2) THE PLAN

All that reading took around 20 years; and I don't think we have that much time before a spate of international warfare complete with the very newest weapons of mass destruction visiting various of the USA's larger cities and industrial centers.

So that I have a plan whereby we sneak up on the problem of what to do when bad times come. Basically, we find somebody to begin the collection of data, for instance an estimate of the carrying capacity of the Valley as is for humankind, and we also find somebody other than ourselves to pay for this work. The fact is, many are much interested in the very concept of carrying capacity of a given region for humankind; but very few have attempted actually producing the data and calculations needed for doing it. That means there are curious people with money who would like to see work done on this kind of study. We offer a region to be studied, complete with an existing human population. Suppose the Safeway trucks stop running, can this population survive; or must half of it leave? We who live here would like to know about this.

First of all, what or who represents "us", the interested group in the region to be assessed?

The usual approach on this kind of problem is to create a nonprofit corporation, and approach a university to provide the necessary skilled team to do the work and publish the results and possible interpretations of them...

As it happens, non-profit corporations come in 3 categories, of which, from our point of view, the 3rd category, religious, is the most appealing with respect to both costs and regulations, if we can qualify for it.

I have studied what I believe to be the latest edition of the non-profit corporation handbook; and it appears to me there is a 3-fold spirituality in available to us based on factual errors or omissions-/ orthodox Christian theology. I will offer here a brief discussion of the 3-fold base that eventually must underlie all human religions if we as a species are to avoid extinction.

3) THE ECOLOGIAN FOUNDATION: THE ABC OF SPIRITUAL REALITY

We assert that, in order to survive across future millennia, every human religion must somewhere contain and commit to this ABC of spiritual reality:

A) As products of, and dependents on, earth's evolving terrestrial biosphere, humanity's first and overriding concern must be the continuing health and prosperity of the terrestrial biosphere entire, as reflected in those fractions of the biosphere left as wilderness untouched by human occupancy.

B) Humankind is an intensely tribal animal, so rendered by 6 million (or more) years of hominid ape (bipedal, erect-carriaged) evolution, during which the acculturation process after birth, which directs the formation of the human mind and soul within the mind, is an essential condition for the emerging of healthy adults capable of carrying the tribe forward into the future.

Parenthetic note: Destruction of the fundamental tribal unit, particularly in the underclasses of class-layered nations, is a major factor in the eventual, repeating collapses of such social systems.

C) The acculturation process, during which the infant and growing child develops mind and soul by observation and participation in the affairs of those humans closest to him, is absolutely essential in the development of a properly functional adult. Its malfunctioning in classlayered social systems is a key factor, together with maldistribution of the essentials for survival (food, shelter, etc) in social system collapse.

If and when the national economy collapses by reason of warfare reverses or internal revolution, people of the Mattole will best survive by having devised means of cooperation and common cause already in place and functioning, so as to feed and defend ourselves as one coherent group, one people. To be ready then means beginning now.

Listening to KMUD one day about 5 years ago, I heard a person, whom I have no idea, to remark in passing, "It's a well known fact that moving a community to concerted action requires a spiritual base." The speaker did not attempt to define what "spiritual" meant in this context; but the more I thought about it, the less it seemed to need one.

However, it was not until I moved over here, and found that nothing else showed any signs of producing a group prepared to begin now preparations for an imagined future, that I began to think seriously about the spiritual route to salvation.

4) THE SPIRITUAL ROUTE TO SURVIVAL

The 3-fold commitment: (A), to the wellbeing of the biosphere, (B), the regaining of the tribal unit as fundamental building block for any social system, and (C) the recognition of the fundamental function of the acculturation process in building the mind and soul of the emerging adult forms the religious basis of this new church that we invent.

I'm inclined to believe that our best chance at early success in building an effective starting group is to recruit from within one of the several social subgroups that split the population of the valley into sparring factions--the Old Ranching Families, the MRC activists, the retireds, and the Honeydew "cabbage patch"...being a member of, and consequently most familiar with the latter faction, it's natural for me to begin with it.

I intend to run off 12 copies of this paper, and to hand out for discussion, just 3 at a time, retrieving copies from those not interested. At this time I regard 6 interested parties as a minimum, and 12 interested as a maximum number for us to move forward to the next step, which I discuss below.

Let us remember that at present in my mind, the practical goal of this spiritual organization is to develop a local plan for survival here in this valley, relatively untouched, should a series of foreign wars or domestic revolution interfere with, or destroy, the national economy upon which we all currently depend.

The first step will be formation of the church as a non-profit corporation as discussed above; but it will not be taken until the 3rd step is secured.

The second step will be to search out an organization equipped and available to begin the practical work of investigation, e. g. an estimate of the carrying capacity of this watershed's human and domesticated animals--this is a tentative proposal; the actual group may develop others.

The 3rd step will be the discovery of the necessary capital to undertake steps one, 2, and (eventually, one hopes) step 4.

The 4th step will the creation of a local "Mattole Bioregional Institute" devoted to developing sustainable methods of supporting the human and domestic animal population of the watershed.