When is enough enough?

when will they go too far?

how many of us actually care enough to get out of our comfortable lifestyle and speak out. to expect us to be 'led' to a better future is ignorant. we must build the future ourselves. we the people.

What has happened to us? All wrapped up in how important our lives are, how great we as a nation are, how busy we are and choosing not to learn about how our agriculture policies affect the farmers of the world, our drug policies are wreaking havoc everywhere, our energy policy will cause endless war, our meat industry often show just how low as a species we can sink with regards to any form of respect for other life, and more.

come on people- let's do what needs to be done- now!

at one point i thought all americans would be ok, if you were lucky to be born here then you were lucky to be in the greatest country there is, but overall we don;t even care about each other.

if i got mine then la di da.

don't dwell on the negatives. see the good in the world. don't be a downer. i've heard that a few times.

three things-

1. we are producing less oil than we did as a world 3 years ago- in 20-30 years we will probably be living using about 50% of the oil that we use now. how will that affect you lifestyle, your work, and your recreational activities- just think about it

2. the food production of the earth will decline as we have less fuels, fertilizer, soil, water, and more frequent storms and droughts. this will lead to a decrease in the population of earth. imagine that we are at 6.5 billion people now and in 50 years may be at 3 billion- carrying capacity. how will we get there from here? what different methods do we see our kind and compassionate leaders using?

3. capitalism requires growth- both in population and in energy use. we are moving to a world of less energy, food, and people. how does negative growth affect capital markets?

i don't think i am a pessimist, but let's take this to the personal level. we all know cigarette smoking kills- not only the smoker but the people around them. yet many of us smoke- a blatant disregard for our health and the health of those in close proximity to us. now some say that we are going to begin to care about people that are not us more than we care about us? i doubt it. nothing against smokers as there are many things we all do that we know, deep down, are not good for us individually or as a whole.

many seem to have faith in technology, or in people 'getting it', waking up, becoming 'aware', but i ask you- how many do you know with solar panels, who grow 10% of their food, don;t use fossil fuels more excessively than they should. how many of the 'aware' are actually living lifestyles that do not harm other human beings?

but things can be different. if we each make the steps we can- ask for help along the way, admit our ignorance in how to live without all the goodies that have made our lives so cozy.

the time will come when our enemy will not be 'drugs' or 'terrorists' but instead overconsumption, greed, and fear of not having enough and ignorance. we will look at non recyclers and excessive users in a bad light. this will not be easy as the enemy then will be us, our friends, neighbors, and relatives rather than drug pushers and the taliban.

we must not judge but welcome those who are willing to move to a more sustainable path. we must also do what we can to speed up this move, as it is not happening anywhere near fast enough.

i do not see myself as pessimistic in discussing the end of this day, as i see the new day coming and am looking forward to living in it.

we know what to do- and along the way we will be guided. lose the fear and be willing to accept change. only together will we make it. individually we will not survive.

when will we care- when our investments disappear? when our job is lost? when our friend or family member loses their house? when the lights go out? when the grocery store doesn't have any food? when china begins to march on the middle east? when rations for electric and gas are initiated?

Better yet- when will we actually do something?

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I may be going to hell in a bucket, babe,
But at least I'm enjoying the ride.

or

We don't own this place, though we act as if we did,
It's a loan from the children of our children's kids.
The actual owners haven't even been born yet.

But we never tend the garden and rarely we pay the rent,
Some of it is broken and the rest of it is bent
Put it all on plastic and I wonder where we'll be when the bills hit.

We can run,
but we can't hide from it.
Of all possible worlds,
We only got one:
We gotta to ride on it.
Whatever we've done,
We'll never get far from what we leave behind,
Baby, we can run but we can't hide.

I'm dumpin' my trash in your back yard
Makin' certain you don't notice really isn't so hard
You're so busy with your guns and all of your excuses to use them.

Well, it's oil for the rich and babies for the poor,
We got everyone believin' that more is more,
If a reckoning comes, maybe we will know what to do then.

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hell in a bucket and we can run by john perry barlow