March 17, 2016
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The Moon Is Green
March 16, 2016, Prescott- I’ve had an affection for things Celtic, since long before things Celtic became trendy. My half-English mother forbade the playing of Irish music in the house, but she’s come around to at least allow its play, on the music channels of her cable service.
My own affection for such is part of a lifelong connection with those who are close to the soil. So, I feel bonds with the indigenous- not only my Penobscot ancestors on my paternal grandmother’s line, but all Native Americans, Inuits, Siberians, Hawaiians, Australian aboriginals and those whom I called, in my childhood ignorance, “the natives” (tribal Africans).
I associate Celts, ancient Teutons, Slavs and the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe with the land, also. It seems they ravaged one another, in wave after wave, and usually just as the one group was settling into sedentary life, there came the next horde.
That’s been the way of humanity, since we headed up, out of Africa, and wherever else we may have mastered the art of upright mobility, and spread across the continents. We have so often looked to the other’s yard, for prosperity- or at least for a change of scene. Indigenous people had these conflicts, too, though when the Europeans came to these shores, with visions of commerce and gain, the American peoples were in the process of establishing a peaceful network of trade routes, from southeast Alaska and the taiga of Canada, to Tierra del Fuego, and so many points in between. It is highly likely that there was trading between the Aleuts and the people of Japan; between the Greenland Inuit and the peoples of Scotland and Norway (even before Iceland was settled); and, possibly, between the seafaring people of what is now northeast Brazil and the kingdoms of western Africa. Then, too, nobody could hold a candle to the masters of the ocean: Those who went east, from the Malay Peninsula, and became the Micronesians and Polynesians, or west, and became the Malagasy.
We face, possibly in my lifetime, if not in my son’s, a decision about the proper use of the resources on our planet’s Moon, then those of at least the near planets of our solar system. Green- the colour of many of our wardrobes, tomorrow, will continue to have different connotations to different people. Mean green, or gentle green? Commerce, at any cost, or careful stewardship? It seems this has gone on, since Croesus minted his first coins, or even since the nations that pre-dated the Great Flood, if one believes in such things.
Where are you, in this debate? (My Xangan friends, in particular, please know that I don’t take umbrage at contrary opinions, even if I get a little spirited once in a while.) Express yourselves, and Erin Go Bragh!
Comments (6)
Greed and gain have driven most if not all of the expansions of civilizations/societies into areas out side their immediate sphere of influence. The moon is no different, nor Mars. When there is the chance that exploration will result in wealth there is instantly an investment - private or corporate. Time will tell if the exploitation of extra-planetary resources will be a cooperative effort among the nations or a point of contention.
I know I love Celtic music, some of it anyways. I'm wearing green but since I'm not Catholic but Protestant I'm supposed to wear orange, I guess. I've been told by some that I'm part Irish. I love Irish stew. Seems to me if I were God and watching down I would push people around quicker. Good thing we have a merciful and patient God. Hard to understand. Like Aslan, He is not a tame God. So we wait on Him to fix things. I think in all things including commerce and stewardship that moderation should be used freely. Blessings.
thoughts on an Irish holiday: I like Lucky Charms. hehe
I'm not too keen on green eggs and ham, even though it's just food dye.
I don't drink beer, so that has no effect on me, but I know many will be partaking of it in mass quantities tomorrow. Seems any excuse to party is a good one for some people. McGuire's Irish pub will be overflowing, including a majority of people who are only "Irish" for a day.
My grandfather came to this country when he was just a little boy, from Scotland, which makes me a quarter Scottish, which is as close to Irish as I get, unless there's a trace on the other side of my family, but Gramma used to say we were just mutts.
Being mindful of future generations, and watching resources is good. I recycle, repurpose, and reuse things, trying to save a tree here and there, but personally, I have no interest in going to the moon. I don't know that there really is anything that would make the resources used to get there worth the trip, and if it came down to it, and the Earth was going to die, I would rather die with it, and go to Heaven, than risk venturing on a crowded rocket to a possibly inhospitible planet or moon to start all over trying to properly reunite everyone to rebuild a society. It sounds like science fiction. The idea of the chance of starting over, in books, is an interesting one, but in reality, money would win, and those with it would be selected for travel, and then somehow I fear there would still be segregation as some would work and build the buildings, and outhouses, and be food growers/gatherers etc., but others will take advantage, be lazy and/or bossy with their elitist attitudes. We see it on Survivor type shows, and in life. It's sad. It'd be great if everyone could get along, but since Biblical days, back with the Tower of Babel and the creation of different languages, people have been at odds with one another.
@murisopsis: If go, we must, I'd rather it be a global enterprise, much like the International Space Station has come to be.
@mcbery: Used freely, and with noble aims.
@Crystalinne: It is indeed a roughhousing type of environment that I think would ensue, if we were to build a fleet of space vessels. We have to master social cohesion, here on Earth, especially given the chance that other beings, as yet unknown, are already inhabiting other worlds, either on the surface or in subterranean mode. As for me, I will live out my days happily here on solid ground.