Powerful, World-Changing Integrity
"Leaning into what's right" -- says NYC's mayor-elect
SOS #133 -- J. Morris Hicks -- (11-23-21)
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One night last week, just before bedtime, I was watching a 2020 video of the newly elected mayor of New York City -- Eric Adams -- when I heard him utter four powerful words that literally brought tears to my eyes.
"Leaning into what's right!
I kept repeating that phrase aloud to myself because I had never heard that kind of exceptional sincerity and integrity from any elected official. And, that simple, four-word phrase says it all.
In the 30-minute video below, Adams is interviewed by Chris MacAskill, who has the most refreshing, relaxed and professional style that I have seen lately.
Click on this image to watch the half-hour video on YouTube (November of 2020). The phrase: "Leaning into what's right" is spoken about halfway through the video.
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At the 15:40 mark of the interview, MacAskill asks a very important question about Eric's plant-based eating. And it was his refreshingly candid answer that literally made me jump up and shout YES! Here's the question: |
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Since you have a lot of influence as Borough president of Brooklyn and the possible future mayor of New York, are you concerned that you might be perceived as an "annoying vegan" and that it might hurt your career?
I believe that it was the very first time I have ever heard an elected official utter such a genuine, honest answer to what would could have been a very "risky" question.
Eric's answer was candid, sincere and oh-so-powerful as he clearly, gently and powerfully explained what his "brand" is all about:
"I am known for really leaning into what's right."
He explains further. As a police officer, I started an organization that looked into how we could keep our city safe...but we needed justice at the same time.
And so, I was a strong candidate for police reform AND it was not always welcomed -- and was considered to be something that was pro law enforcement. I think that now, our present time proved me to be right -- that we must have justice and safety together.
And that is how I feel now about this important initiative. Our families must be healthy and safe -- particularly, our future generations -- as we push to get processed meat out of our schools here in New York.
Having a healthier diet, I just believe it's right. And I think that sometimes, if you are true and forthright -- that families will start to hear you, and we're seeing that right here in New York City.
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"Leaning into what's right" is not a phrase you hear very often in the political arena. And that's what makes this newly-elected mayor of New York City so special.
We desperately need more of this rare combination of integrity, courage and leadership in Congress, in the White House and among the heads of state of all the 195 countries who were represented in Glasgow at COP26.
It's time for world leaders to speak out boldly, loudly and convincingly about the leading driver of climate change. To that end, I have formally applied for a role in the new mayor's administration.
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The online form asked what kind of role I envisioned for myself and I submitted this title, a role for which I feel like I've been preparing for all my life.
New York Mayor’s Global Envoy for Food & Climate
Why does the new mayor need a "global envoy?" It's because we have an unprecedented global problem that hardly any global leaders are talking about.
If we don't solve the global problem, billions of humans will suffer mightily -- and that includes the New York constituents of the new mayor. I sincerely believe that, armed with a "global" title while representing the mayor of the "world's most influential city," we can get some meaningful traction with other world leaders.
Why does he need a "food and climate envoy? It is because the new mayor is going to be extremely busy with issues on the ground in NYC and he won't have the time to help other powerful leaders understand what we must do to give us the best possible chance of slowing down climate change.
Also, at least 90% of his nine million constituents would simply not understand why their mayor is spending so much time on an issue that they don't yet connect with their own lives in New York.
I answer that concern like this. If Mayor Adams does not take the lead on this issue, who will?
Which other prominent global leader would dare suggest to her/his constituents that we all transition as rapidly as possible toward a plant-based, disease-reversing, ecologically friendly, way of eating ASAP?
I can think of no one. Yet, we simply must stop the rampant deforestation that is being driven by animal agriculture. We must stop it ASAP, not in 2030, as the delegates in Glasgow have promised.
Remember, whether you live in Europe, America, Africa Asia or Australia -- we're all in this together. It is like we eight billion citizens of all 195 nations are on the same spaceship traveling at 67,000 MPH around the sun.
If it crashes, we all perish together.
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The late Carl Sagan referred to planet Earth as a pale blue dot on the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy that is just one of billions of galaxies.
Even though we may be insignificant compared to all of the universe -- or universes -- we only know of one planet that is capable of keeping us alive and we better learn to take much better care of her soon.
I will wrap up this line of thinking in The Bottom Line at the end of this SOS Memo. But first, I want to introduce you to a much greener, and inexpensive way to celebrate the holidays -- whether eating or buying gifts.
That said, I start my gift-giving advice by referring you to this fantastic 2020 book by Mayor-Elect Adams.
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Click on this image below to visit Amazon, where his book has garnered over six hundred ratings -- mostly five stars. Read it, heed it, and gift it to your friends & family this holiday season.
They just reduced the price of the e-book to $1.99, right after I paid ten bucks.
It's listed as Kindle format on Amazon but it can be read on any of your electronic devices or apps.
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More "Green" Gifting Ideas
In addition to Eric's fabulous book pictured above for only $1.99 on Amazon...
This next book is FREE!
You can afford to give it to everyone you know. As a bonus, if they start using these recipes a lot, you have literally helped to save their lives.
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Share the above link with friends and family on your gift list and they can be reading it on any of their electronic devices in a matter of minutes.
It is the best looking, and probably the most powerful cookbook I have ever seen.
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Some Heartfelt Gift Giving Ideas
a totally stress-free way of gifting
that is FAR better for the planet
For sustainability reasons, about 20 years ago, I told all of my loved ones that I was retiring from the madness of out-of-control gift-giving AND I suggested that they do the same. Since then, I give special gifts to all of them — when I am so moved and not because it is a particular day. And it is very rarely new stuff that I buy.
On that note, later this week, I will see my daughter (who lives in Atlanta) for the first time in almost two years (Covid). Her family (including her two young girls) will be staying at my son’s house in nearby Holden, MA. For gifts, I have pulled together several priceless items of personal memorabilia that I will hand to her in person. Unwrapped. They are in the trunk of my car already.
Diana, now 42, has told me that the greatest gift I ever gave her was announcing that no one should buy any more STUFF for me -- EVER -- for any occasion. She had once told me that shopping for me was impossible.
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One More Gift Idea!
OUTCRY e-book for seven bucks
Click title below for preview & link to Amazon
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The Bottom Line. Back to the Mayor-Elect. After he takes office, If he does not tackle the most serious global problem in the history of humanity, it is not likely that it will ever be addressed by any other leader.
Why do I say that? Because, in 39 days, Eric Adams will become the most influential leader in the world who truly "gets it" about the crucial importance of what we eat.
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How did he gain that knowledge? A few years ago, he had the thrilling experience of reversing his own chronic diseases simply by leveraging the power of whole, plant-based foods.
That's wonderful, but he may not yet fully
appreciate the special bonus for all of humanity -- beyond their health as individuals.
Here's how I see it. If enough people around the world shift soon enough to a whole food, plant-based diet, (WFPB) we will deal the #1 driver of climate change -- animal agriculture -- a severe blow.
Concurrently, as hundreds of millions of people start reversing their chronic diseases, we will deal a severe blow to the money-motivated, global healthcare industry.
I contend that human health and environmental health are far more important than the financial health of the industries who threaten both.
Most world leaders are simply not aware of the disease reversing power of plant-based foods that Mayor-Elect Adams has experienced in his own body. As such, they may have trouble making that connection.
Next week, I will discuss more about this envisioned role with the mayor and how we might go about helping other world leaders join together to completely eliminate the leading driver of climate change.
Happy Thanksgiving!
J. Morris (Jim) Hicks
PS: Take a look at the spoiler alerts on the cover of this exceptional book shown below (published in 1980). I am reading it now and will comment on it in future memos.
William Catton's conclusions are terrifying but he was no doubt assuming that we would continue with our deadly consumption of meat, dairy, eggs and fish until our civilization collapses and we drive ourselves extinct.
Maybe we can come together and prove his conclusions less than 100% accurate. For the children of the world.
Click this image to view book on Amazon
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PPS: A great film for grasping the "big picture." If you wish to really understand the horrible mess that we have created for ourselves, take just 83 minutes to watch this powerful 2015 film (free) by Dr. Stephen Emmott.
In it, he points out that our survival challenge goes far beyond just swapping out our sources of energy. He suggests that animal agriculture also is a huge part of it.
It's near impossible to solve our most challenging problems if we don't have a grasp of the "big picture" -- an understanding that only a tiny sliver of the world's scientists, elected officials or educators possess.
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This powerful film will certainly help more people grasp that all-important "big picture." I will continue sharing this link in my weekly SOS Memos >>>>>>
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More Data re Leading Driver of Climate Change.
Beginning in September of 2021, I have been including links to world-changing scientific information that thought leaders everywhere should read and and share with others.
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What can you do? For starters, you can buy the new documentary -- Eating our way to Extinction for $6 on Netflix -- and watch it often with your friends and family.
Also, you can:
- Share this SOS Memo with everyone you know.
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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.
- Inform all the young people in your world that you are deadly serious about this topic. Urge them to read these SOS Memos and OUTCRY.
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- 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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A final word. Hopefully, the kind of crucially serious situations expressed in these SOS Memos will soon replace the trivial topics that dominate a ridiculously large percentage of all of the conversations in the world.
We must all start talking much more about what's really important. That is , we must start doing everything possible to maximize the chances of a meaningful and pleasant life ahead for the young people of the world.
I volunteer to help you do that. For Free. Invite me to collaborate with you and your group via Zoom. To help you jump-start that all-important conversation, I will be happy to present and discuss this topic at length. Here's an advance link to my standard presentation: 62 slides.
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The image above is a clue regarding the essence of my "family game plan" that is revealed only in my talks. I do not put that in writing.
Want to share some of my SOS Memos with others? Visit my SOS Memos page where the most recent ones are listed first.
Finally, I am confident that if a few million people carefully read and digested OUTCRY, that there might at least be a more robust conversation taking place about our grossly unsustainable way of living in the developed world -- and what it will take to get us focused on maximizing our chances of survival as a species.
To be sure, we must do a lot more than change what we eat -- and OUTCRY helps explain the "why" and the "how" of that proposition.
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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Regarding the free Zoom conferences with your group, Send me an email and let's get started.
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Our book, for a host of environmental reasons, is only available as an e-book on Amazon. As such, it contains hyperlinks to hundreds of references and videos, is less expensive, does not kill any trees and does not have to be manufactured and delivered.
The links below to earlier SOS Memos will help you understand how these ideas unfolded since 2018.
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As always, I am just trying to help spark the all-important "conversation" about what is needed. By sharing a vision of what I believe is possible, I hope to influence others to think bigger, faster, better and bolder.
You will find that there aren't many books that cover both the health of your body and the health of your planet. This is one of them -- a book that my son Jason assisted me in writing. It was published ten years ago this month.
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What else can you do to help? Two things:
1. Live as greenly as possible while doing all that you can to raise the awareness of "big picture" solutions that are crucially necessary for saving our civilization.
2. Share this BSB and my "Mama Ain't Happy" BSB with prominent journalists, thought leaders and/or elected officials whom you respect. They need to learn a lot more about the many reasons why Mama ain't happy.
Promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth
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