©2015 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee
Original Thoughts from Leaders are Potential Change
Pope Francis Issues a Papal Encyclical on the Environment
Let's call it what it is. A controversy. An epic battle in the making. An epic battle between realms; the spiritual vs. the economic-political. The world in which we struggle to survive is increasingly becoming a deteriorated pile of filth, an unparalleled disgusting mess. Already precipitating a humanitarian disaster of biblical proportions the disasters occurring are totally unnecessary and unacceptable to modern civilization. Climate change must be addressed and remedied by everyone including his 1.5 billion faithful and the rich alike. Everyone must be involved, suggested Pope Francis in an edgy new encyclical on the environment. Rich countries, Pope Francis also observed, in his newest and highly controversial papal encyclical, are primarily responsible for climate change, the environment being a mess, a growing cesspool of greed and human tragedy. He is demanding action. A rallying call. Get to it. Remedies are to be initiated by the faithful. Immediately and decisively. Genuine thought worthy of a leader. Kudos to Pope Francis, a genuine leader. It seems some politicians are displeased to hear the truth. Imagine that. Politicians loudly object when sensitive buttons have been pushed. A reality check for the thinking; it has been historically and repeatedly demonstrated that the political realm is an unlikely source of miracles where"Look, Jebbie, old man, be reasonable; you are aspiring to follow in the footsteps of Georgie and Daddy, are you not? A presidential wannabe? You want to lead a mere 300 million Americans? (smirk) Pope Francis is already leading 1.2 billion+ people worldwide. Successfully. With respect. With dignity. And God's on his side. He's got the jump on you and has a nice hat too. And a pope-mobile. " *click
—And a Popemobile, Jebbie, this is serious stuff....wait..wait, did'ya get that, Jebbie? .—Was that a disconnect? —wait, —Jeb...Jebbie? Did you hang up on us, Jebbie? Mission accomplished?'"
Ah well. See what happens? No matter. Jebbie got huffy and stormed off to play golf.Political Miracles from the Political Realm?
We could not agree more that environmental destruction has been caused in the majority, by greedy, foolish use of and thoughtless exploitation of world resources. Profiteering at any cost. Any cost, worth repeating. Even the destruction of humanity itself. Living in a corporate-dictated world, a greedy, throw-away, wasteful and uncaring society is unhelpful in all things environmental—a classic understatement. The controversial fossil fuel lifestyle was designed by, and for the egos and benefit of the corporate rich. It is promoted by fossilized minds which detest the concept of free energy and clean technology. It has been exacerbated by greedy corporate ideology enabled by the self-entitled, narrow-minded, obscenely rich political realm at the expense of all other human beings and other life forms. An epic battle is long overdue. The environment is suffocating for the lack of meaningful remedial action, gasping for the tiniest sign of hope. Species are disappearing at an unbelievable rate, never to be seen again. Unacceptable, says Pope Francis. Climate change is real, the earth is heating, make no mistake about it, time is of the essence, and the rich and powerful simply do not care. The mind-set is tuned to greed and profit, even though, strangely, there is much more profit to be gained by changing to clean technology. *Note to Self: Each small step toward remediation and and change in societal direction requires will-power and miracles—political miracles to be specific. Commitment, Jebbie! Actual thinking for yourself. Actual doing. Actually taking responsibility. **Note 2 to Self: How unlikely. How sad for humanity. Pope Francis is right, the process of environmental healing must begin, no matter how many uber- rich politicians promise political miracles and indignantly scream objections, fearing economic change and loss of both political influence and tax havens. Let us be realistic. Agreement on the necessity of controlling the corporate sector enough reclaim the environment would be a political miracle. Finding politicians honest enough to act with that goal in mind might be closer to the Godly variety. Let us willfully declare our commitment to civilization and our humanity. Let us not cop out to garner the favour of fossilized, rich political naysayers. Time is running out, whether or not we believe the controversial words of Pope Francis. What do YOU think? # Is that Incoming I hear? 
The Pope is quite right of course, but it is kind of sad. For years and years people lived like they didn’t have a care in the word, they polluted the air, the water and the soil and now we have to clean up their messes.
The same with reproduction, kids were born without any restrictions and now we suffer from over population and the pension fund is suffering.
I point a finger at our grandparents and parents, they lived irresponsible.
You’re right, Conny, many people just went along in the old days, dumping trash everywhere, used oil, exploiting resources in the worst possible way, leaving ugly scars on the earth everywhere. Nobody cared. Now we have to pay for it, and yes, our collection of ancestors, there were some responsible, but many not so much. The Pope is absolutely correct.
As for population control, that’s another issue that WILL have to be addressed at some point, the earth is already challenged to feed many so many people; much food is wasted, much is not distributed because of greed, but even then, with perfect production, distribution and greed answered, a closed system can only support a limited amount of life. Great point, Conny, and thank you for commenting. ~R
BTW, the new design of your website is really great, Raymond.
I am not a “religious” person, and like many people, have been totally disgusted with the way the Catholic Church operates. Imagine my surprise when, at last, a pope with a conscience was elected! One who speaks out and understands the power his words have in the world.
Our “toss it,” careless living habits have been encouraged by large corporations. Our parents were sucked into this ideology after WWII during the huge economic boom. (Not our grandparents, Conny. They lived through many disasters and wars.)
In a sense, one could say that unchecked capitalism is to blame. People will be careless when they are told it’s okay, and they see everyone else doing the same thing. While individual habits play a role, we all know that the worst offenders are fossil fuel burning corporations around the world. When the number one goal is to make money at any cost, the cost is often too high in the form of collateral damage. Int his case, they are destroying our environment.
We can only hope that because the Pope has taken a very big stand on this issue there will be a ripple effect through the Catholic Church and around the world. Every little bit helps to get a “denier” head out of the sand, right?
Welcome, Diane, and thanks! Btw….re your comment here, well said. I think this encyclical is a good thing; it will certainly cause a ripple effect, —even if only to a small degree it will make a difference. Being an optimist, I’m hoping it will make some very rich, powerful political deniers and corporate interests think again about what they are doing, and start taking responsibility for what they are doing, instead of just taking everything for profit and destruction.
About parents and grandparents, some lived though very difficult times, mine certainly did, never wasting anything. Equally though, there were many folks that did nothing but consume all, and garner profit at any cost. The collateral damage was horrendous. Much that was done to “achieve” was done thoughtlessly, with no consideration of long-term damage or any remediation effort. In an ideal world, humanity would have learned specific lessons, but ….no. The PTB continue as they have done and have no intention of changing. Sad isn’t it.
Thank you for commenting, Diane. There’s always hope, and perhaps Pope Francis’s input will initiate some beneficial change. “:) ~R
I’m not convinced that the Pope “meddling” in political affairs is a good thing Raymond and Diane. He might have good intentions, but good intentions often end up in disasters. Napoleon had good intentions for France, Hitler had good intentions for Germany, and look how that turned out.
Just look at what happened in Iran. While Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was running the country, Iran thrived. The people grumbled about his wealth and their poverty, but Iran was a livable country. Then Islamic leaders started the revolution and Iran deteriorated and its people suppressed.
Whenever religion and politics clash no good can came of it.
Conny, I was kind of thinking the environment isn’t only ‘political’ as such, the responsibility really does rest on everyone’s shoulders. I think his intentions were to get the corporate rich, the 1% and ordinary people to think and take responsibility for their lifestyle and the environment, which is always a good thing.
I’m not sure if any parallel can be drawn between this encyclical and a fanatic religious element taking over a country. Is the encyclical meddling? I see it as bringing out the truth and encouraging those responsible to face reality. Interestingly, extremist religion and politics conspiring to work together as iron-fisted control freaks is what now appears to exist in Iran and yes, the people are still grumbling “:) Insightful comment, thank you, Conny. ~R