A Message from the Founder of the American Independence Movement

I have spent a wonderful life in the United States, and consider it to be the greatest country in the world. I have lived, studied and worked in many states, including Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. For the past ten years, I have worked mainly overseas, in various countries (Canada, Egypt, Ghana, Malawi, Bangladesh, and Botswana; before that in the Philippines and Haiti, with much travel and study in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America).

It was always my plan to return to the US after ten years abroad, and I have now done so. I am currently a resident of Clearwater, Florida. While overseas, I became very dismayed at the rampant destruction of the Earth's environment. For many years, I have become increasingly distraught over the lack of direction and preparedness of the United States.

Out of my concern, I wrote a book, Can America Survive? (at Internet web site http://www.foundationwebsite.org) that describes the destruction that overpopulation and industrialization are causing to the planet's environment, and assesses the prospects for survival for the US, for the industrialized world, and for mankind and the other species that inhabit the planet's biosphere.

The rampant destruction of the environment that is being caused by large human population and industrial production cannot continue for long. Both are enabled by the massive amounts of energy that are available from fossil fuels, and that source of energy will not last much longer. Mankind has used about half of the planet's storehouse of petroleum, and the rest will be gone by 2050. If the industrialized world does not destroy itself in a global nuclear war first, it will wither away as its primary source of energy disappears. The only real issue to address in the long term is whether mankind will cause the extinction of all other large animals on Earth, or whether it will find a way to transition from the current overpopulated industrial world to a post-industrial world with a relatively intact biosphere.

What can be done to save the planet's biosphere and mankind? After years of reflection on the problem, I decided that the solution will be essentially a religious one. To that end, I founded an "Internet" church (http://www.churchofnature.com) (a Christian church) that is committed to saving the Earth's environment and stopping the ongoing "sixth extinction," which imperils both mankind and all other large species. At the same time, I have established a political movement, the American Independence Movement (AIM), which has the same objective, plus the goal of enhancing the long-term survival of America.

This web site presents a draft platform for the AIM. If you have comments on this platform, I would be pleased to receive them. After comments are received, the platform will be revised and used as the basis for a political movement aimed at saving the planet, mankind, other species, and the United States from extinction. Please send your comments via the site "feedback" e-mail. The AIM is dedicated to working hard for your survival, and the survival of the nation and world. I would like very much to hear from you.

Thank you.

Joseph George Caldwell

Clearwater, Florida USA

11 September 2001