So… I woke yesterday morning, Earth Day, wondering what type of world we would build if we all woke up one day soon and all the fire arms, weapons of mass destruction, and the facilities in which they are produced overnight (and through no efforts of any group/nation or another) disappeared – vanished into thin air. Of course, immediately the wars as we know them in the Ukraine, Afghanistan, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Mexico, Ethiopia, Somalia, Libya, DR Congo, and elsewhere would momentarily cease, but so too would war on the streets and in the corridors of cities and suburbs, in ‘respectable’ and less so communities across the globe. The absence of the option to point and shoot, would open up opportunities for lives under siege from within, outside and beyond the walls of progress and development. This absence of war-making technologies would give birth to new technologies, and for many new ways of belonging and new types of communities. Maybe, with more time to pause between verbal confrontation/indignation and death-blow responses more of us could introduce ourselves to our humanity. But also, there would be less of a chance for firearms related accidents to drastically transform lives.

What if the aluminum, bismuth, bronze, copper, rubber, steel, tin, and tungsten were left in the ground and trees; allowed restore the earth’s balance.

Yes, this is a thought exercise. Yet, I believe such thought exercises can productively guide us to better analysis and solutions to pressing challenges. We must come to understand that the earth is itself and us; we are infused, intertwined and entangled. It took galvanizing human imagination to get us where we are today. It will take just as much imagination and fantastical thought exercises to get us to experience better humanity.

BBC News declaration that in 2020, while the world was COVID 19 lockdown and the drastic drop in motor vehicle travel resulted untold levels of clear skies and air; and nature receiving a much needed respite from human assault, “Guns overtook car crashes to become the leading cause of death for US children and teenagers.” This powerful centering of guns and childhood deaths is particularly powerful because the deaths being witness internationally were deaths resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic, deaths that could not have been influenced be the push and shoot mentality so much a part of developed and developing world cultures.

Just a thought exercise: What type of world would you work to build if all the fire arms, weapons of mass destruction, and the facilities in which they are produced overnight (and through no efforts of any group/nation or another) disappeared – vanished into thin air? How are would you work to get back to normal; this normal?