We are destroying the Earth - our only ship in space.

We are destroying the Earth - our only ship in space.

Let us be the change for a better Earth

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. Changing Environment, influenced by man, breeds a variety of ailments and diseases. Nature-Man Balance, the key to good health is being threatened.

2. What and Where is the so-called Good Life? The Good Life is shifting with the transformation of agricultural to industrial economy.

"The earth is in man's hand."

3. The Good Life is synonymous to Affluence. People want goods and services beyond what they actually need. Want leads to luxury - to waste.

4. The world’s population is 7 billion. Another billion will be added in less than 10 years. Runaway population is the mother of human miseries

5. The proliferation of cities, growth of cities to metropolises and megapolises, each with 10 to 20 million people ensconced in cramped condition. Cities breed Marginal communities

“People, people everywhere, but not a kindred to keep," in condominiums, malls, schools, churches, parks, sharing common lifestyles and socio-economic conditions. They are predisposed to common health problems and vulnerabilities from brownouts to food and fuel shortage, force majeure notwithstanding.

Pristine Tropical Rainforest in acrylic by the author.

6. Loss of Natural Environment – loss of productivity, loss of farmlands, and wildlife. Destruction of ecosystems - lakes, rivers, forests, coral reefs, grasslands, etc. Destruction of ecosystems is irreversible.

 

Realism to Futurism art movement a reminder to conserve our environment.  

Paintings by the author posing with family and friends, 2024 

7. Species are threatened, many are now extinct, narrowing down the range of biodiversity. Human health depends largely on a complex interrelationship of the living world. No place on earth is safe from human abuse. Coral Reef – bastion of terrestrial and marine life, is now in distress.

8. Wildlife shares with our homes, backyards and farms, transmitting deadly diseases like SARS, HIV-AIDS, Mad-Cow, FMD, Ebola, and Bird Flu which can now infect humans, allergies notwithstanding.

Acid rain in acrylic by the author

9. “Good Life” cradles and nurses obesity and other overweight conditions. Millions of people around the world are obese, wih 34% of Americans in the US obese.

10. Global warming stirs climatic disturbance, changes the face of the earth.

11. Globalization packages the major aspects of human activity – trade, commerce, industry, agriculture, the arts, education, science and technology, politics, religion and the like.

12. . Mélange of races - pooling of genes through inter-racial and inter-cultural marriages produces various mixed lines or “mestizos” - Eurasian, Afro-Asian, Afro-American, Amerasian, and the like. Native genes provide resistance to diseases, adverse conditions of the environment. But will this advantage hold on even as the native gene pools are thinned out?

Broken rainbow, broken dream - a neo-romanticism painting by the author

13. Modern medicine is responsible in reducing mortality and increasing longevity. It has also preserved genetically linked abnormalities; it cradles senility related ailments. It made possible the exchange of organs and tissues through transplantation, and soon tissue cloning. It has changed Evolution that is supposed to cull out the unfit and misfits. Man has Darwinism in his hands.

14. The first scientific breakthrough is the splitting of the atom that led to the development of the atomic bomb as the most potent tool of war as evidenced by its destruction at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and the nuclear reactor which still holds the promise of providing incessant energy to mankind. The second scientific breakthrough – Microchip led to the development of the Internet which “shrunk the world into a village.”

16. The third breakthrough in science, Genetic Engineering, changed our concept of life - and life forms. It has enabled man to tinker with life itself. Revolutionary industries Examples: In vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, Human Genome Project (HGP or gene mapping), multiple childbirth, post-menopausal childbirth, DNA mapping, etc. Birth of the prototype human robot – pampered, he lives a very dependent life.

 

Genetically Modified Organisms GMO) carrying the genes of tame 

and wild species in acrylic by the author

17. Genetic Engineering gave rise to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and Gene Therapy. It has also primed Biological Warfare into a more terrifying threat to mankind and the environment. On the other hand Gene Therapy aims at preventing gene-link diseases even before they are expressed; it has actually revolutionized medicine. More and more countries are banning GMO crops and animals through legislative measures and conservation programs, including protection against “biopiracy”

18. Today’s Green Revolution opened up non-conventional frontiers of production – mariculture, desalination, desert farming, swamp reclamation, aeroponics (rooftop farming), hydroponics, urban farming, organic farming, Green Revolution adapts genetic engineering to produce GMOs and Frankenfoods. We may not be aware, but many of us are eating

View of Earth from the moon, Apollo 8, NASA

genetically modified food (GMF or Frankenfood) everyday – meat, milk, chicken, corn, potato and soya products, and the like mainly from the US. Many food additives and adjuncts are harmful, from salitre in longganiza to pesticide residue in fruits and vegetables, aspartame in fruit juice to MSG in noodles, formalin in fish to dioxin in plastics, bromate in bread to sulfite in sugar, antibiotic residue in meat to radiation in milk.

• Hydroponics or soilless culture makes farming feasible in cramped quarters, and it increases effective area of farming.
. Aeroponics or Multi-storey farming Vertical Farming Farming in the city on high rise buildings 
• Post Harvest Technology. is critical to Food Production. PHT bridges production and consumption, farm and market, thus the proliferation of processed goods, supermarket, fast food chains, food irradiation, ready-to-eat packs, etc.

 

The Bomb and the Day After in acrylic by the author

19. Exploration into the depth of the sea and expanse of the Solar System - and beyond. We probe the hadal depth of the ocean. We build cities in space - the Skylab. Soon we will live outside of the confines of our planet earth. Now we aim at conquering another planet, another Solar System to assure continuity of mankind after the demise of the earth.

20. Regional and International Cooperation is key to global cooperation: EU, ASEAN, APEC, CGIAR, ICRISAT, WTO, WHO, UNEP, WFO, FAO, like fighting pandemic diseases – HIV-AIDS, SARS, Dengue, Hepatitis, Bird Flu, etc.
Acknowledgement: Wikipedia, Time

Let's Save our Children from the Tender Trap of Consumerism

World Children's Day November 20, 2026

Let's Save our Children

from the Tender Trap of Consumerism

Our senses are held captive: sight, sound, smell, touch. It's difficult to know real from psychological hunger. Good and fancy clothing. Durable and throw away gadget. Urgent from necessary. Pretty from beautiful. Love from care.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]

Children's party in a fast food playground.

We went shopping as a family. Carlo our youngest was keen at many things, the city kinder that he was. "Mahal ba eto, Mama?" (Is this expensive, Mama?). This became his expression, the dawn when a child begins to weigh his own pleasure and the cost of it.

But how many kids today are destined on a path of roses capitalism has planted alongside profit, and more profit? How can we brace ourselves from the powerful marketing force that sweeps our children to a world of want over and above the world of need? Imagine $12 billion annual cost to ignite this force, and this is in the US alone, albeit the emerging economies around the world.

High cost of consumerism

Consumer language has evolved lately out of passion to buy, like bilmoko (ibili mo ako - Buy me.), a kid's expression beginning at post-toddler age. Gustokoto ("I like this," in commanding tone.

And when asked what made a kid buy fancy ball pens bearing cartoon characters, he simply quipped, "Wala lang." (None at all.)

 

Restaurant on Boracay Beach. Scene not far across push Boracay Beach

On the receiving end billions of dollars are generated with kids influencing their parents, school endorsing products and services, media riding on children's show - it's a kid's world. We are pampering them too far out with our hard-earned money, and extending their dependency, when at their age in older societies, their counterpart would have found independence and accepted responsibility.

Media is largely to blame - multimedia, from billboard to Internet. Media is littered, polluting the field of information and entertainment. You can't drive through Edsa with clear head. Billboards block the sky; they roll on with buses on your route. Give your name to the Internet and you'll gain world wide popularity, because you are a potential client or customer. My son Marlo, even if he didn't smoke, received cigarette promo cards beautifully crafted when advertising of cigarette was totally banned. My daughter found herself an automatic member of clubs endorsing children's products, with special discount. There are a variety of clubs for teenagers, from fashion to magazines, and you just find their invitation in the mailbox or on their e-mail.

Our senses are held captive: sight, sound, smell, touch. It's difficult to know real from psychological hunger. Good and fancy clothing. Durable and throw away gadget. Urgent from necessary. Pretty from beautiful. Love from care.

Let us save our children from the tender trap of consumerism *

1. Lead by example
Do what you say. Easier said than done. These are adages that should be put to practice. We cannot teach frugality when our kids see us frivolous. Austerity is sacrifice. It means more savings, less waste, optimized use of resources. Austerity is a virtue.

2. Encourage critical thinking
"Advertisement is Genie from Aladdin's lamp. He is not real," says a retired corporate manager. I used to tell my kids, "Don't believe in everything you see or hear. And don't be a Guinea pig of new products in the market." Guide your children to investigate and asses before making decisions. How many times have we been misled by the art of selling. Some end up holding an empty bag - victims of unscrupulous deals.

3. Supervise with sensitivity
Sit with your child with the computer as you would watch together a TV program. Or when he was younger, would sit on your lap while you read for him. Bedtime stories make our children happy not by the story alone but our presence, our bonding, our goodnight kiss and prayer. Until they are responsible to make correct judgment, parents make the board of censors for healthy information and entertainment.

4. Say No without guilt (PHOTO Internet)
Maybe is often our answer to our kids when it comes to less serious matters, or things no one can answer. But on matters of importance we have to be firm with our children, with a yes or no answer. Don't keep them long as fence sitters otherwise they just jump by themselves into the greener side, so to speak. When we say No, it's final. But the gravity of our position should be based on strong sense of values and security. "No, don't ride a motorcycle. No, don't drive. You are too young for that." It is the condition that makes our child understand and accept our position. It removes our guilt and reinforces our being guardians.

5. Offer Alternatives
Actually this means discovering our children's talents, and developing them into hobbies. Hobbies prevent habits. "Cooking is a hobby, eating is a habit," I usually differentiate the two in this analogy. "Listening to music and playing a musical instrument, is a hobby. But listening to music alone may fall short of the definition of hobby. Hobby is progressive, it is self-challenging, it is shifting the mind to the creative part of the brain. It is learning through curiosity and imagination. And the most important of all is that, through hobby you are a maker (Homo faber), not a mere consumer. You make kites instead of buying them. Your toys are your invention, not one you buy and never understand how it works. And in your frustration end up destroying it with screwdriver.

But the best alternative is outdoor life. Consumerism thrives best with indoor children. They want to create a world in their walled domain. But the outdoor child goes out to the world, to Nature, and he finds contentment in the countless things nature provides him free - clean water and air, mountains as high rise, waterfall as fountains, pebbles as marbles, river as swimming pool, moon and stars as neon lights. And he learns to live a contented life with the least amenities.

Athenian Syndrome

Good Life reminds us of the Athenian Syndrome during the time of Socrates, the father of Philosophy, and the "conscience" of the most powerful city state during the time of "crowing glory of Greece." He found out that the citizens seemed not to know the difference between moral and immoral. And do we know it today? And here is a third element of morality - amorality. If we find it difficult to understand what morality is all about, can we know what is ethical and what is not? What is good and evil?

A child devouring a fried chicken may be an amoral act. We know that in a hungry world, a chicken has the equivalent food value of the grains it ate to attain its size, which could have been food for five hungry children for not only a single meal. When we buy our children clothes just for fashion or fancy we imagine children who have nothing decent to wear in school. When we waste water, food, electricity, and other valuable things because we simply have so much of them, the other side of the globe could have shared them.

These are basic to our children's formative years. We have to educate them well, not to be wasteful, to keep the environment clean, and in the future to raise families of their own with assurance of their welfare. We cannot entrust our children to media. We cannot trust one institution to fill in the gap of another. We cannot leave our children in the nursery or kinder school. Religious education cannot guarantee righteousness, the community of healthy integration.

Malling a new culture

"Nagmall ka na ba?" has become more of a measure of lifestyle, rather than necessity or leisure. Mall (PHOTO Internet) is a growing institution of the middle class, and with the increasing young, and senior citizens. Many mall goers were once traditional customers of Divisoria (bagsakan - wholesale), Quiapo and Baclaran (pilgrimage sites) and countless tiangge and talipapa (flea markets).

Historically, in here informal economy reigns and why not? You can make bargains (tawad, baratilyo), establish patronage (suki), join rummage (ukay ukay). Just don't be outsmarted (naisahan, nalamangan). And if you have a sari-sari (corner store) of your own, outsource here and you are comfortable with 20 to 35 percent ROI (Return of Investment). Or if you are an enterprising employee in your organization, you can be an entrepreneur as well.

That's why customers still flock these centers where tradition exudes quaintness to shopping, where the peso is more elastic, goods and services virtually unlimited. We still get from Divisoria supplies for our home industry at wholesale. 

Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Now and them we join the pilgrimage in Quiapo or Baclaran and pick up some items from makeshift stalls. Don't miss, lechon in La Loma, fish in Navotas, fruits in NLEX interchange in Balintawak. Name it all - these informal economies - tell the mall to take the back seat.

But as people leave the countryside, towns grow into cities, shopping has indeed evolved into an institution all over the world, courting everyone to go to the mall regularly, say on a weekend. To the younger generations it means much, much more - dating, promenading, eating, playing, cooling off summer, rendezvous (tagpuan). The mall is like a ganglion physiologically. All roads lead to Rome, analogously applies today in our postmodern world,

If this is the Good Life our children are looking up to, I am afraid they are likely to be the next victims. Let's save them from the tender trap of consumerism, the handmaid of capitalism.~

Kuya Center for Street Children in Quezon City. These children, among millions of other deprived children around the world, find new hope to fight poverty and homelessness. KCSC is a foundation that rehabilitates and reconnects street children with their families headed by executive-director Bro. Luc Boudreault, SC. (Brothers of the Sacred Heart). PHOTOS avrotor

*Reference: Living with Nature Series AVRotor; Marketing to Innocents, by Gabrielle Bauer Reader's Digest July 2005.

LESSON on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday [www.pbs.gov.ph]

Let Us Encourage Our Children to Engage in Art

 World Children's Day November 20, 2026 

Let Us Encourage Our Children to Engage in Art

“I started painting as a hobby when I was little. I didn’t know I had any talent. I believe talent is just a pursued interest. Anybody can do what I do.” – Bob Ross

Part 1 - Benefits of Art for Children

Part 2 - Respite in Drawing

Part 3 - Take time out to be close to Mother Nature 

             (Original title: Children Painting under the Trees)

Part 4 - Ode to the Kite in the Sky

Dr Abe V Rotor

Engaging children in art fosters creativity, emotional expression, and cognitive development, allowing them to explore their inner world and connect with the world around them. Art provides a unique language for self-expression and can help children develop essential life skills. Internet

Part 1 - Benefits of Art for Children 

Author and tutor Dr Rotor poses with young artists V-jay Rigos, Francezz Ragasa, R-jay Tolentino, and Kimberly Santos, all students of San Vicente Integrated School. March 30, 2025 at Living with Nature Center 

One fine Sunday morning four kids from the neighborhood came

 to draw with pastel colors, cheerful and cellphone-free. 

And what do we know, we grownups, teachers, parents, guardians?

Look at their works of art - what a great discovery!  

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” – Aristotle

 

Take your choice -  color as you wish,

from the creative mind, joyful heart

parrot, jay, heron - just don't miss

the free expression and joy of art.

"A picture is a poem without words". -  Horace

 

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." - Pablo Picasso

Sailboats in the wind sans sailors;

a proud mother hen sans her brood;

sans man's presence, yet complete

to the young, not we who are old.  

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when he grows up." - Pablo Picasso

8 Important Benefits of Art for Children 

That Everyone Should Know*

Creating art isn’t just a fun, colorful pastime. It has a variety of unique, positive effects on preschoolers, young children, and teens that other activities don’t provide. Here are eight reasons why you should encourage kids to participate in art on a regular basis.

1. Stimulates Creativity and Problem-Solving Skills

2. Promotes Self-Esteem and Self-Expression

3. Contributes to Fine Motor Skill Development

4. Helps Develop Visual-Spatial Processing

5. Builds Memory and Self-Control

6. Provides Rest, Relaxation, and Reward

7. Increases Academic Performance

8. Connects Kids to People and the World

 

Dr Rotor's family and friends, grownups and children - all disciples and students of art.                   

“The urge to draw must be quite deep within us, because children love to do it” – David Hockney

Acknowledgement with Gratitude to *Painting to Gogh (Painting to Gogh Offers Fun, Engaging Painting Tutorials for Kids), Internet

Part 2 - Respite in Drawing

Living with Nature Center

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

“I experience things by drawing them.” -Eleanor Dickinson

"Lolo," knocking on the gate, they called,

"Why it's gloomy, typhoon's coming," I said;

And the wind had started blowing cold; 

Children are children, bless them, oh Lord.

And I, a parent, a teacher grown very old,

Rose from my armchair to meet the three;

"Can we draw?" chorused they cheerfully  

What shall they draw when the sky's heavy?

Dr Abe V Rotor

Facilitator

Living with Nature garden with Rizal's shrine as background.  

The shrine depicts his life in exile at Dapitan as artist, scientist, 

doctor, teacher and farmer, among other roles.

Who knows more than one's mind and feeling, 

more than all the world's hearing and seeing?

“When I draw I rule the world.” -Mort Walker

They write "finished" when they've not really started;

children are impatient to what we grownups wanted.

As an artist, art's never finished, take Venus de Milo,

or the works of Michelangelo and Vincent Van Gogh.

However I explained, chorused they "Tapos na, Lolo." 

 

Ideals never die, they live in innocence of childhood,

Where have all the singing birds gone after a typhoon?

Listen to the children with colors, they'll return soon. 

Children see beauty restored sooner than we do,

and a brighter tomorrow. ~

Author's Note: From the neighborhood these three children came to learn drawing in the course of weather disturbances caused by a series of typhoons lately. School classes were suspended, but thanks to the brief calm moments the children found respite in drawing. They brought home their works, in order to share their acquired skill and optimism to their family and community.                              

                        

         Part 3 - Take time out to be close to Mother Nature

(Original title: Children Painting under the Trees)

"Go to Mother Nature when tired, lonely and uncertain,

when all human comfort fails, when abandoned." - avr

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog (avrotor.blogspot.com)

Also open Naturalism -the Eighth Sense

Integrated Children's Summer Workshop conducted by the author 

at the San Vicente Botanical Garden , San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.

Take time out from TV, computer, malling;

     life's so dull, busy yet empty;

The left brain's overworked, the right idle,

     growing up is a sad story.

Take time out in summer away from school,

     put down your books and depart;

give imagination a chance over knowledge

     through creativity in the art.

Take time out to be close to Mother Nature,

     draw and paint under the trees,

recreate the world you wish it should be,

     let your worries go with the breeze.

Take time out to be your real self, discover

     beyond the world of reality,

with myriad colors and the paintbrush,

     the boundless realm of fantasy. ~

Author's Family takes a break for chores and school 

 

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." - John Muir. 

(John Muir, also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States of America). ~

                          Part 4 -  Ode to the Kite in the Sky 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Kite Flying on the Lakeshore in acrylic, group project, 

Children's Summer Art Workshop, circa 1995.  

Fly high into the sky, until you see us but minuscule on the ground, 

how insignificant we all are, to the world and to the universe;

Fly with the wind with all your might, that we too, feel we are flying,

save our strength, our will and faith to remain with Mother Earth,

our home, our only planet, our spaceship, the place of our birth.

Fly high with our dreams, our fantasy of conquering space and stars,

how lofty dreams are, how ambitious, how proud we humans are;

Fly away from our hold, be free, drift aimlessly if you call that freedom;

then neither you are a friend, nor we are your master, but a renegade, 

breaking away from the rules and order that humanity has made. ~ 

"Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country." - Anais Nin