Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Earth Day Thoughts

Earth Day Thoughts

Perhaps the biggest thing that people seem to miss when it comes to environmentalism, is what the real problem is. Quite simply, there are WAY to many of us. Everyone is so concerned about 'going green' and protecting the planet, but the truth is, it's too late to stop things. The tipping point was reached quite some time ago, and as we always do, we missed the big picture then, just as we are now. I don't think that anyone can honestly say that our filthy, polluting ways are good, but the biggest problem is how many of us there are polluting. We are over polluting because we are overpopulated. If we all died tomorrow, the planet would recover. In the end, no matter what we do, the planet will recover. So let's be more specific. The planet does not need us to save it, we need to save ourselves... from ourselves. And maybe, from the planet. There is currently not enough food and water to sustain the population that exists on this planet. With an exponentially increasing population, that fact is going to become more and more clear. This is not something that our reliance on technology can save us from. In the next few decades, this will be all too clear, and the next wars will not be over oil, but water and food.

Humans are still in the mindset that we have to reproduce as much as possible. This was true 6000+ years ago when the end of the ice age wiped out most of the human population. But in the last 100 years, we have gone way to far. And it's not that hard to fix in short periods of time. Consider, if every two people have one child. And of those children, every two have one child, ect., by the time we all start dying off, the population level will start to drop. We can't reverse global warming, but we can affect how many people are here at once. The problem is that so many people have multiple kids, because they want to, because they think they are supposed to, because they are too stupid to use birth control, because they love children, because they want a big family, and so on. But does anyone want a big family that will starve in a couple decades? Global warming is reducing our food and water supplies, and we keep making more and more people who are going to need said supplies. I get seriously upset when I see people with multiple kids, and people mistake that for me not liking kids, but that is not it at all. It is simple math. Too many people, too few resources, not enough space. I don't want future generations to pay for our selfishness. Unfortunately, they will. Because we will continue to act just the way we do, with people having 6 and 8 kids, because they want to, or are too stupid to figure out how not to. And within 10-20 years, overpopulation will be the big issue, just like environmentalism is today, and once again, it will be far too late to do anything about it, because we never learn to see the big picture.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Appreciation

Why the lack of appreciation. We have a fascinating world that we have created for ourselves, and most of us seem to only look to the horizon or beyond, and never look around at the wonder they have around them. Progress is always good, but to forsake the present for a phantom future is silly, just as silly to close future progress in the present. But a balance is not hard, not really. Appreciate what you have and move forward. Life should be lived, that is why we are here, after all. Christians live for Heaven, Buddhists for the non-existence of Nirvana, and on and on it goes. All looking for a reward later. Sad to waste what you have for something that does not exist. Religious or otherwise. To move forwards with blinders on will cause you to miss all the wonderful things that abound around you. Focused on just one idea, one goal, rather than the experience of what comes. As a society, we are failing, our leaders and others, conspire to limit our choices and freedom, to control all they can, and we, blindly, follow their path. Change starts within, we need to break the shackles inside that have created this reality, and make something better. Appreciate what you have. Live you life. Not so hard, really...