Earthlings Letter #8 – Spaceship Earth

Jeff & Susan • December 4, 2015

Greetings Earthlings! I was just thinking about two of my favorite things, maple trees in the fall and wild cherry blossom in the spring… Do you remember how in the early spring we saw some of the ‘true color’ of leaves as they came out of their buds and had not yet blushed green with chlorophyll for photosynthesis? Well now the summer is over and Fall is begun where I am on Earth. The leaves are stopping their photosynthesis. The vail of green is being drawn away and every leaf is revealing its hidden color. The maple trees are among the first to change and glow orange, red and yellow. It is like each leaf has a light inside.

A drawing of a tree with sprinkles falling from it

This change is happening because plants and trees are sensitive to the amount of time the sun shines on them. And you are too! If you live in the northern hemisphere (the half of the earth north of the equator), (the equator is an imaginary line drawn around the Earth equally distant from both poles).

A drawing of a compass with the letter n on it

Haven’t the days of midsummer, felt wonderfully long? You were outside playing and it would be daylight as late as 8:30 in the evening. In some far northern places it is day till 12:00 pm, or even later! That must be neat… The lengthening of the daylight time continues until the summer solstice (the time of the longest day, around June 21st in the northern hemisphere and December 22 in the southern half of the Earth).

Why is change in daylight hours happening? In order to answer that question lets step back, way back. I am going to give your imaginations a work out in this Earthlings Letter. Let’s draw so far back that we are looking at our Earth from space. First thing, we see that Earth is shockingly beautiful. A ball of bluest blue water with bright white webs of clouds drifting over it and completely surrounded by the black space.

A blue and white sphere with a swirl in the middle on a dark blue background.

Then, we realize that Earth is almost all water. Maybe we should have named it Ocean! You have to look carefully to observe here and there through the clouds the small broken brown bits of land islands where we live. Keep watching and you will notice that Earth spins slowly on its axis (an imaginary line about which Earth rotates, and the north and south poles are the ends of this axis of rotation).

A blue circle with a white circle inside of it

At the same time Earth orbits (circles around) the sun. Way out in space, in our imaginations, we can see this.

A diagram of the solar system with the sun in the middle

As we approach the winter solstice (time of the shortest day around December 22 in the northern hemisphere and June 21st in the southern hemisphere), we notice that the passage of the sun across the sky is becoming a lower and lower arc. Another way to recognize this is the longer shadows cast around noontime. The lower arc of the sun is happening because the tilt of our earths axis is changing the angle that sunlight shines on Earth. This tilt is just enough to change everything. In some parts of Earth it stops the growth of plants, dramatically changes the air temperature and causes animals, people and plants to hibernate or migrate (to move from one place to another where they can find food and shelter so they can live). Our sun is that important… and the tilt of Earth is that important.

We are one of nine planets that orbit our sun. But hold on, some people are saying, recently, that Pluto is not a planet…(a solid form in space that orbits a star). We can let scientist debate that. They like to have stuff like that to argue about. Pluto is so far away and I’m sure it doesn’t really care if we think it is a planet!

A cartoon character with a star on his head is sitting in a blue circle.

Something we do know is that our planet Earth is just the right distance from the sun to sustain life. Which is incredibly lucky for us and plants and creatures that live! As far as we know life does not exist on the other planets that are in our solar system, (the collection of 8 planets (minus Pluto, for now) and their moons in orbit around our Sun. Asteroids, meteoroids and comets are also included. I am going to let you look up what they are…). Probably there is life somewhere else in the Universe. The Universe is beyond our ability to imagine in size. It is so hugemongus! So the odds are good that life is out there somewhere. What we call life here on Earth is something we have but we do not know why or really what it is… we know when it is not, but we don’t know why it happens or why it happened on our planet. We are very fortunate to be alive, and to experience the life around us. It is our greatest adventure and at the same time a great mystery. Sometimes I think to myself, maybe all the planets in our solar system had life at one time in the very far distant past… what happened? Could our Earth ever have no life?

You can think about living on earth as a fantastic ride. Like one you might experience at a carnival. We are spinning and orbiting at the same time, all the time! Our speed as we orbit the sun is an average of 18.5 miles per second. And, one complete spin on our axis which is 24 hours – is what we call a day. We are riding together on “Spaceship Earth” as Bucky Fuller said. We spin and orbit within the cluster of stars called the milky way galaxy that is one of countless galaxies moving in the endless largeness we refer to as Universe. Earth is our very own space ship with our food supply and shelter, air to breath, gravity to hold us down and an energy system that is the Sun. We must take good care of our Spaceship Earth, this amazing planet we live on, and protect its life and its systems like you would protect and take care of your parents or friends or pets or favorite toys or anything you depend on and love very much.

Why can’t we feel the Earths movement? Because we are all moving with it at the same constant speed… ? Or, here’s another thought, maybe we are so adapted to it that we can’t feel it? We are born into it and it feels as natural as living in our bodies. As familiar as being alive. Nobody knows. Another mystery we can live with.

Well, I don’t know about you but I’m starting to get dizzy and homesick imagining myself way out into space. I want to go home. See you back on our Spaceship Earth!

By the way, I would love to see your drawings of Spaceship Earth. If you want to send them to me by email use the address susancaumont@renew-the-earth.org , and I will post them on this website, thanks!

A painting of a field of red flowers with a blue sky in the background.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Chapter 5: Cruising Around the World

June 2, 2025

Mexico, 5/5/25.

Making up for the sins of Capitalism

May 27, 2025

“It is soulless, exploitive, inequitable, unstable and destructive, yet also all- conquering and overwhelming.” Capitalism and its Critics: A History from the Industrial Revolution to AI By John Cassidy This is one of the best descriptions of Capitalism I have read recently. The only thing it leaves out is that Capitalism regularly destroys itself and has to be rescued with huge infusions of human labor (money). But Capitalism is so appealing to humans that it is allowed to continually transform and conform to new demands and circumstances, even though it is inherently unstable and destructive. Like the charming self destructive uncle who is so entertaining with his stories and wild money making schemes, no one wants him to stop. It is so much fun! For a few people. And all it takes is a few people to keep Capitalism going, approximately ten percent of the World population, the richest ten percent. That Capitalism has lasted and spread is testimony to its ability to keep adapting and improving on its main strengths: soullessness and exploitation. As a species we have become, over approximately 500 years, completely adapted to Capitalism. No matter what it distorts, destroys or lays waste to, it has captured our imaginations like a religion. We won't be saying goodbye to it anytime soon. But there is an antidote. We can make up for some of its most destructive symptoms with a Parallel Currency that is used only for basic human needs, food, shelter, education and healthcare, Worldwide. Some countries are already trying to do this with their tax structures and laws but a Parallel Currency would do this without taxation or inflation. It is a separate currency that can only be used to provide basic needs and is destroyed when it reaches a bank; it will not create inflation. It also will not inhibit the positive capabilities of existing currencies. They will continue to function as they usually do. The Parallel Currency is a closed loop created for the dignified survival of humanity. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion are not enough. A government by the people and for the people must also guarantee freedom from starvation, ignorance and curable illness, all things as a human species, over thousands of years, we have developed remedies.

Chapter 4: Cruising Around the World

May 20, 2025

Preface

Chapter 3: Cruising Around the World

May 13, 2025

Columbia, Cartegena, Columbia 4/21/25

A black and white pencil drawing of a little girl in a dress.

Chapter 2: Cruising Around the World

May 6, 2025

“The path of least resistance.” (The path of the most loot.) Bonarais 4/13/25 “Island of the giants,” was the name the Spanish gave to Bonarais in the 1400’s because the native people were so tall. The prehistoric people of southwest Florida, the Calusas, were exceptionally tall also. Maybe the earliest sailing explorers? We are watching as they are unloading a container ship on the finger dock near where we are tied on. Four people halt its sway as it dangles from a crane and approaches the ground. A flatbed truck is already there, the container is placed and driven away. Repeat, repeat, again, again. An island has to import most of its needs. Bonarais is like a village of beautiful doll houses. The Dutch who were historically of colonial dominance, after they drove the Spanish out, and still maintain significant influence, designed the buildings with color and form that reminds them of their homeland. Pastel orange, yellow, and turquoise structures with contrasting gingerbread eves, cafe's where locals sit outside with coffee and converse in Dutch. The children eat ice cream. Very civilized, unhurried, no garbage.

Chapter 1: Cruising Around the World

April 25, 2025

The question is not, “ How do you pay for it?” The question is, “ What do you want to pay for?” We finally boarded the ship in Barbados 4/7/25.

A woman is holding a baby and a little girl

The Role of Women in the Economy and the Need for a Parallel Currency

March 13, 2025

Explore women’s impact on the economy and the concept of a parallel currency. Learn how these ideas shape sustainability and equitable financial systems.

A Government is not a Business

March 7, 2025

The purpose of government is not to make profit, it is to protect and defend its citizens. Government is not a platform from which a business deal is made. It is carefully structured to sleuth out the most important needs of all its citizens and provide for them. When it operates as it is built to do, its citizens are generally content. When it is gamed, in bad faith, for personal power and wealth, things fall apart and the government and its citizens have to move to defend themselves. The necessity to do this should never have evolved. But a well functioning government depends on people working in good faith, who are honorable, who seek truth and have guiding morals. As we know, sometimes people get into positions of power who don't have these qualities. The unfortunate development of political positions being won by individuals who have the most money to spend has placed a significant number of people in Congress and some Presidents in the White House who have no moral compass. We see the influence of unimaginable amounts of money on campaigns. Made worse when corporations were found to be citizens. Let's dive down the rabbit hole of history. In 2010, when Obama was president, the Supreme Court found in the case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have 1st amendment rights to free speech and political spending. They named this “ corporate personhood” which holds that corporations are associations of people and have certain constitutional rights. This allows, among many other things, corporations to make independent political expenditures and allows corporations to spend unlimited funds on elections. Also, a corporation is allowed to exist in perpetuity. Even Voldemort would have envied this! So, here we are. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have pushed more and more power and wealth into the hands of the few and in turn the recipients of this largesse have shown their gratitude by paying into more and more autocratic governments that will continue to protect their economic and business advantages. This is not hard to see. It is very hard to live through. And even harder to reverse. But this has been done before and can be done again. Good government is not a given. It has to be watched carefully (thank goodness for bureaucrats). But everyone needs to play a part and feel they can be effective. At Renew the Earth, renew the-earth.org, we have been developing over the past 20 years a concept that allows choice within our World Economic System. We call it a Parallel Currency. This separate currency can only be used to provide basic human needs, food, shelter, education and health care. It cannot be invested or hoarded and will not cause inflation because it is destroyed when it reaches a bank. Susan Caumont, President, Renew the Earth

Making the World safe for Gangsters

February 28, 2025

David Brooks made this statement in reference to recent events that may threaten the existence of our democracy. Is this where our country is going? Or are we going to stand up for our “inalienable rights”, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? “To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.” Governments guided by laws and run by Bureaucracies. When we look at our “inalienable rights” one at a time, we understand the profound intention of our Constitution. Life. All people are created equal and have the inalienable right to life. To have life, each person has to have the elements that sustain life; food, shelter, education and health care. Liberty. Freedom of movement. “Free from oppressive restrictions imposed by any authority on one's way of life, behavior or political view.” Pursuit of Happiness. Not just to try to be happy, but a guarantee of happiness. This is an “inalienable right” not just a quest or pass time. We negotiate the inevitable disappointments and tragedies of living but also experience the joys that keep us alive. And the resulting happiness, in its fullest reveal, is a good life. This good life also depends not just on the happiness of one person, but all citizens, including immigrants and refugees. We suffer and rejoice together. Government must ultimately guarantee basic needs to all citizens; food, shelter, education and healthcare. Most World Constitutions include these guarantees, but cannot afford them. There is a way to pay for all human basic needs without creating inflation and debt using a Worldwide Parallel Currency dedicated only to the basic human needs. You may ask, “How do we provide basic human needs to 8 billion people Worldwide?” “Is it possible?” If a majority of people agree that this is something that needs to happen in order to preserve our survival on Earth, it can be done. We already have invented all the tools necessary. We need more than a patchwork of aid that can be interrupted by a statement from the president. We must build a permanent infrastructure that conveys efficiently and consistently the human right to live in the form of basic food and shelter, education and healthcare. Efficient systems that get needs where they have to go can be designed by already existing computer intelligence. How much, where it needs to go, what kind of transportation is available, how long it will take per shipment, all these things are calculable and apply to food and medicine and building materials. Education needs shelter, and schools will be built where they are needed. We can do these things on a “small scale”. We know how to do it. We do this in our Military. Now, we must think Worldwide and ramp it up. This is where AI can become a hero! Ultimately, we do live in a “Small World”. As Bucky Fuller once put it, we are living together on “Spaceship Earth.” We glide through the dark in the company of stars, our orbit warmed by the sun and encouraging life. We are connected by visible and invisible strands, tracks and roads. A thread is plucked somewhere and reverberates Worldwide. Our fates depend on each other.

Why a Parallel Currency?

February 28, 2025

Money is fluid, it has perceived value, and can be manipulated subjectively toward stupid stuff or toward important stuff. With a separate parallel currency it would be possible to buy basic human needs, Worldwide. The closed loop of a parallel currency dedicated to providing basic human needs can produce whatever amount of money necessary to fulfill human needs, (food, shelter, education and healthcare). This money will circulate generally after its initial use but when it reaches a bank it is destroyed. It cannot be invested or saved. It will not create inflation. Savings will also be possible for taxpayers, because most social services will no longer need to be paid through taxes. The currency that is presently used in each country will continue to function as usual, toward profit making and investment. The result is two currencies functioning simultaneously, in parallel. The intent is to treat Human Needs as essential, as a Right. And to be able to afford them.