Hello, world. My name is Erin, and I am an eighteen-year-old student of the liberal arts at Princeton University, New Jersey, United States, Earth, et cetera, et cetera. I am less than 48 hours away from the completion of my first semester work, but I am not studying for my last exam, and I am not sleeping: I am writing this. Why am I writing this?
This is important. My grade in the humanities sequence, while important, is not this important. I don't yet know my major field here, but I know two of my minor concentrations: creative writing and environmental studies. I have already established a blog devoted to the former. This blog is devoted to the latter.
There is no environmental studies major here. I've had words with Professor Wilcove, the head of the program, and he is no more pleased with this state of affairs than I am. Hopefully it will change.
My permanent address belongs to a brick house in the Mohawk Valley in Upstate New York. I have lived there all my life. The river, and the path that runs beside it, are among the things I miss most about home.
This place may explain my environmentalist leanings. Throughout my childhood, I was preoccupied with Nature in some way, shape or form: I loved to hike, I caught fish and frogs in the backyard, I wanted to be a paleontologist, a marine biologist, a nuclear engineer. I have arrived at this place from that place.
These days, I want to be a professional rabble rouser. I want to speak for my cause or causes, and be part of the next revolution in this country. It will eventually be a global revolution - in Europe it has already begun - but the next step happens here. If it does not happen here, it does not happen anywhere.
This revolution will change the dynamic of American politics and, perhaps, all of American society. It will gently, but firmly, pull power from the hands of entrenched capital, and put that power in the hands of whoever is willing to accept it. I'm not talking about a red revolution: I'm talking about a green revolution. I'm talking about efficient alternative energy - NOT corn ethanol to please Iowa caucus-goers. I'm talking about plug-in hybrid cars on a carbon-free grid. I'm talking about a Farm Bill that is fair to international competition, and that rewards growers of healthful, environmentally sound calories, not high-fructose corn syrup. I'm talking about coral reefs and tropical forests left standing, full of potential cures for AIDS and cancer. I'm talking about saving what little we have left, and remembering what we have destroyed. I'm talking about a sustainable world.
This is the next revolution: here or nowhere, now or never. I live on Earth. I live for Earth.
As for here, on this page? Here, I will do what I can to keep track of factors affecting the revolution, at home and abroad. I will try to pull you into the center of the fray, because whether or not you choose to believe it, you're already in it, trading blows with your eyes closed.
Open wide, America. As a wise man once said, The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret.
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3 comments:
Yar. First comment, w00t! But seriously now, this is awesome - you rock, and you are totally going to save the world one day. I wish I cared about this planet as much as you do.
oh, and I love this quote:
"I'm not talking about a red revolution: I'm talking about a green revolution."
green revolution ftw!
I'm honestly astounded. One word: Brilliant.
:) Thank you. I just now saw that comment and I'm happy you read my post.
. . . I confess, the bulk of this comment is mostly irrelevant to my blog's actual content, but wow, this post is so full of my love for Terry Pratchett. His quote at the end and, almost prescient of Nation, "does not happen."
He is one of those who will be enshrined in my heart, at least. He is part of that place from which I have arrived.
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