By now I have read enough current events in the News, enough non-fiction 300 pagers about economics & the environment, and enough classic and modern dystopian novels to develop a bit of an opinion about the state of the world and where it is heading.
Call me pessimistic, call me sadistic, call me unreasonable. But when the science of the non-fictions, the imagination of the novels, and the reality of the current news events can be kept independent of each other, it's not hard to see how at least some plausible outcomes in the next 50 to 100 years that are talked about now might just come true. It's the cynic in me that realizes that it's really no wonder that our "Leaders" have only enough foresight to give themselves and their buddies a comfortable pension so that they might suffer the least in the earth's final days.
After all, makin' a change is a hard thing to do. Keynesian economics is a tough thing to grasp especially in times like these. "Stimulate this BITCH!" is the phrase that is uttered as half of the next EI cheque is spent on pain-numbing sensations such as alcohol consumption, drug ingestion, or sexual preoccupation. Such healthy things that a person keeps on living for. better days.
Then there's that bum on the street begging for "change". Maybe. Just maybe he doesn't want your nickels and dimes at all. Maybe his bottle collection and social security cheque is allowing him to subsist really quite reasonably. Maybe what he wants more than anything is for you to see what kind of greedy, unjustifiably inequitable world we are living in to let people - human beings - fall into the cracks like this in the first place. Maybe "Can you give me some CHANGE?" is really just a plea for you to open your eyes and realize the change that is needed in this world, and how you - the average every day citizen are the only way to make this change happen. Or maybe he's a crackhead.
So be that change you want to see. Write that letter. Heaven knows are policy writers are hopeless, and the government will have soo many cabinet shuffles in their term in office that noone really will be able to focus on getting appropriate solutions to the problems in any reasonable amount of time. Ride that bike. Even if the emission regulations and targets are changed such that the newest coal burning power plant will only be the equivalent as taking 7 million cars of the road, as opposed to the 11 million as originally promised. Take that pay cut. (What?) Get out of that labour-intensive resource-depleting bureaucratic heirerarchial institution run by pimps, fat-cats, and lawyers, and try doing something honest once in your life. I dare ya.
The 1st headline I hear as Canada sends the world leaders packin' after the 1 billion dollar G8/G20 summit this past weekend is that our country will become a supplier of Uranium to India. Now that's what I call change. If any of the volatile countries in the eastern world get a whiff of the stuff that makes a-bombs in the area - watch out! I guess if push comes to shove, Canada can always try to plead ignorance. Plus heaven knows we are dependent here on Indian immigrants to come and sustain our workforce with the declining Canadian population growth rate. CHANGE towards a more nuclear world is undesirable change. Change towards a more tolerant multi-cultural patchwork of Canadian pride is desirable change. But when this change comes at the cost of losing or replacing any of the historical attributes of what it means to be Canadian, I'm not so sure. Then again, Canadian history can prove to be pretty horrible as well.
The 2nd headline out of this big All-Important Billion Dollar Conference was about Women's rights/maternal health. Which happens to tie into everything that is needed for a positive change in this world, but especially with respect to the world population that could either plateau at 9 Billion or 14 Billion, depending on actions taken now. There have been enough studies for us to take action now to achieve the former. That's why Harper's hypocritical conditions suggested for this form of aid is especially unreasonable!! Let's get goin', World!!!
The 3rd and final headline I paid any attention to was about the riots. Well maybe these anarchists are the closest things we have to the most blatant form of civil disobedience we have out there screamin' for "change". True, most of this behaviour is totally unreasonable. But is there such a thing as "unreasonably necessary"? Doubt it. But One day there might be. These are just stepping stones for us getting to that point. The cynic in me says that anyone can be bought, at the cost of a variety of things: our children, our planet, our very own health. Paving over green zones and having McDonald's (again) for lunch while we let our kids be UNDER-educated in our system's schools is how we do this. If we could just change our focus. Our Priorities. Our lifestyles to really reasonable things like health, the environment, and the family, a more sustainable and enjoyable world would result. Guaranteed.
Below is a little flowchart (ch.76) that I created that ties in with "priorities" and the choices people make when it comes to any extra available money (if any). Since "changes" and "choices" are the 2 things that need to be realized early into this 21st Century, I thought I would pop it in with this blog.
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