Nuclear Energy a Filthy Habit

Peace Visionary's Blog

ARIEL KY

Ariel Ky

Location: Oceanside, California, U.S.
Birthday: October 11

Title: English Teacher

Bio: I consider myself a generalist, a dreamer, a visionary, an idealist. I walk both worlds, the inner world of spirit and this outer world we all share in. I have real power, the power of a strong connection to the earth and the power of truth and resilience. I am committed to being effective in bringing about the changes that must take place in the minds and hearts of people so that we can live in peace and harmony with each other and all life on this planet. I grew up in the fifties in Lansing, Michigan. My father was a bricklayer, my mother a teacher. I have a strong identification with the working class and ordinary people, and was always quick to defend the underdog and play the devil's advocate. My strengths are being able to see the big picture and getting to the heart of the matter. I consider that I am a fairly good writer, having worked at this craft my entire life, but I once had a professor who said my true genius was in speaking. Along with most of the people on this planet, I am seriously concerned with the present state of affairs and lack of balance in the U.S. military dominance. I am presently teaching English in China. My profession is an ESL teacher, which I have been doing off and on for over 20 years. I have a Master's degree in TESOL from Michigan State University, a Journalism degree from San Diego State University with an emphasis in Public Relations, and a Library Media Assistant AA degree from Pasadena City College. Research is my passion and main past time, even before the advent of the Internet. I worked in the library at Michigan State University before my son was born in 1986, where I pursued research topics that I was interested in. When I was in my early twenties, I worked on a book on women's health care as part of a book team at the Feminist Women's Health Center in Los Angeles, doing research at UCLA's medical library that led to a new view of a woman's clitoris. The book is still available in print, "A New View of a Woman's Body." I am working again with a team of writers on another book with the working title of "Opening Our Hearts and Sharing Our Dreams of What May Be" to share our visions and action plans for the young people coming of age (between the ages of 16-21) and support them in carrying out what needs to be done to manifest the world that they want to have for themselves.

MY RECENT POSTS

[nousbase] [Gangjeong, Jeju] Weekly Appeal for May 20
May 22, 2012 07:49PM
[nousbase] [Gangjeong, Jeju] Weekly Appeal for May 20
May 22, 2012 07:49PM
Dennis Kucinich's Terrific Commencement Speech
May 12, 2012 01:48AM
From the Edge of Asia: An American Reports from Malaysia
April 16, 2012 08:11PM
The Sharing Principle
April 12, 2012 03:43AM

MY RECENT COMMENTS

“Thanks, Rolling, for the welcome home hug. Where are you, by the way? The most…”
July 16, 2011 05:15PM
“I agree. Anyone, east or west, who sees the world purely in terms of power is a…”
June 06, 2011 02:05AM
“Thank you, Mark.”
May 29, 2011 10:17AM
“I consulted with Noam Chomsky on the issue of politics in the classroom in the co…”
April 30, 2011 10:03PM
“Hi Cathy, I'm getting Roscoe. I don't know why nobody else heard him say that hi…”
April 30, 2011 11:10AM

Ariel Ky's Links

Salon.com

« Back to Posts

APRIL 12, 2011 12:32AM

Rate: 0 Flag

When I was a student at Pasadena City College, I took a backpacking class that went on hikes in the San Gabriel Mountains overlooking Pasadena. Our biggest hike of the class was up Mt. Baldy (also known as Mt. San Antonio), at 10,064 feet. At the top, I learned that I was the only one in the class to suffer from altitude sickness. So much for my aspirations for a mountain climbing career.

Something else happened at the top as we were resting and enjoying the view. I sat next to another hiker who was drinking a can of Coke. When he finished his drink, he casually threw the can down into the ravine. I was shocked and appalled. There was no way that anyone would probably ever retrieve that can. It would just stay there forever, slowly rusting away.

In our backpacking class, we always brought a trash bag with us and picked up trash to carry out of the mountain. I couldn't believe this student was littering at the peak! So I confronted him and asked him why he did that. He nonchalantly said that nobody would ever see it.

That was a defining moment for me. I finally understood that there are just two kinds of people in the world: the kind who throw trash everywhere (no place is sacred to them), and the kind who pick up everyone's trash. I was clearly one of the cleaners of the world, I realized.

As we face the radioactive nightmare of Fukushima today, I have realized an even greater truth about people, and it's not about just trash, but also about waste and pollution. It's basically the same idea, just expanded a little. There are people who do not see the earth as sacred; they trash and despoil the earth. Then there are people who honor the sacred ground we walk on, the ones who do what they can to exercise good stewardship of the earth.

Unfortunately, the people in power belong to the class who trash and despoil the earth. Proponents of nuclear power belong to this class. If we learn any lesson whatsoever from the radioactivity crisis at Fukushima, it is that we can no longer tolerate the ruling classes' filthy habits because they are fouling the places where all of us live.