There's an elegiac quality in watching American wilderness go.... I feel a deep sorrow that my kids will never get to see what I've seen, and their kids will see nothing; there's a deep sadness whenever I look at nature now." --Peter Matthiessen, Wildlife in AmericaIf there is one thing in my life that most brings me at times to an almost elegiac quality of sadness--perhaps that kind of sadness that nags at one's insides in the middle of the night and if allowed to do so, might even lead one to a feeling of despair--it is the fact that we humans with our swarm of population all over the globe and (in "developed" and "developing" countries) our industrial, consumeristic, and wasteful ways, are on a course towards the degradation of this planet to the point where the very survival of our species is threatened....
"The science is beyond dispute… Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response.” --Barack Obama
But the deniers still deny and still too many fearful and ignorant wish to continue believing them...and:
"The men in the suits have read the reports...but somehow they still don't seem to understand...."
"Everyone just seems to be waiting, to see what will happen...."
Yeah, what the little girl in the video below said.
"We must face the prospect of changing our basic ways of living. This change will either be made on our own initiative in a planned way, or forced on us with chaos and suffering by the inexorable laws of nature." ~Jimmy Carter
And I, ME, not just the "men in the suits," ME...I do too little...still...I know it, I confess it..at some level I continue to contribute to my own suffering and the suffering of others....
My thoughts today are spurred by a thought provoking post by The Rambling Taoist (who also publishes the blog Greener Times) who wrote yesterday (bold emphasis mine):
"Over the past week I've read Stephen King's brilliant novel, The Green Mile -- I've also rented the video and watched it.... It has...underscored for me my absolute revulsion to the death penalty.... If the US Supreme Court or the Congress tomorrow struck down capital punishment as a means for punishing criminals, it would do nothing to lessen the death penalty sentence that everyone in the world -- the guilty and the innocent -- have been handed. As long as we continue our mad dash toward ecological ruin, we are condemning people the world over to walk their own not-so-green mile. While this walk is to not to a hangman's noose, electric chair, gas chamber, firing squad nor lethal injection gurney, it is a walk toward certain death....
...What keeps me up at night is the fact that we already may be beyond atonement. Even if all the people of the world came together right now...our past sins might be enough to convince the jury that we're beyond hope. We can't know for certain if we are indeed beyond hope, so we need to get our act together like there's no tomorrow because, one day, there genuinely will be no tomorrow!"
You can read the whole post here.
"Everyone just seems to be waiting, to see what will happen...."
Yeah, what the little girl in the video below said.
Yes, I know the following is an oversimplification, but it is a well done video nonetheless, and the essential message and its urgency are well conveyed in it. Sorry if this post is "preachy" in any way. It's not meant to be. To me as I write it, it feels more like tears...like a plea.... And if it is a "sermon," then you can be sure of this: the person I am most preaching to is myself....
The men in the suits have read the reports...but somehow they still don't seem to understand...."
I do agree with this…and I also feel certain that we, the human race and all the nations and peoples thereof, will never ever be able—or willing—to address this as one, to come together in single accord and change the future.
ReplyDeleteThat we should is unquestionable; that we will is, at best, doubtful. And perhaps time, in its fullness, will prove this best for whatever remains…
Two comments. First, the words you share on your blog are a continuing inspiration to me!!!! A lot of what I write starts as a seed of something you posted previously.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the joys of this virtual community -- the interplay amongst kindred souls who, otherwise, may never have crossed paths.
Second, I don't think the problem is that the "men in suits" don't understand. It's rather that their focus is on something entirely different -- power and short-term profit. That's their holy grail and everything else is background noise.
The only reason they even talk about global warming and climate change is to try to convince us they're listening to us. If they can make a good show of studying the issue, then most of the sheep will believe they take it seriously.
But they don't and they won't until it starts to infringe on power and profit. By the time it does that, we'll all be so far beyond the point of no return that it won't be the slightest bit funny.
Soooo, does this mean you've got a Kia for sale...? ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your comments.
ReplyDeleteGrizzled,
In my deepest heart...I fear you are right.
RT,
I am honored, sir. This time the shoe was on the other foot, so to speak, and you "inspired" (I don't know if this post quite qualifies as "inspirational" though, hence the quotation marks arounf "inspired.") me. Thank you.
To the rest of your comment I think I canonly say that I have now met someone even more cynical than mmyself. :)
Sylvia,
Well, being as you already know that I'm really just a self-centered jerk who is a lot of talk and very little action, what do you think the answer to your question is?
:P
Very sincerely wishing peace to you all.
Hey, there's always hope. :)
ReplyDeleteForest, While I understand your comment about cynicism was meant in a friendly way -- hence the :) -- I genuinely don't believe that either you or I are cynics. We are realists.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the truth ain't pretty! It takes realists to tell things as they are as opposed to most people who only describe want they WANT to see or, more often, what THEY want you to see.
RT,
ReplyDeleteI used to tell people almost the very same thing--about actually being a realist, and the truth ain't pretty, etc.--words for word.... But not anymore. People don't really want to hear it.
I guess I just want people to like me sometimes.
I think that is the most effective infomercial I've seen on the topic.
ReplyDeleteBeing an environmentalist is depressing by its very nature. Being a consumer, like all of us are by simply living, leads to depression (human desire is insatiable) which leads to increased "comfort-consuming"...
What is even more depressing is all the other species that we extinguish by the time our poison takes us down.
"The Way We Live" By John Haines
Having been whipped through paradise/ and seen humanity/ strolling like an overfed beast/ set loose from its cage,/ a man may long for nothing so much/ as a house of snow,/ a blue stone for a lamp,/ and a skin to cover his head.
Northland,
ReplyDeleteFrom your comments, I feel like you "get" me...I feel a kindred spirit....
Wow, the John Haines snippet is powerful. Thank you. Is it part of a larger work?
Yes, "The Stone Harp".
ReplyDeleteHaines is kind of "Poet Laureate" of Alaska. I read and re-read a lot of his works when I lived in the Brooks Range @ Anaktuvuk Pass. Both "Winter News" and "The Stone Harp" were my favorites then.
As my life changed and I(we) migrated around, I kept up as much as I could with Haines' writing. While making grubstake runs into Fairbanks from Eagle City (before the road snowed shut), I would look up at Haines' cabin overlooking the Richardson Hwy for a telltale sign of woodsmoke. He was never at home...
So I've never met him or heard him give a reading. I guess that is part of the price I paid for living in remote areas for so long.
Thank you, Northland. I'm definitely going to have to check John Haines out.
ReplyDelete