I've used the past couple of days to do some sober reflecting on topics other than Politics which should be of immense importance to everyone-leaders and the public. Topics that touch on Security, Patriotism, Justice, the Environment and encouraging small and large scale businesses to create jobs thereby investing not only in its host communities but outside irrespective of tribe. This would definitely go a long way in enhancing their Corporate Social Responsibility portfolios.
In my next post, I'd like to begin with the deplorable state of the environment which is deteriorating at an alarming pace as a result increasing environmental changes like deforestation, desert encroachment, oil spills and its dire consequences leading to loss of farmland (as applicable in deforestation too), loss livelihood for the fishermen and improper balance in wildlife and sea creatures in their native habitats and ecosystems.
Honestly, this is a very broad topic which some may not find interesting nor want to participate in BUT it would be in our best interest to give it some thought and let's find lasting solutions or alternatives to some of our environmental issues-gas flaring in Bonny, oil spillages in Ogoniland of great magnitude and so on. So until we chat again next week, have a great weekend guys and cheers.
I leave you with a few notable quotes from VIPs worldwide with regards to our environment:
1) "Nature is not something to be fought, conquered and changed according to any human whims. To some extent, of course, it has to be used. But what man should seek in regard to nature is not a complete domination but a modus vivendi - that is, a manner of living together, a coming to terms with something that was here before our time and will be here after it. The important corollary of this doctrine, it seems to me, is that man is not the lord of creation, with an omnipotent will, but a part of creation, with limitations, who ought to observe a decent humility in the face of the inscrutable."
-American Conservative scholar Richard M. Weaver(1910 - 1963) in The Southern Essays, pages 220 and 221
2) "As we peer into society's future, we - you and I, and our government - must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage."
- Ex-US President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 - 1969) in his Farewell Address to the Nation, January 17, 1961.
3) "We still think of air as free. But clean air is not free, and neither is clean water. The price tag on pollution control is high. Through our years of past carelessness we incurred a debt to nature, and now that debt is being called."
- 37th American President Richard Nixon(1913 - 1994) in Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union, 1970
4) "If we've learned any lessons during the past few decades, perhaps the most important is that preservation of our environment is not a partisan challenge; it's common sense. Our physical health, our social happiness, and our economic well-being will be sustained only by all of us working in partnership as thoughtful, effective stewards of our natural resources."
- 40th US President Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004) in Remarks on signing annual report of Council on Environmental Quality, July 11, 1984
5) "The environment is God's gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations, and towards humanity as a whole."
- Pope Benedict XVI (1927 - ) Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, June 29, 2009
and last BUT not the least,
6) "No generation has a free hold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy--with a full repairing lease."
- Margaret Thatcher(1925 - ) in Speech to Conservative Party Conference, October 14, 1988
In my next post, I'd like to begin with the deplorable state of the environment which is deteriorating at an alarming pace as a result increasing environmental changes like deforestation, desert encroachment, oil spills and its dire consequences leading to loss of farmland (as applicable in deforestation too), loss livelihood for the fishermen and improper balance in wildlife and sea creatures in their native habitats and ecosystems.
Honestly, this is a very broad topic which some may not find interesting nor want to participate in BUT it would be in our best interest to give it some thought and let's find lasting solutions or alternatives to some of our environmental issues-gas flaring in Bonny, oil spillages in Ogoniland of great magnitude and so on. So until we chat again next week, have a great weekend guys and cheers.
I leave you with a few notable quotes from VIPs worldwide with regards to our environment:
1) "Nature is not something to be fought, conquered and changed according to any human whims. To some extent, of course, it has to be used. But what man should seek in regard to nature is not a complete domination but a modus vivendi - that is, a manner of living together, a coming to terms with something that was here before our time and will be here after it. The important corollary of this doctrine, it seems to me, is that man is not the lord of creation, with an omnipotent will, but a part of creation, with limitations, who ought to observe a decent humility in the face of the inscrutable."
-American Conservative scholar Richard M. Weaver(1910 - 1963) in The Southern Essays, pages 220 and 221
2) "As we peer into society's future, we - you and I, and our government - must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage."
- Ex-US President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 - 1969) in his Farewell Address to the Nation, January 17, 1961.
3) "We still think of air as free. But clean air is not free, and neither is clean water. The price tag on pollution control is high. Through our years of past carelessness we incurred a debt to nature, and now that debt is being called."
- 37th American President Richard Nixon(1913 - 1994) in Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union, 1970
4) "If we've learned any lessons during the past few decades, perhaps the most important is that preservation of our environment is not a partisan challenge; it's common sense. Our physical health, our social happiness, and our economic well-being will be sustained only by all of us working in partnership as thoughtful, effective stewards of our natural resources."
- 40th US President Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004) in Remarks on signing annual report of Council on Environmental Quality, July 11, 1984
5) "The environment is God's gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations, and towards humanity as a whole."
- Pope Benedict XVI (1927 - ) Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, June 29, 2009
and last BUT not the least,
6) "No generation has a free hold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy--with a full repairing lease."
- Margaret Thatcher(1925 - ) in Speech to Conservative Party Conference, October 14, 1988
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