Listening to the news today about climate change and the impact it is having on our world reminded of this essay. I first heard this in reference to the poor and those in need, during my time with a social service agency in Chatham Kent, ON. The executive director of that United Way Karen Kirkwood-White, read this at an AGM and it has resonated with me ever since. Usually in relationship to my professional work or projects that were local and community based. Today however it was climate change that brought it to mind and made me search it out and re-read it.
Our carbon footprint is changing the environment to the point that people can no longer grow the grains they need for survival, and very lean survival that is already. A toxic sludge dam break in Brasil has caused several deaths and more people are dying. People are being told, don't bathe in the water, don't drink it, don't water the plants you need to eat with it. It has the potential to pollute 5 different countries. The potential for mass migration to escape impossible situations is huge, in fact is already happening in Europe.
My mind frankly seems incapable of imagining the devastation this will cause. I am almost insensitive to the deaths of thousands due to natural devastation, war, based on old religious grievances and greed. We have a President of the United States who scares the heck out of me, a man who who seems to have unleashed the worst in humanity. People feel free to say and do things that were previously unacceptable. Racism is rampant. Fear is tangible. Trust is scarce. This is 'The Paradox of Our Time'.
The Paradox of Our Time
"The paradox of
our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;
wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy
more, but enjoy it less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more
conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more
knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine,
but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too
recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up
too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too
seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced
our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've
learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not
life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back, but
have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour. We've conquered
outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better
things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul;
we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.
We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but
accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher
incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build
more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but
have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are the times of fast foods and slow
digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow
relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more
leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.
These are days of two incomes, but more divorce;
of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable
diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills
that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the show
window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology has brought this
letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or
to just hit delete..."
There are good things happening, and we need to support those initiatives. In my life, my daughter Michelle and her partner are opening a Zero Waste Market.
A local community, Bayfield has eliminated single use plastics. Friends and local businesses are striving for ways to make differences that will have impact, IF we all do it. It is like 'herd immunity', if we all work together, we protect the herd ( humanity). If we don't work together we weaken the herd. And members of the herd are lost because of our careless attitudes and nonchalant approach to life. We need to think less of ourselves, and more of the health of the herd. Our survival may actually depend on it. Maybe not in our time, but in the time of our children and grandchildren.
What difference are you making in your life to protect our planet and our people?
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