We are living in a time, a culture, a situation that has special qualities, like no other in time, like even a few short generations ago none could imagine and that we didn't even have the technologies to record or document. Many of the waves of discontent that have swept over the planet in recent years have been caused by tools, chemicals and technologies that were completely unknown just a half century ago. Each step we take on the hamster wheel of corporate greed affects the planet in subtle way, but as I have mentioned before, even a tiny number multiplied by a massive one has the capacity to yield a hefty product.
The gradient of the death spiral that virtually all of our systems are in might not be so astounding until one factors in the combined affect of billions of tiny cuts tot he fabric of life that take place each day. If we just created the mythical Disneyland that corporate bigwigs are trying to foist upon the people of the Earth, a tiny handful could afford the admission fee and the rest of us could pick up the trash, climb inside the plush suits and try 24/7/365 to repair the damage caused by using the technologies of deception. However, the resource base available begs to differ with that plan. In sector after sector of the economy, skyrocketing prices for raw materials and higher costs of production are leading to scarcity and loss of meaningful work for millions.
We have entered an age where it is easy to see the malevolent intent and modus operandi of the greed mongers. Wal-mart has added "food" to their superstores, so target has had to follow suit. Costco and Whole Foods have used the same model in a slightly more humane way to raise the standards of living that are available to their workers, but the consumer dog is off leash and shows few signs of ever coming to heal. In the USA, we spend more energy and resources, more money and landfill space on our garbage bags than the gross national product of the hundred smallest countries combined. Still, we cannot find ways to take the trash out of our government.
We hear seemingly rational individuals espousing more and more heinous and ignorant policies every day. One news feed that I see from time to time (but don't waste time reading) is put out by well-meaning individuals but it is the collection of the seven most heinous and idiotic things that Republicans have said this week. This week, we heard from a republican governor from Idaho who believes that broadcasting radioactive waste evenly across the United States of America is the wisest way to "get rid of" it. Meanwhile, this week, Japan finally released the fact that each and every day since the Fukushima disaster they have used between 350 and 450 tons of seawater each and every day to keep the fuel remaining in the breached nuclear reactor from going critical. The "waste" water, contaminated with radioactive material, has been flowing directly to the Pacific Ocean. For future generations, the cost of this activity is more pain, more strife and higher death rates from cancer and birth defects.
We continue to introduce an average of four hundred new chemical compounds each year and of these, we find commercial uses for a significant number. Yet, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) only regulates five compounds routinely released into the air, and they have been with us for many decades. In my state, Wisconsin, we have one of the highest incarceration rates in America and America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Crime and criminality continues, especially in the white collar sector, so as we are fleeced and our lives and livlihoods undermined by the wealthiest elites, the growing frustration and desperation of the poor will constantly create enough diversion for the law enforcement officers to have all their time devoted to squeezing minorities and poor communities even harder, looking for the penny ante criminals who are more likely to need public defenders, costing us money for both prosecution and defense. Meanwhile, the people with the power to create long-term, crippling destruction are left to their own devices which seem to be constantly ratchetting up the destructive forces on our lives.
The time has come for those of us who see the writing on the wall to stand up, share the information we have and call out the bad actors in both our political houses of power and those who drive the engines of industry, capital and exploitation that have consumed the last several generations. Remember, the bigger and more complex machines become, the easier they are to bring down. If we are to save the planet, our own lives and those of future generations, we cannot stand by and let the power structure that exists today have their way for even another minute.
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We do have another choice. Work for peace, the environment and/or our communities; buy less, nothing or only things that are produced with integrity, compassion and fair labor and trade practices; kill your TV and it will be possible to live forever in the hearts and minds of grateful generations, forever. The natural state of the world is to support and sustain life through an elaborate life support system that cleans and renews itself. If we only learn to add our energy to enhancing the natural ecologic systems, rather than tearing at them like depraved and desperate psychopaths, things will improve exponentially. Our lives become easire and the future looks immediately brighter.
For ideas, exercises and techniques for doing these things, write or call and we will share more of what we know about living lightly on the planet. Another blog to explore is ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc. at blogger.com
The gradient of the death spiral that virtually all of our systems are in might not be so astounding until one factors in the combined affect of billions of tiny cuts tot he fabric of life that take place each day. If we just created the mythical Disneyland that corporate bigwigs are trying to foist upon the people of the Earth, a tiny handful could afford the admission fee and the rest of us could pick up the trash, climb inside the plush suits and try 24/7/365 to repair the damage caused by using the technologies of deception. However, the resource base available begs to differ with that plan. In sector after sector of the economy, skyrocketing prices for raw materials and higher costs of production are leading to scarcity and loss of meaningful work for millions.
We have entered an age where it is easy to see the malevolent intent and modus operandi of the greed mongers. Wal-mart has added "food" to their superstores, so target has had to follow suit. Costco and Whole Foods have used the same model in a slightly more humane way to raise the standards of living that are available to their workers, but the consumer dog is off leash and shows few signs of ever coming to heal. In the USA, we spend more energy and resources, more money and landfill space on our garbage bags than the gross national product of the hundred smallest countries combined. Still, we cannot find ways to take the trash out of our government.
We hear seemingly rational individuals espousing more and more heinous and ignorant policies every day. One news feed that I see from time to time (but don't waste time reading) is put out by well-meaning individuals but it is the collection of the seven most heinous and idiotic things that Republicans have said this week. This week, we heard from a republican governor from Idaho who believes that broadcasting radioactive waste evenly across the United States of America is the wisest way to "get rid of" it. Meanwhile, this week, Japan finally released the fact that each and every day since the Fukushima disaster they have used between 350 and 450 tons of seawater each and every day to keep the fuel remaining in the breached nuclear reactor from going critical. The "waste" water, contaminated with radioactive material, has been flowing directly to the Pacific Ocean. For future generations, the cost of this activity is more pain, more strife and higher death rates from cancer and birth defects.
We continue to introduce an average of four hundred new chemical compounds each year and of these, we find commercial uses for a significant number. Yet, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) only regulates five compounds routinely released into the air, and they have been with us for many decades. In my state, Wisconsin, we have one of the highest incarceration rates in America and America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Crime and criminality continues, especially in the white collar sector, so as we are fleeced and our lives and livlihoods undermined by the wealthiest elites, the growing frustration and desperation of the poor will constantly create enough diversion for the law enforcement officers to have all their time devoted to squeezing minorities and poor communities even harder, looking for the penny ante criminals who are more likely to need public defenders, costing us money for both prosecution and defense. Meanwhile, the people with the power to create long-term, crippling destruction are left to their own devices which seem to be constantly ratchetting up the destructive forces on our lives.
The time has come for those of us who see the writing on the wall to stand up, share the information we have and call out the bad actors in both our political houses of power and those who drive the engines of industry, capital and exploitation that have consumed the last several generations. Remember, the bigger and more complex machines become, the easier they are to bring down. If we are to save the planet, our own lives and those of future generations, we cannot stand by and let the power structure that exists today have their way for even another minute.
.jpg)
For ideas, exercises and techniques for doing these things, write or call and we will share more of what we know about living lightly on the planet. Another blog to explore is ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc. at blogger.com
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