It's too soon to die

GUEST: Susan Letendre, Regional Organizer for Witness for Peace New England and the delegation coordinator for "Built to Last," talks about upcoming trips to Cuba planned by her organization.

By surviving the US government blockade, Cuba has managed to create an agricultural society without fertilizer or pesticides. It is only one aspect of a sustainability campaign that provides a model for what America could look like in twenty years. Instead of becoming one of the world's largest oil producers, our country could follow Cuba's example in organizing communities that can take care of their own. Instead of creating a few billionaires amidst millions of impoverished citizens, America could become a true beacon of democracy. Our immense wealth could be used to save our species from nuclear war and global warning.

History shows us the spectrum of leadership that humanity can produced. There are the visionaries like Mandela and Castro, and there are the small minded bureaucrats of empire like Obama. We must learn to choose more wisely if our descendants are to see another century.

Or as Pete Seeger wrote:

One blue sky above us
One ocean lapping all our shore
One earth so green and round
Who could ask for more
And because I love you
I'll give it one more try
To show my rainbow race
It's too soon to die.