The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror     by David W. Orr     Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 Are we up to the multiple challenges of building a sustainable society and helping to lead the world in better directions than those now in prospect? Time will tell, but I believe that we are and that doing so fits with our best traditions. But it will require that we get our own house in order, which is first and foremost the political task of rebuilding our country's democratic foundations and the atrophied habits of citizenship. The unfinished business of America is to extend and deepen our ideas of equality, positive freedom, decency, nonviolence, and commonwealth–a transformation that will one day temper individualism with the acknowledgement of our obligations and responsibilities; replace the extractive/consumer economy with a truly prosperous economy that protects the natural capital of soils, forests, and biotic diversity; extend and broaden the idea of representation to include future generations and the larger web of life. Like the American Revolution, this transformation will require people who know in their bones that automatic obedience to power is merely subservience, that there can be no such thing as cheap patriotism, and that democracy begins not when everyone is in agreement, but rather when one person stands up to disagree. Real patriots know that we are bound together by a Constitution and the principles of justice, decency, and fairness. They know patriotism is about building decent and prosperous communities and protecting the soils, forests, water, and wildlife as the rightful legacy of our children and theirs. And they know the ancient truths that violence in all of its forms is wrong and ultimately self-defeating, that health, holy, healing, and wholeness are one and indivisible. In Irish folklore the salmon is regarded as the wisest of creatures because it knows how to find its way home. That, in a way, is our challenge. Can we find our way back to a future in which our best traditions, highest values, and a sense of connection with place and posterity prevail? This book is dedicated to three pioneers of that future–practitioners of politics practices as the art of visionary leadership. And because of them and thousands of others, some far-off day those looking back on our time will see this as our finest hour. The chapters that follow are divided into three parts. The first section is about recent U.S. politics and the flourishing arts of denial. The second section focuses on four aspects of the long-term issues of what has come to be called sustainability. Developing a sustainable way forward is, I believe, a more complicated and difficult transition than often realized. The third section is predicated on my belief that tinkering at the margins of our problems won't do. It is time to think more deeply about the intersection of human frailties, possibilities, and obligations with global ecological realities. The fact is that the industrial, extractive economy and its politics cannot be sustained. But what is the alternative? Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3