but it eludes many in America and politicians in particular.

For example, Mom and Pop businesses or small farms, passed down through generations, were sustainable businesses. Today, Walmart and Starbucks are the model of success. Success for businesses of any size is measured by growth. If it isn't growing, it's dying. That's not sustainable unless businesses gobble up competitors.

Towns and cities have long lived by the same measure, giving us awful overgrown sprawling ugly communities, traffic, crime.

Thanks for your fine letter, let's send it again after Obama is elected, OK?

NYC_SKP

:kick:

It's long past time that we took the long view.

"I am a Domestic Violence Survivor, been free for almost 5 years now."

I'm so sorry to learn this- I hope that everything is amazingly better for you and yours.

that turns the country off, otherwise, I suspect we would have been hearing it a lot.

You are way ahead of the curve, journalgirl. Thanks.

Oh, and by the way, sustainability and green approaches to living are gaining traction and will be mainstream in a very short time.

lets hope so! I;d like to live more susainably myself, but SO lack he funding to do so... I'd love it to be normal and okay to get credits for doing this at home. (solar generator, composting, etc) I rent, but if I took the initiative to make the house clean & reen, I should be able to get some cash off the rent...don'tch think?


yep, I think he's about a debate away from really speaking his mind more openly. Maybe this word is coming soner than we think!