The Fifth Element

October 25th 2007

Al Gore is a winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

This is a statement, but not about Al Gore, although his decades - long commitment to the issues of global warming are finally being properly recognized. It is a statement about what this issue is really about. Perhaps you did not notice that this is a Peace prize. Not a scientific prize, but a peace prize. If you understand why -why a Peace Prize- you gain an important perspective.

The explanation by the Nobel Committee regarding this award was simple, and perhaps flew under the radar of many. Paraphrasing, they suggested that global warming will lead to shortages of resources, and those shortages will lead to migration of peoples, and also to conflicts over resources. Like War, for example.

Watching George Bush at his recent press conference, you had the understanding that this is a Man who sees War as an option, and that, more than anything else, is why this Administration must be replaced, and quickly.

Resources. This is what the Iraq War is really about. Control of Energy, and the power and wealth that comes with it. The mandate is the need for energy that is not a finite commodity, that cannot be owned, manipulated, and marketed. We have other obvious options. We have always had these. Wind, water, sun, and geothermal.

The problems are beginning to surface. This is what the critical problems of water shortages are really all about. It was less important to us when this catastrophe was the issue of Africa, and China. Those, of course, are really not our people. We talk about a global economy, but we implement a global marketing opportunity.

Now we have 90 days of water left in Georgia, we can predict the same in Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada. The expression that says this is best is “ there is no such thing as “there”.

And as we grow energy, as the World experiences a population explosion, food becomes an issue. Investments in agriculture have risen remarkably this year. The Earth becomes our salvation.

And, as we are issued the ultimate challenge, I turn it into the ultimate tagline. Understand the problem. Invest in the solution.

This week, in discussing the merits of nuclear energy, the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were raised in protest of that effort. It was suggested by one, that the destruction of those Japanese cities brought peace. I do not see it that way. This horrific act brought silence, not peace. In the same way that our decision to wage War in the aftermathof to the September 11th attacks was to wage War, the dangers of nuclear energy bring us no closer to who we can become, to the end of War, to true World peace.

So congratulations to the Nobel Committee for seeing this, and to President Gore. It is sometimes difficult to see change, because it happens so slowly. This is something that we can all see.

The message in the movie…

I have known for some time that there are powerful messages in movies, that they touch people more than any other medium. Perhaps it is that the freedom, the creativity releases messages, from a deeper place, a place of truth. Corporate executives and politicians don’t often live in that place.

The movie message for today, is that of The Fifth Element. You must look past some of the content, to the essence, the moral, for want of a better description. The search for the stones that represent the four elements, wind water, earth and fire. The higher power, the Fifth Element comes, and saves the earth from destruction. It is the metaphor that you may have missed.

We have been given everything we need to save this planet from what appears to be inevitable destruction. The wind, and the power it can generate, the heat of the sun, a source of food, and solar energy. Water, our primary component part, (the label says that we are 97% water) brings with it hydroelectric power. And finally the Earth, and the geothermal energy it holds.

And so, to me two things become clear. We have all this. It has been waiting for us. Waiting for our emergence. Waiting for a united world where greed and power have no place. We have been looking for the answer in all the wrong places.

You see, we are the Fifth Element.