Earth Day Dictation

So today is Earth Day, and like millions of people I'm thinking about it.  I think it's kind of an amorphous holiday, probably because there are no standard "observances" for celebration. Myself, I didn't really do anything too special today (with the exception of taking these pictures), just carried on with my "normal" Thursday routine....

Anyway, I was getting ready to go to Minneapolis this morning (yep - had to burn fossil fuel today), and was listening to MPR.  They spent an hour talking about why (supposedly) the distrust of government was registering so highly these days.

The hosts & experts found a way to explore this for an hour (much of which I didn't hear).  But from tuning in on the last 20 minutes (or so), the takeaway was this:  When it comes to generalizing about government, people will be more or less cynical/frustrated depending on their current circumstances "on the ground".

But when specifics are considered, most people trust/appreciate the government for what they're getting "on the ground" again.  This outcome is often seen in socities which are fairly transparent and democracy is well established (like the U.S.).  For example - most people, when polled, thought our government should have more oversight over the big financial institutions.  And Gov't was also seen as more trustworthy than the big banks, etc.

And later that day, while driving home, there was a very interesting story about people who produce too much Oxytocin (a.k.a. the "Trust Hormone").  One striking thing the researchers found was -- in general -- when people are stressed out, their production of this hormone is decreased.

This made me think that in the last few years, we've been through the worst economic period since the great depression.  And we were reminded of it very frequently by the media, having the effect of creating stress. So the predictable decrease in Oxytocin levels en masse alone would be enough to explain why people are less trusting of government now....

Which brings me to something else I was reading later that evening. It is a brilliant assessment from the (conservative) Cato Institute titled: "The US Should Cut Military Spending in Half".  In their opinion, srictly from the world of practical economics (and with no moral considerations) it makes a ton of sense!

Well, it occurs to me that none of this seems to have much to do with Earth Day in particular.  Yet under the surface I think it does.  Because everything we do, think, believe, and desire has some kind of impact on the Earth.  It must, as we and our planet are interconnected in every way, right?  Anyway, it's a good question and I really do wish that every day was Earth Day.