Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [195]
It is a gruesome picture. What, if anything, can we do about it?
We can start by acknowledging two very important things: First, we are not helpless victims; we have choices. And second, with a healthy dose of awareness and engagement, we still have time to make a difference; our choices count.
While it is difficult to predict an exact timeframe for the perfect storm, its treacherous trajectory, like a rising tide, will eventually engulf us. Without the clarion call of a Pearl Harbor-like disaster to galvanize the nation, the incremental—but inexorable—nature of the storm will weaken the political will needed for resolute action. Who, then, do we turn to for direction?
We look in the mirror. This is where the great paradigm shift has to start. Instead of waiting helplessly for our government to recognize the dangers and respond, we will need to engage instead as individuals, families, and communities, using whatever time we have remaining to prepare for the storm. It will mean digging deep within ourselves and finding those dormant strains of self-reliance that enabled our ancestors to survive in hostile lands.
It is a formidable journey with few roadmaps, and getting started may well be the hardest part. Recognizing this, I have prepared a guide titled Weathering the Storm. It provides a blueprint for engagement and will help you chart a personal course of action. It is available to you free of charge on my website at the following address: www.weatheringthestorm.net.
A message of hope: Great challenges produce great opportunities. Imagine what could happen if Americans confronted the challenge of the perfect storm with the same grit and determination as they did in mobilizing for World War II, completing the Manhattan Project, putting a man on the moon, and winning the first Cold War.
Imagine the transformational effect of creating new economic engines of growth to address the challenge. Imagine the creation of new renewable and alternative energy systems, smart-grid power infrastructures, and transportation systems that would end our dependence on foreign oil while reducing our carbon footprint. Imagine focusing our technological and financial core competencies toward demand reduction and the development of conservation innovations exportable to other nations. Imagine having worker shortages and not unemployment as a pressing economic challenge.
Are these new opportunities achievable in America?
They could be if we learned to set aside our short-term fixation on quarterly earnings, winning the next election, vacuous sound-bite solutions, and other quick-fix schemes. By engaging and empowering the American people in a cause greater then themselves and igniting the entrepreneurial spirit that made America great, we could transform the peril we face into a dramatic new beginning. In the process, we might even rekindle a long-lost sense of patriotism, taking heart in our resilience in the face of adversity. Most of all, we would leave for future generations a world that more closely approximates the one we inherited.
We are not helpless victims. Bring up my website, and let’s get started.
Mike Conley
Research Notes
Chapter 1:
East China Sea: The ownership of the Diaoyu Islands (called Senkaku by Japan) has been contested by Japan and China for decades. The islands lie approximately 120 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan, 200 nautical miles east of the Chinese mainland, and 200 nautical miles southwest of Okinawa.