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ignorance and complacency in matters that affect the entire human
family? Do we value short-term advantages above the welfare of the
Earth? Or will we think on longer time scales, with concern for our
children and our grandchildren, to understand and protect the
complex life-support systems of our planet? The Earth is a tiny and
fragile world. It needs to be cherished. - Carl Sagan
We may consider that we’ve come a long way since the days of our distant
cave dwelling relatives, and maybe in a certain sense with have. We now
have the means to connect to the internet through cellular phones we carry
with us everywhere; we can see and talk to someone on the other side of
the world through a screen in the comfort of our home; we have devices
that entertain us in ways that maybe ten years ago would have seemed
impossible; in sum, from the outside we may appear as an advanced species
on the verge of the next great discovery. But for all our pseudoachievements
we have yet to eradicate war, famine, violence, murder,
intolerance, and the ever increasing destruction of our planet. We’ve yet to
fully embrace that realization that unites us all; we’ve yet to tear down the
barriers that alienate us from each other even when we stand a feet a part;
we’ve yet to see the bigger picture.
Mr. Rivera’s experience and the reality that stems from it and that is laid
out in this book implies one of the most, if not the most, significant events
in human history. But even more important than all of this, at least for the
time being is the revelation of a current state of affairs which is
increasingly shaping up to be our ticket to our own demise; a demise that
would only come about as a result of our own actions or lack thereof.
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