what is the true cost of our actions ...
.
A quote from THE CORPORATION [5/23] Case Histories:
"Our civilization is not flying because it's not built according to the laws of aerodynamics for civilizations that would fly. Of course the ground is still a long way away, but some people have seen that ground rushing up sooner than the rest of us - the visionary has seen it and has told us it's coming. ... Every living system of earth is in decline; every life support system of earth is in decline ... and these together constitute the biosphere. The biosphere that supports and nurtures all of life, and not just our life, but perhaps 30 million other species that share this planet with us."
... expresses very well what I want to say myself.
"Intergenerational Tyranny"
The ground is not so far away as it may seem - not so far as we have become used to thinking.
Some people simply stop listening when I talk of these things, and they must also stop listening to others too, since I am not saying much that has not been said already by others more experienced and more knowledgeable than myself.
How long CAN we continue to live so easily as though none of this were happening, as though unborn generations will not have to pay a severe price for our "comforts" today ?
The answer, it seems, is that we can continue doing what we are doing until it kills us.
Some folks want to hear only "positive" talk, and I am one of them
... but to do or say no more weighs on my conscience.
I have no desire to selectively demonize anything or anyone, but I think we all have an obligation to focus on what is wrong - not to be or to seem negative, but to improve things, to correct what is wrong, and most of all, to SURVIVE - for life itself to survive.
Somehow we have to learn how to talk and communicate in ways which engage others in our personal spheres, setting fire to apathy in a loving way.
Yes, our economy depends on "consumerism" and corporations do and provide some very good things, yet the sum total of it all is that system is destroying our planet.
We cannot build cars for the head of household of every family on earth to drive, nor can we build highways on which all of them may drive - not because we are incapable of the task, but because there is not room enough, because of what doing so would deprive us.
We can grow food enough for 7 billion human beings to eat and do it sustainably, but at what expense to other species, the loss of which again deprives us of more than we gain ?
We can convert food crops to alcohol to power our vehicles, but who decides which of us do not get to eat as a result ?
We have to stop quibbling over individual processes and their "cost vs benefit" and whether we are "inhibiting progress"
We have to change the way we think about the very core principles underlying those processes - learn how to calculate *true cost* in every case, and proceed with only what is sustainable - not sustainable for humans, but for the earth on which humans depend.
It is a matter of life or death.
Playlist: The Corporation (complete, chapters 1 to 23)
- http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FA50FBC214A6CE87
.
A quote from THE CORPORATION [5/23] Case Histories:
"Our civilization is not flying because it's not built according to the laws of aerodynamics for civilizations that would fly. Of course the ground is still a long way away, but some people have seen that ground rushing up sooner than the rest of us - the visionary has seen it and has told us it's coming. ... Every living system of earth is in decline; every life support system of earth is in decline ... and these together constitute the biosphere. The biosphere that supports and nurtures all of life, and not just our life, but perhaps 30 million other species that share this planet with us."
... expresses very well what I want to say myself.
"Intergenerational Tyranny"
The ground is not so far away as it may seem - not so far as we have become used to thinking.
Some people simply stop listening when I talk of these things, and they must also stop listening to others too, since I am not saying much that has not been said already by others more experienced and more knowledgeable than myself.
How long CAN we continue to live so easily as though none of this were happening, as though unborn generations will not have to pay a severe price for our "comforts" today ?
The answer, it seems, is that we can continue doing what we are doing until it kills us.
Some folks want to hear only "positive" talk, and I am one of them
... but to do or say no more weighs on my conscience.
I have no desire to selectively demonize anything or anyone, but I think we all have an obligation to focus on what is wrong - not to be or to seem negative, but to improve things, to correct what is wrong, and most of all, to SURVIVE - for life itself to survive.
Somehow we have to learn how to talk and communicate in ways which engage others in our personal spheres, setting fire to apathy in a loving way.
Yes, our economy depends on "consumerism" and corporations do and provide some very good things, yet the sum total of it all is that system is destroying our planet.
We cannot build cars for the head of household of every family on earth to drive, nor can we build highways on which all of them may drive - not because we are incapable of the task, but because there is not room enough, because of what doing so would deprive us.
We can grow food enough for 7 billion human beings to eat and do it sustainably, but at what expense to other species, the loss of which again deprives us of more than we gain ?
We can convert food crops to alcohol to power our vehicles, but who decides which of us do not get to eat as a result ?
We have to stop quibbling over individual processes and their "cost vs benefit" and whether we are "inhibiting progress"
We have to change the way we think about the very core principles underlying those processes - learn how to calculate *true cost* in every case, and proceed with only what is sustainable - not sustainable for humans, but for the earth on which humans depend.
It is a matter of life or death.
Playlist: The Corporation (complete, chapters 1 to 23)
- http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FA50FBC214A6CE87
.
posted by JamesB at 11:11 PM
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