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| Man with his buffalo bathing together at Shivala Ghat, Varanassi |
I'd like to lead you down my mind trail. Please enjoy.
We know that oil companies are the most powerful companies in the world, that they dictate the world what our government does, indirectly and directly, through lobbying, foreign policy, and other ways. That they are causing so much of the insanity that we see around us. Wars in the Middle East, a culture that eats 30% of it's meals in cars, toxic emissions that poison the planet causing global weirding (As Tom Ward aptly calls it) causing global anomalies in weather patterns to cover 10% of the earth rather than 0.5% when the modeling began in the 50's. This finite resource condensed energy from the sun, 50 million years to make and 100 years to burn through the easily accessible oil. This cheap energy has itself intricately woven into the fabric of our daily lives. I'm wearing it, typing on it, in a house made partly from it built powered by it. Yet with this knowledge, not to mention it's cost, over $4 dollars a gallon at our local gas stations. We continue to feed the maw of this giant machine, shoveling our dollars into it. 70% of our oil use is transportation. And we drive our cars? Every day, all over the place, to work, to the gym, to get groceries, etc. What? Do we realize what we are doing? That what we take now won't be there for the future generations, that we are stealing the future of the world for our own convenience? And this is just one example. Our lives are unsustainable, haven't we heard this before? And we have spread the message of consumerism hand in hand with globalization. As the economies and populations grow in Brazil, Russia, India and China they will increasingly want stuff, just like us. We have opened Pandora's box, set the wheel turning on a chain of events that we will increasingly find ourselves less and less important in. We have the largest economy in the world, thus our collective buying power is the greatest in the world. We need to make decisions that will carry us into a future that is equitable for all.
One of the ways that I see this made possible is by cutting our consumption. This could possibly offer the corporations a reality check. A shrinking market means more innovation in the direction of the consumers, we play hard to get and they'll come to us. We can bolster our own local economies and drive less, maybe none. We have amazing minds and technology is running in leaps and bounds. Yet I do not think we will leap our way over this conundrum. We must consume less, other wise it doesn't seem like there will be any for my children.
Coming back from India personalized so much of what we hear. Population, Climate Change, Consumerism, Waste, Education, and so many other hot topics became wedged into my soul. I lived and breathed in a world so different from this one, where clean water, food and air. The most basic human needs are scarce. Where over a billion people are watching the screens of the TV or cellphone. Watching Hollywood and dreaming of their own car, house, Refrigerator, Flush Toilet and everything else we have grown accustomed to here in the USA. We are the 1% of the world the cream of the privileged. I know I am. when I think of my friends in India I can't help but be amazed at the contrast and appalled at the lack of continuity. We have the power to change, ride our bikes, grow a garden, I mean whatever. Let's do it, why not? If not now then when, are we going to live our lives blocking out the distress signals from all sides until they get handed to us on our front doors. I want to change the world, make it better for all. We all share this dream somewhere within us. Let's cultivate it so we can truly create the world that we wish to live in. It's going to take all of us. I heard this recently on a TED talk, "The power of the people is much stronger than the people in power"- Wael Ghonim
Blessings
