20-MAY-2008
The Earth Paradise Manifesto by Robert Burke
Why shouldn't the Earth be the best possible place it can be?
1. I believe that the Earth can and must become the best possible place it can be.
2. I believe that quality of life on this planet expands or contracts to the extent that we seek to improve it.
3. I believe that the purpose of human life on this planet is to evolve to a higher state of being.
4. I believe that we are the magic and that life is the miracle on this planet; all else is engineering.
5. I believe that we have always overcome challenges to our survival and will continue to do so, now and forever.
6. I believe that we can find better solutions and make better choices in the way we choose to live our lives.
7. I believe that when we change what we value, we change markets, and when we change markets we change the world.
8. I believe that people will make better choices when change becomes the best product for the best price or best serves personal need and survival.
9. I believe that there is at least one small thing that each one of us can do to make the world a better place.
10. I believe that one person and one act can change the world for the better.
11. I believe that where one person finds a way, others may follow, and that becomes a movement.
12. I believe that with intelligence, determination, and teamwork we can and must solve the challenges of our day.
"One" image courtesy of Maciej Rebisz, Cracow, Poland
1977
Our Paradise in the Void
Why shouldn't the Earth be the best possible place it can be?
Earth is our bright, shiny Paradise in the Void. As far as we know, the Earth is the only planet
capable of supporting human life. When you look at the Voyager 1 photograph of the Earth and Moon,
what do you see? What does our beautiful blue orb look like there in the uninhabitable darkness
of space?
Compared to everything else in our solar system and everywhere else we know, the Earth is an
absolute treasure in a very inhospitable universe. Why shouldn't the Earth be the best possible
place it can be? There really is nowhere else to go, no other place for human beings to reside.
This is it. And it's the only "it" there is.
So what is an "Earth Paradise?" What would that look like?
Earth Paradise Goals
Why shouldn't the Earth be the best possible place it can be?
The goals of an Earth Paradise include Clean air, Clean water, Minimal man-made pollutants, and
Replacement of fossil fuel energy sources with alternative resources. The alternatives to solving
our problems are Worse, Much Worse, and Extinction. We really have no other choice. We must solve
our problems.
It doesn't matter that at this time we may not know how to solve our problems and achieve our
goals. That's usually how it works. At the beginning you don't know what to do or how to do it.
In 1961, United States President John F. Kennedy announced a ten-year plan to put a man on the
Moon. We didn't know how to do that either. We figured it out as we went along, and we accomplished
that goal.
There have always been challenges to our survival. It's always been something, hasn't it?
Predators, disease, drought, starvation, wars--whatever the challenges we have always overcome them.
We have to be smart. We have to be determined. We have to work together. Intelligence,
Determination, Teamwork, that's how human beings solve problems and achieve goals.
We will also solve the challenges of our day. There is no other choice.
How to Change the World
Why shouldn't the Earth be the best possible place it can be? How can we make the Earth that best possible place? How do we change the world?
Brother, can you change a light bulb?
EnergyStar.gov says, "If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars."
If you change what you value then you change markets and markets change the world.
At its simplest, changing the world is a matter of finding better solutions, making better choices, and "voting" with your pocketbook. What you purchase will increase, and what you reject will decrease.
You have the power to become a conscious consumer. You have the power to say, "No, I don't want that." Or, "No, I want something better." Or, "No, that doesn't work for me anymore."
You have the power to understand the issues, find better solutions, and make better choices. You have the power to control how you live your life and where your money goes.
