All I hear when I switch on the radio is 'Brexit', 'Brexit', 'Brexit'..... interspersed with 'Economy', 'City', 'Business', 'Growth'... and loads more words and terms like 'backstop' that I have totally given up trying to keep up with.
I know, it's all very important. But why do I hear NOTHING about Mass Extinction, Global Deforestation, Food Security or the fact that Climate Breakdown is actually happening, here, now, on this planet we call home? Even the terrible fires and the deaths of those poor people in California seem not to be ringing alarm bells.
The thing is, you cannot have 'economy' without 'ecology'. It just doesn't add up. If we don't take care of our 'home' (ecology), what is the point in the rest? You cannot run a home if you don't have a home to run - no matter how much money you have in the bank!
I have no idea if the Extinction Rebellion movement will achieve what other groups and movements have, so far, failed to achieve - i.e. persuading governments and media to have the guts to tell the truth about how bad things actually are.... but I agree 100% that mass civil disobedience is the only way now to get the attention of the media and politicians to (hopefully) make this happen.
If you don't know something is happening how the heck are you supposed to do something about it?
What I don't understand, is how humanity has reached the stage where what we are more concerned by what we are going to buy people for christmas, how our hair looks, or what's on tv tonight.... than we are about the state of our planet?
Seriously, we all need to take a long hard look at what REALLY matters, and act accordingly, because extinct is forever, and we are actually running out of time.
In case you follow my twitter or facebook pages and are wondering.... yes, I still believe that posting uplifting poetry, and beautiful images of landscapes, wildlife or whatever helps to reinforce our love of the natural world is a positive thing - after all, with all the horrors that are going on in the world we desperately need a little beauty in our lives. BUT... alongside appreciating those things we cherish and love, we urgently need to change our ways, individually and collectively, if we want to preserve that beauty. We cannot keep in living in cloud cuckoo land.
I offer my sincere and heartfelt thanks to all the people who are already taking direct action, especially those who are prepared to get arrested to raise awareness in the media of the seriousness of climate breakdown and mass extinction.
Not all of us can get to London to support this Saturday 17th November's upcoming 'Rebellion Day', but maybe you can help in other ways? I have thought long and hard about this, and my way is to continue talking about bee decline, pesticides and habitat loss, because that is what I do best. This is what I'll be doing on Saturday afternoon. Maybe you could have a think about what YOU do best, and either join the rebellion (actively, or in a supporting role) - or do something yourself at home that makes you more a part of the solution than a part of the problem.
Now I have a question for you.... especially for those who usually prefer not to know the full extent of something that might make them feel uncomfortable or frightened.
Q: If the government had been given compelling evidence that an invading army was about to descend on the UK - but we still had time to do something to stop this happening - would you want them to tell us? Or would you prefer to live in blissful ignorance till it happened... perhaps on the off chance that it may not actually happen? Or in the hope that someone else might do something to stop it before it became a real problem for us?
A: ???
The analogy, in case it is not obvious, is about the current situation with climate breakdown and the extinction of species. We are not being told the truth because politicians and media think we would find it 'unpalatable'. In short, it wouldn't get votes and it doesn't sell newspapers.
My default when I make a post like this is usually to 'apologise for the rant', but today I am not going to apologise.
With love and respect for the different views we all have on these issues
Brigit x
Thank you so much for posting, and for echoing what so many people are perhaps too afraid to articulate.
ReplyDeleteDespite being 5 months on from the publication of this thought-provoking piece, it might just have been written this morning! With political stalemate and an interminable cycle of groundhog days - it's like nothing's changed.
Except it has. Since this blog, species have continued to decline and the window of opportunity for any meaningful change to national and international policy to prevent the knowing, systematic destruction of the planet has become even smaller.
Sadly and depressingly, it's my genuine belief that nothing will overcome the power of human greed and selfishness. Real democracy doesn't exist. Control is in the hands of the few; not the electorate and not even governments, but unelected cooperations.
In theory, people power could topple even these. But the sugar-coated pill of consumerism that's fed to the masses and results in chronic, bloated apathy means this will never happen.
It doesn't mean I want to give up trying; persuading, debating, hoping to change local views in a bid to changer wider views. But I'll not be doing this with any real belief in lasting change, it's just that the horror of not doing anything at all strikes me as an even worse alternative. Shaun Barr, wildlife gardener and photographer.