Are You a Planet Patriot?
This site focuses on Planet Patriots as inspiration to help people of all ages to promote a larger loyalty to the whole planet, its people, and our environment. We especially focus on celebrating Planet Patriots as Authors and through Song, Holidays, and Postage stamps and Covers.
You can actively become a Planet Patriot by Nature Journal Writing, Birding and gardening with native plants, Stargazing and Learning About Space, Supporting Wilderness Preservation, and at least armchair Traveling to Gain Global Perspective.
“This planet is not terra firma. It is delicate and it must be cared for. It’s small. It’s isolated, and there is no resupply. And we are mistreating it. Clearly, the highest loyalty we should have is not to our own country, or our hometown or even to ourselves. It should be to the planet at large. This is our home and this is all we’ve got.”
– Scott Carpenter, Mercury 7 astronaut.
“My loyalties will not be bound by national borders, or confined in time by one nation’s history, or limited in the spiritual dimension by one language or culture. I pledge my allegiance to the damned human race, and my everlasting love to the green hills of Earth, and my intimations of glory to the singing stars, to the very end of space and time.”
– Edward Abbey.
How to Engage More Closely with the “Real” World
- Nature Journal Writing – Updated 2024 – Originally published on the John Muir Exhibit.) – A journal is a “fundamental thinking tool” that helps you observe more carefully and remember more effectively.
- Learn about your Bioregion – Identifying your bioregion can lead to a fascinating path of discovery about the place where you live. A Bioregion is a geographical area defined not by political boundaries but by ecological systems. What’s your bioregion? For those of us in the USA, you can identify it by going through the EPA’s three levels of Ecoregion maps of North America. Then find out: what plants, insects, birds, and other animals live in your bioregion? What are their migratory patterns? Where does your water come from, and where does it go in the water cycle? Where does the Sun rise and set on your closest horizon on the solstices and the equinoxes? Tune in to the cycles of the changing seasons and moon tides. When is there a full Moon? Begin to pay attention by slowing down to create more space in your life to sit, saunter, listen, watch, explore and commune with nature. Learn the names of your more-than-human neighbors, take the time to listen to their stories, extend a helping hand, and adopt their struggle as your own. Expand your sense of self to include the entire ecological community in your bioregion. Eschew anthropocentric views of separateness, tribalism, and authoritarianism and embrace interdependence with Nature instead.
- Celebrate Environmental Holidays – While we might say “Every Day is Earth Day,” observing special days of significance throughout the year can enhance our appreciation for the natural world and those who give us superb insights about the world.
- Support Wilderness Preservation – Don’t be trapped by “indoor philosophy”! Recommended reading is provided here along with recommendations for doing something to help.
- Go Stargazing and Learn About Space – Increasing our understanding and appreciation of the wonders of the night sky and the wider universe is essential to our lives and our hope for world peace and environmental responsibility.
- Birding and garden with native plants – Birding is not just for those interested in ornithology, but to learn to thrive in harmony with all the pollinators, and recognizing we’ve got to coexist with nature where we live.
- Travel to Gain Global Perspective – Whether armchair traveling or hands-on learning about other cultures, by venturing out of our comfort zones, travelers can gain empathy for the other 96 percent of humanity and a better understanding of the interconnectedness of today’s world.
About This Site
These pages are devoted to what I hope are some inspirational messages from those who have written, sung, or created art about the importance of loving and learning about our spaceship earth; even loving and learning about our solar system and the universe beyond.
I call for a greater patriotism – that is, love – for the Planet we live on – for what is patriotism but love, and shouldn’t love be boundless? We do not need to give up loving our own country just because we also love the planet!
We do not need to give up loving humanity just because we also love wildlife! We do not need to give up loving our Earth just because we also love the Moon, Mars and Phobos, Jupiter and Europa and Io, Saturn and Titan. We do not even have to confine our love to our own solar system, we can be Patriots for the Universe!
But for now, the best start is to stop looking narrow-mindedly at our own nation-state, and to actively work to extend our patriotism to the entire planet.
Like it or not, we are all in this together. We have to learn to share our Earth, with all people, including future generations, and all living things.
Once it was enough to be a patriot of your cave or village. Then it became enough to be a citizen of a local region, a watershed, or a city-state. Then great empires were built, from the Roman Empire to the British Empire, which made for patriotism for the conquerors but did little for the self-esteem of the conquered! At least in the United States of America, the thirteen colonies banded together, and patriotism has become synonymous with freedom. But should patriotism be so fixed on a single nation-state to the exclusion of all others? We live in a global world, as the Apollo photographs of Earth showed us, and we are increasingly interdependent. It is time to broaden our sense of patriotism to encompass all humanity and even life itself.
It is time to grow once again, to be citizens of not just our country and nation, but our Earth. But we don’t stop loving our nation-state just because we also love the Earth. We can be patriots of both!
In fact, it is not enough to be Earth-patriots. As humanity explores Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the rest of the Solar System, we increasingly must understand the truth of Adlai Stevenson’s recognition that we are “passengers on a little spaceship.”
From the perspective of the solar system, we must all be environmentalists. The Hubble Space Telescope (and now the James Webb Space Telescope) is presenting pictures to us that ought to change our planet’s culture as much as the Apollo pictures of the Earth first did in the late 1960’s. And, as Alexander Skutch said, “Often a loyal citizen can do most for his country by giving his home town or county the benefit of his energy. Similarly, we can best demonstrate our cosmic loyalty by serving our home planet.” We can help fulfill that ideal by endorsing and implementing the Earth Charter Initiative.
Another primary adjustment we must begin taking is a “deep time” perspective of our planet and our universe. Taking a deep time perspective alters everything we do – and makes us realize that we must plan and live to protect the future, not just be contemporary consumers of our planet.
We must stop being anthropocentric. A good first step is the “One Health” movement, which correctly asserts that the health of humans, animals and ecosystems are all interconnected.
Let our capacity for love grow — beyond the boundary of epidermis of humanity itself, to embrace all life-forms, great and small, with whom we share this terrestrial globe. Remember what Albert Schweitzer said: “Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.”
This ideal was confirmed by Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary-General of the United Nations in the 1950s, who said when visiting Muir Woods in 1955, “Persons who love nature find a common basis for understanding people of other countries, since the love of nature is universal among men of all nations.”
The growth of theocratic fundamentalists of all stripes and of terrorism around the world testifies to the need for global Planet Patriotism (not jingoistic nationalism or calls to kill all “unbelievers”!). The facts of global warming, overpopulation, natural resource shortages, and mass extinctions make the transition to that global vision more compelling than it ever has been! The natural world is our ark, and we all need to make a covenant to be responsible crew members.
As Planet Patriots like Aldo Leopold, Raymond Dasmann, the bioregionalist Peter Berg, and before them as much indigenous wisdom teaches, as Robin Kimmerer puts it “in return for the gifts of Mother Earth, human people have responsibility for caring for the nonhuman people, for stewardship of the land.”
Let our capacity for love grow — beyond even the boundary of the Earth’s atmosphere even, to what the toxic runaway greenhouse of Venus and the hell of Mercury to the frigid winds of Mars and the frozen mystery of Pluto teach us. Let us love our own Sun too, but recognize that it is only a moderately average star in a living cosmos that stretches far beyond all prior human understanding.
Let’s continue to learn and to consciously evolve. Let us use science as a tool to expand our love, and art and music to celebrate it! Living is a multi-disciplinary enterprise!
Let us be responsible in our love — patriotism implies responsible ecological citizenship.
In doing so, let’s also have a good time! Life requires humor, especially the ability to laugh at oneself, and not take oneself too seriously.
How to begin implementing these ideals? An excellent place to start is with the authors and music offered on this website.