"User's Guide" for Planet Earth (FREE)
How to preserve nature's ability to keep us alive
OUTCRY
URGENT ALARMS FROM OUR PLANET
AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT THEM
SOS #171 -- J. Morris Hicks -- 8-16-22
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Contained herein are links to every chapter of OUTCRY -- my gift to the world that I am hoping will soon be read by 750 million people, or about half of the world's English speaking population.
If it is widely read and its message is heeded, Mother Nature may decide not to kick "our kind" off of her planet after all.
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Consider this. If you bought a brand new Mercedes Benz and treated it the way we have been treating the ecosystem that keeps us alive, it wouldn't last six months.
Here's our main problem. The world's foremost sustainability problem is civilization itself. Quite simply, the way we humans live on this planet is the equivalent of a huge heat engine -- no matter what sources of energy we employ to power that engine.
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That said, if we are destined to survive as a species, we must urgently reinvent our civilization. In so doing, I am convinced that we must modify virtually all elements of our incredibly wasteful and harmful way of life in the developed world.
Our Planetary "User's Guide" -- in enough hands, can get that crucial process moving.
Humanity's main problem in 2022 is that we have been led to believe that once we shift completely to renewable sources of energy, that the threat of climate change will have been eliminated.
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That is simply not true! You see, our overarching problem is twofold: an exploding population that grows by over six million every month -- coupled with a host of grossly unsustainable "systems" of living all over the world. Any third grader knows that cannot possibly work for much longer.
Those "systems of living" include our homes, lawns, cars, trucks, suburban shopping malls, military, vacations, clothes, pets, church parking lots, recreation, all manner of unneeded STUFF, air travel, massive healthcare for totally preventable & reversible diseases, never-ending growth economy and most importantly: what we choose to eat.
Why is what we eat the most important? Because it is the only major driver of climate change that billions of citizens can eliminate quickly on their own, while saving lots of money and getting healthier in the process.
Let's put it this way. All other efforts to tame climate change are mere distractions from the "fire in the kitchen" or the "hole in the hull" of the Titanic. Quickly choosing to eat what is good for our planet just might buy us enough time to develop a truly sustainable, overall way of living. Refer to the "User's Guide" below.
Attempting to solve ALL other sustainability problems without getting rid of animal agriculture ensures the rapid demise of Homo sapiens.
What's it going to take to wake up humans everywhere to the overarching sustainability problem that must be eliminated NOW?
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If enough people take the simple step of just walking away from the consumption of ALL animal-based foods -- we will greatly improve the chances that our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy meaningful and comfortable lives.
To reiterate, all of those lifestyle factors listed above comprise the heat engine of human civilization. But we can't fix everything at once.
For example, just changing 100% to renewable energy will take many decades -- and, even then, we will not have shut down that overall heat engine (our modern civilization) nearly enough to prevent our demise as a species.
James Cameron summed up our predicament in a short blurb on the cover of OUTCRY pictured here. This is the "User's Guide" that we are now offering for FREE to the international public.
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The question we must answer in order to save our species is the one that Cameron asked on the front cover:
How do we make the crash as soft a landing as possible for some kind of continuation of human civilization?
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The purpose of this 2020 book was to help promote a serious global conversation about what it will take for humanity to learn to live in harmony with nature -- a condition that is necessary in order to ensure our long-term survival as a species.
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What is special about OUTCRY
and why should you read it?
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As for being special. To our knowledge, OUTCRY is the only book ever published that features a summary of "outcries" from the natural world, consensus conclusions of nine “big picture scientists" about our dilemma — AND an envisioned civilization of the future that is sustainable, using today’s technology.
Why should you read it? Because if billions of people are able to understand just how far away we are from sustainable living -- the greater the chances that we can turn this thing around before Mother Nature kicks "our kind" off her planet.
Another reason you should read OUTCRY is that we are now offering it for FREE to people all over the world. Scroll on down to learn how to share this book with everyone you know.
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Unsolicited Endorsement for OUTCRY
from former Ohio State professor of history
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July, 2020
Hi Morris, I read Outcry and am amazed at the book. The progression of your argument from the overwhelming evidence of the problem, through the conclusions of the nine scientists, to your vision of a sustainable future is most impressive.
I've never encountered a book in which the data was even nearly as up to date, and I loved the links to the wealth of online information. And no trees were killed!
Congratulations on your wonderful book. I admire your ability to become such an influential voice on this crucial matter.
Regards, Raymond Dominick, PhD, Professor Emeritus of History, The Ohio State University
Click this image to read what Mother Nature had to say about our situation and what we can do about it.
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The first few paragraphs of the Introduction.
When we started writing this book in late 2019, few people had ever heard of the Coronavirus that we alluded to on the cover as a possible silver lining relating to our future. If there is a silver lining, and we believe that there will be, we may not feel its beneficial effects for quite a few years.
Much later, historians may record that the Earth- shattering wake-up call we received in early 2020—ultimately jolted us into urgently working to reinvent our grossly unsustainable relationship with the biosphere that gives us life.
As the title suggests, this book is primarily about what Mother Nature is trying to tell us regarding how our civilization is rapidly destroying the biosphere that gives us life.
Her OUTCRY is abundantly evident in phenomena like declining insect, mammal, bird and fish populations, rising global temperatures, storms, fires, melting ice at the poles, and dead zones in the oceans; to name just a few.
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Below are individual links to every chapter
of this "user's guide" -- published in April of 2020
OUTCRY
URGENT ALARMS FROM OUR PLANET
AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT THEM
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Part One covers the outcries from nature and science -- and Part Two explores what we can do about them.
Tablet or Laptop works best for reading OUTCRY
Part One of OUTCRY
Urgent Alarms from Our Planet
Part Two of OUTCRY
What Can We Do About the Alarming Outcries from Nature and Science?
As you read OUTCRY, I welcome your questions as well as any requests to discuss this book on a FREE Zoom call with your group.
As urgently as possible, I encourage you to share this FREE book with everyone you know -- while asking all of them to do the same. Maybe we should consider this process as sort of a modern day, paying it forward, kind of chain letter.
Just copy and send this link to at least ten people:
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I am confident that we humans can accomplish a great deal -- if millions of people read and heed this SOS Memo, along with the contents of OUTCRY above.
Consider this: According to Google, in the entire world, about 1.5 billion people speak English. If our collective chain letter reaches just 1/10th of that number (150 million), we will have taken a giant step toward enabling the world's citizens to come to grips with the sustainability realities we are facing.
Here's how that works: Roughly 2,000 people actually open my weekly SOS Memos. If each recipient pays this message forward to ten people and encourages them to send it on to another ten people -- it could reach all of the world's 1.5 billion English-speaking people in just five iterations. Think about it!
One more thing. In the video below, meet the co-author of OUTCRY, Stuart Scott, as he introduces Greta Thunberg and her father, Svante, to the world stage at COP24 in Poland.
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In this video, both Greta and Svante emotionally stress the huge importance of shifting to a vegan diet. You should take the time to watch this entire 19-minute video. The scene below is when Stuart was in Sweden, where 15-year-old Greta was engaged in one of her Friday strikes for the climate. |
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I first met Stuart at the Candle Cafe in New York City in Sept. of 2018 just before he met Greta and her family on his way to COP24 in Poland.
I documented our NYC visit in Chapter Seven of OUTCRY. Sadly, three years later, Stuart succumbed to cancer and passed away at his home in Honolulu in July 2021. Truth be told, it was that face-to-face conversation with Stuart in 2018 that ultimately inspired me to write OUTCRY.
May Stuart Rest In Peace.
In closing, please do your part to help people get healthy...while simultaneously helping to slow, stop or
even reverse climate change.
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Another FREE book will help you greatly as you begin your journey away from animal-based foods.
We began offering this powerful little book free to the world a few weeks ago. It was co-authored by Dr. Kerry Graff, a family physician in upstate New York.
Consider it a "user's guide" for your own body -- as it guides you to vibrant health.
This two-hour read (published tin 2015) is still highly relevant, focusing on helping people take charge of their health and reverse chronic disease by rapidly shifting to a whole-food, plant-based way of eating.
A fringe benefit of our collective efforts to eat an optimal diet is the steady downsizing of the leading driver of climate change: animal agriculture. Merely suggesting that the masses simply "eat less meat" is not working and will continue to accomplish very little for the planet OR for their own health.
Ultimately, if we are to survive as a species, it will greatly improve our chances if all humans completely eliminate all animal-based foods from their diets ASAP. Yes, that includes cheese, eggs and all forms of seafood.
Will enough humans take that step?
I certainly hope that they will...for
ALL of the world's children
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Please share today's timely SOS with everyone.
As always, if you want more clarity, data and "big picture" information regarding the leading driver of climate change, scroll on down to the BIG PICTURE Data and Video Section below.
Click on this image to hear my recent (May 2022)
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Finally, contact me about arranging a FREE "live" Zoom talk for your group.
They will get a lot more out of my talk if they have read this planetary "User's Guide" in advance.
J. Morris (Jim) Hicks
PS: Scroll down for lots of "big picture" information that is mainly in the form of powerful videos, most of which are free.
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What about the "preservation" of civilization? |
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To clarify, we're not trying to preserve civilization as we know it. Because what we have now is extremely wasteful, harmful and grossly unsustainable. It's an incredibly reckless way of living that is now threatening our very existence as a species.
We're talking about replacing it with an entirely new, ultra-green civilization of the future -- and we do our best to paint a picture of that envisioned way of sustainable living in OUTCRY. For what one Ohio State professor emeritus of history had to say about that book on Amazon, click here.
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As for making our stand on the only planet in the universe capable of keeping us alive, this "Big Picture" section below will provide you with handy reference materials on this most crucial of all topics. |
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"Big Picture"
Data and Video Section
Beginning with the timeline of research
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Five World-Changing Films
That People Everywhere Must See
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Film #1 in 2014
In 2014, Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn produced their first documentary film Cowspiracy. Executive producer is Leonardo DiCaprio, it runs 90 minutes and has been on Netflix since 2015. In 2020, I met Kip and Keegan in Sedona where I was honored to be able to speak at the same conference with them and other great leaders in this movement like Dr. Sailesh Rao and Dr. Michael Greger.
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Film #3 in 2021
In 2021, Kip Anderson teamed up with British filmmaker Ali Tabrizi, to produce Seaspiracy, an 89-minute film that vividly and alarmingly reveals what is at stake when it comes to the crucial importance of our oceans to our future as a species. Most people have no idea regarding the environmental horrors of commercial fishing -- a disgusting industry that kills dolphins by the thousands and tosses them back into the ocean. It runs 90 minutes on Netflix. Click here to view the trailer.
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Film #4 in 2021
As our situation becomes more desperate, the documentary films become more terrifying. As alluded to earlier, we are literally Eating Our Way to Extinction, a process that is vividly covered in this 2021 film (81 minutes). Narrated and produced by Kate Winslet, you can watch this great film on Amazon Prime or on YouTube for $3.99. The great ocean scientist and former head of NOAA, Dr. Sylvia Earle lends powerful credibility to such a crucial topic.
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Film #5 in 2022
This new film (89 minutes) features a young activist who travels around his country, New Zealand in an effort to find out the truth about the horrors of the dairy industry in his native land.
The film uncovers alarming information about the environmental and health impacts of the industry -- leading up to the discovery that we are on the edge of the biggest global disruption of food and agriculture in history. This new film is now available for free at waterbear.com
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Grasping the "Big Picture"
These 2 films will help in understanding
our unprecedented dilemma.
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This 83-minute documentary is all about the findings that were documented in Dr. Stephen Emmott's 2013 book. TEN BILLION.
He brilliantly describes the grossly unsustainable way of living that has brought us to the emergency situation in which we find ourselves. Since I met him in London in 2013, he has become much more serious about the need to abolish the practice of eating meat, dairy, eggs and/or fish at almost every meal.
Just click on the hourglass image. Dr. Emmott delivers a very compelling message from the stage of a theater in London. This 2013 film is still relevant and will certainly help more people grasp that all-important "big picture."
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Finally, this half-hour video was published in November of 2021. It was produced by Michael Dowd, a non-scientific researcher like me who does a very fine job of explaining the many facets of the obstacles standing between us and our survival as a species.
As do practically all researchers, Dowd focuses entirely on the problem; not the solution. I prefer to focus on both.
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What else can you do?
Probably a lot more than you think
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Start with the new documentary (Film #4) mentioned earlier -- Eating our way to Extinction for $6 on Netflix. Watch it often with your friends and family.
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Share this SOS Memo widely: Certainties, Uncertainties & Priorities by J. Morris Hicks.
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Get an e-copy of OUTCRY. Visit Outcry page on Amazon and get a much bigger understanding of the situation in which all humans find ourselves.
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Inform all the young people in your world that you are deadly serious about this topic. Urge them to read these SOS Memos and our latest book, OUTCRY.
- Completely stop eating meat, dairy, eggs and fish today and tell everyone why you are taking such a "radical" step. You're doing it for the innocent children of the world.
- As noted above, do yourself a favor and make sure that your plant-based meals of the future consist of whole plants -- the kinds of foods that prevent or reverse most chronic diseases AND enable your body to effortlessly seek its optimal weight.
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I am confident that if a few million people carefully read and digested this book that there would be a more robust conversation around the world regarding our grossly unsustainable way of living in the developed world.
To my knowledge, OUTCRY remains the only book ever published that features an envisioned, totally-green, ultra-sustainable, super-desirable, future way of living for humans -- along with ideas for how we might get there as quickly as possible.
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The links below to earlier SOS Memos will help you understand how these ideas unfolded since 2018. |
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Promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth |
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