New York Times Article: The Y Narrative

Captain Wayne Porter, US Navy, and Colonel Mark “Puck” Mykleby, US Marine Corps, both Special Assistants to the Chairman for Strategy to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen are weighing in on the environment.Writing under the shared pseudonym “Mr. Y.” they have published a paper called “A National Strategic Narrative”. Read the opening paragraphs below.

A NATIONAL STRATEGIC NARRATIVE
By Mr. Y

This Strategic Narrative is intended to frame our National policy decisions regarding investment, security, economic development, the environment, and engagement well into this century. It is built upon the premise that we must sustain our enduring national interests – prosperity and security – within a “strategic ecosystem,” at home and abroad; that in complexity and uncertainty, there are opportunities and hope, as well as challenges, risk, and threat. The primary approach this Strategic Narrative advocates to achieve sustainable prosperity and security, is through the application of credible influence and strength, the pursuit of fair competition, acknowledgement of interdependencies and converging interests, and adaptation to complex, dynamic systems – all bounded by our national values.

From Containment to Sustainment: Control to Credible Influence
For those who believe that hope is not a strategy, America must seem a strange contradiction of anachronistic values and enduring interests amidst a constantly changing global environment. America is a country conceived in liberty, founded on hope, and built upon the notion that anything is possible with enough hard work and imagination. Over time we have continued to learn and mature even as we strive to remain true to those values our founding fathers set forth in the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.
America’s national strategy in the second half of the last century was anchored in the belief that our global environment is a closed system to be controlled by mankind – through technology, power, and determination – to achieve security and prosperity. From that perspective, anything that challenged our national interests was perceived as a threat or a risk to be managed. For forty years our nation prospered and was kept secure through a strategy of relied on control, deterrence, and the conviction that given the choice, people the world over share our vision for a better tomorrow. America emerged from the Twentieth Century as the most powerful nation on earth. But we failed to recognize that dominance, like fossil fuel, is not a sustainable source of energy. The new century brought with it a reminder that the world, in fact, is a complex, open system – constantly changing. And change brings with it uncertainty. What we really failed to recognize, is that in uncertainty and change, there is opportunity and hope.

It is time for America to re-focus our national interests and principles through a long lens on the global environment of tomorrow. It is time to move beyond a strategy of containment to a strategy of sustainment (sustainability); from an emphasis on power and control to an emphasis on strength and influence; from a defensive posture of exclusion, to a proactive posture of engagement. We must recognize that security means more than defense, and sustaining security requires adaptation and evolution, the leverage of converging interests and interdependencies. To grow we must accept that competitors are not necessarily adversaries, and that a winner does not demand a loser. We must regain our credibility as a leader among peers, a beacon of hope, rather than an island fortress. It is only by balancing our interests with our principles that we can truly hope to sustain our growth as a nation and to restore our credibility as a world leader.
As we focus on the opportunities within our strategic environment, however, we must also address risk and threat. It is important to recognize that developing credible influence to pursue our enduring national interests in a sustainable manner requires strength with restraint, power with patience, deterrence with detente. The economic, diplomatic, educational, military, and commercial tools through which we foster that credibility must always be tempered and hardened by the values that define us as a people.

Our Values and Enduring National Interests
America was founded on the core values and principles enshrined in our Constitution and proven through war and peace. These values have served as both our anchor and our compass, at home and abroad, for more than two centuries. Our values define our national character, and they are our source of credibility and legitimacy in everything we do. Our values provide the bounds within which we pursue our enduring national interests. When these values are no longer sustainable, we have failed as a nation, because without our values, America has no credibility. As we continue to evolve, these values are reflected in a wider global application: tolerance for all cultures, races, and religions; global opportunity for self-fulfillment; human dignity and freedom from exploitation; justice with compassion and equality under internationally recognized rule of law; sovereignty without tyranny, with assured freedom of expression; and an environment for entrepreneurial freedom and global prosperity, with access to markets, plentiful water and arable soil, clean and abundant energy, and adequate health services.

From the earliest days of the Republic, America has depended on a vibrant free market and an indomitable entrepreneurial spirit to be the engines of our prosperity. Our strength as a world leader is largely derived from the central role we play in the global economy. Since the Bretton Woods agreement of 1944, the United States has been viewed as an anchor of global economic security and the U.S. dollar has served as an internationally recognized medium of exchange, the monetary standard. The American economy is the strongest in the world and likely to remain so well into the foreseeable future. Yet, while the dramatic acceleration of globalization over the last fifteen years has provided for the cultural, intellectual and social comingling among people on every continent, of every race, and of every ideology, it has also increased international economic interdependence and has made a narrowly domestic economic perspective an unattractive impossibility. Without growth and competition economies stagnate and wither, so sustaining America’s prosperity requires a healthy global economy. Prosperity at home and through global economic competition and development is then, one of America’s enduring national interests.

It follows logically that prosperity without security is unsustainable. Security is a state of mind, as much as it is a physical aspect of our environment. For Americans, security is very closely related to freedom, because security represents freedom from anxiety and external threat, freedom from disease and poverty, freedom from tyranny and oppression, freedom of expression but also freedom from hurtful ideologies, prejudice and violations of human rights. Security cannot be safeguarded by borders or natural barriers; freedom cannot be secured with locks or by force alone. In our complex, interdependent, and constantly changing global environment, security is not achievable for one nation or by one people alone; rather it must be recognized as a common interest among all peoples. Otherwise, security is not sustainable, and without it there can be no peace of mind.

Back to the Land Thirty Years Later...

When you think you have reached the wilderness, go 30 miles beyond. On the banks of Lake Imagination (a mowed hay field bordered by northern deciduous woodlands) Gwen and W Hall care for their 60 acres of paradise.

In 1981, concerned with the impending water shortage in the southwest, they quit their jobs with the Southern Pacific Railroad, sold their home and headed north. They were going “back to the land,” fully intending to purchase Gwen’s family farm in the middle of, yes, nowhere, and earn their living by growing and selling food. Now, 30 years later, they are still there but for different reasons.

“We love it here!” Gwen’s face glows with health and happiness. W, born and raised in Tucson, echoes her sentiments. With the exception of a few luxuries, like coffee and bananas, they grow and preserve their own food. Meat and eggs come from cousin Jane’s farm about 4 miles down the road. Wheat is purchased from the Farm Service Coop. They grind their own flour for whole wheat bread. Their home is a peaceful oasis in the midst of hundreds of acres of woods and prairie.

Rain barrels collect water from roof runoff to keep the gardens hydrated. A greenhouse extends the growing season by months. The tomato bushes look like small trees.

Mystified by the sheer numbers I asked, “W, why do you need so many tomatoes?” He looked at me with raised eyebrows, “Salsa!” He may live in Minnesota, but W’s salsa is wicked hot and most of the local Scandinavians simply wave a chip over the fumes and swear it still burns the tongue!

The Hall’s are part of a loose-knit community of neighbors who tend to stop by unannounced for coffee and are always ready to help if something breaks. And speaking of neighbors, they are not what you may expect. Among them is a psychiatric nurse, a pipefitter, an aeronautical engineer, a research scientist with her PhD, "and the families of farmers and loggers who have managed their land for generations," injects Gwen.

Perhaps this is a blueprint for our future. We don’t have to go to the wilderness, however. We can create community in our own neighborhoods. Gwen emphasized the importance of community. “You have to get to know your neighbors. People working as a group can accomplish so much more that one person who tries to do it all alone.”

That’s why MN350 is organizing Sept. 24th as a day when we come together as a group on the State Capitol grounds to let our lawmakers know that we mean business. We need to move beyond fossil fuels. We need to energize the planet with renewable resources and stop drawing on a dwindling supply of oil. We need to show them that we aren’t just one person…that we are many and we want change.



The southern exposure is a wall of glass for passive solar gain.



A screened breezeway is cool even on the steamiest days.

Your Planet Needs YOU!

             I remember a poster from a long time ago: Your Country Needs YOU! It was a picture of Uncle Sam with a long index finger pointing at...who, ME? Personally, I am not enticed by that image! We need something current, compelling, more indicative of the times, something that reflects the call to action that I experienced last night.

            Securing our bikes, my daughter and I entered a room buzzing with energy. Paul spotted us immediately and rushed over with generous welcoming hugs. (Paul Thompson is a climate change activist and the friendliest soul imaginable. We met him two nights ago at yoga and he already feels like family!) This was our introduction to Moving Planet and the people who are organizing the September 24^th global event in Minnesota. In keeping with Minnesota tradition, it included a potluck dinner. But this potluck bore little resemblance to the traditional tuna casserole and jell-o variety!

            The program began and the well thought out approach to a huge undertaking was unveiled. Moving Planet (great name!) is a global day of action to get moving beyond fossil fuels and toward clean, green solutions for stabilizing our climate. The event will gather thousands of people at the state capitol on Sept. 24, and all are invited to join! The conversations moved back and forth discussing our dreams for the world and intersections with other issues. I was put in mind of the linked issues of our climate and our fuel use. As I listened to these men and women speak with passion and purpose about ways to get the attention of the decision-makers in this country, my heart filled with a joyful gratitude.

It was only a few months ago that I happened to read an article about peak oil in a magazine. Okay, it was a fashion magazine! I don’t usually read fashion magazines, but the article caught my attention and it was the only reading material available to me at that moment. Appalled at how little I knew about the subject, I began searching online for more information. I was unprepared for the dire severity of the facts I uncovered. Fueled by a little knowledge and starved for more, I began reading books, many books, to educate myself as quickly and thoroughly as possible. The more information I consumed the more incredulous I became. Why, I wondered, isn’t this THE topic of all conversations all of the time? So I began blogging about what I was reading and searching for connections with others who share my concerns.

That is why I was deeply moved tonight to be in that room of 50 or so people. The message was clear: all of us are needed to accomplish the task at hand on September 24. But our individual gifts and skills are even more essential to sustain the movement going forward. We can be a part of something that matters. Our planet needs us. We CAN get involved, all of us, and really make a difference!               

Cravings

Eating French double cream brie on my cracker followed by parmesan cheese imported from Italy sprinkled on my pasta, I am suddenly aware of the cost of the indulgent luxuries of my dinner. Not the cost to my wallet. These items are affordable, thanks to cheap fossil fuels that power the vehicles that bring them to me. It's the cost of being unconscious. Until recently I never paused a moment to think about where my food came from. Now I am slowly waking up. The impact of realization, when it strikes, often overwhelms me with guilt. I have become accustomed to luxury because it is available. My life has been privileged by virtue of living in the United States in the golden age of oil. I have been taught to consume, to use, to waste, to expect that there will always be plenty of everything.

Change is hard. Big change is very hard. What has to happen is big change. For me it happens one revelation at a time. Tonight the ah-ha was cheese. I was hungry for pasta, and I love parmesan on pasta. As I passed the brie I realized I was hungry for that, too. Yum. So I tossed them both in the cart and proceeded home to fix dinner. It wasn't until I had the two cheeses in front of me in the kitchen that I noticed...Italy...France. I envisioned the truck that picked up the cheese from the manufacturer and drove it to the airport, and the plane that flew it across the ocean to some central receiving location, and the truck that took it from there to the grocery store where it found its way into my cart. How much fuel did it require to satisfy my craving?

The good news is, I noticed. Now I can make a choice. Do I eat brie from France or do I seek local alternatives? Do I drive or do I bike. Do I send it down the disposal or do I compost? Do I grow food or simply consume it? The trick is to make the tough choices, the big changes, while they can still make a difference. There may not be a lot of time.