“That connection to this place and the love that people have for it, that’s what Arch Coal doesn’t get. They underestimate that. They don’t understand it so they disregard it. And in the end that’s what will save that place. It’s not the hatred of the coal companies, or anger, but love will save this place.”
Alexis Bonogofsky, Montana goat rancher

I used to believe in hatred, that hatred would move me and others to make the changes that we need to in this marvelous world that we inhabit. Honestly, I still hate. It boils inside me sometimes, making me want to strike out at my enemies. Yes, even those who seek love have enemies. The coal companies, the banksters, pocket picking politicians and CEO’s who use the marvels of our scientific imagination against us working people, funding the development of technology that makes workers obsolete and then throwing us away after extracting every ounce of value from our depleted souls, they are my enemies.

But I don’t think such formidable foes can be defeated with mere hatred alone. Our planet is one huge organism, and we are connected. The good bacteria doesn’t hate the bad bacteria. The good,the bad and the ugly are all part of this collective experience and all this has led us to this point in time. Each of us, and all the wonders of creation, are who we must be in this moment–a profound moment it is too, where so many of the products of human imagination have become weapons of mass destruction pointed at us and all life on the planet. Sadness and madness are intertwined within each breath.

But as we know, crisis can be opportunity.  It is the struggle that defines us as a species and as individuals. All around the world people are struggling to fend off destruction. In remote villages we stand united. In mass demonstrations in cities we fill the man made canyons with harmonies for justice, all in hopes of securing this place—this tiny blue dot, so insignificant in the universe, but all encompassing for the creatures and life who call it home— for the seven generations. The future has arrived. Can we learn to love?