What does North Korea's latest nuclear test show us? For one thing, making a nuclear weapon is not as difficult as we have been led to believe, or as we would like the world to believe. That, depending on the Earth to sustain us has, at best, a limited future. That, as long as we are still here on Earth, international boundaries are not as important as international peace. The best way we can honor our Veterans is to realize that an unending series of wars no way to run an economy is a luxury we can no longer afford. We must turn our remaining resources, our treasure, towards making the world a better place for those living in its poorest regions, for we can no longer afford the ecological disasters poverty, strife and conflict produce. It is now waste not, want less. We must buy local, think global. In my own family, I have found we can cut 25% from the budget, without really suffering. But we can go further. As waste loses its appeal socially, we can expect this to become a worldwide trend, somewhat similar to what is considered "beautiful" in terms of the female form. However now our tastes change faster. Already the auto makers' advertising has decreased and is shifting its focus from gas-guzzling super fortresses to technical intelligence, safety and miles per gallon. We, in the U.S. can eat less meat, and grow more vegetables in backyard gardens and city farms. Backyard composters and even Chicken tractors are becoming more popular in urban and suburban locations. This may not bode well for the current or future GDP but we must remember that the real humanitarians want humans to survive longer than this Earth, (longer than this Sun even).
