There is much hysteria in the news these days over the state of our world. Whether it be climate, economics, wealth distribution patterns, etc., there seems to be much hand-wringing and very little concrete, real-world, well thought-out, PLANS for how to proceed. And this lack, in my opinion, is what is at the heart of most of the anxiety behind the hysteria these days.
So, let's start a conversation about how to FIX IT. I here by suggest the hashtag #fixIt2015 for all future bits that anybody wishes to say about such things.
I would like to offer the following observations PRIOR to giving you my $0.02 worth of direction (yes, you knew it was coming)....
- Our environment is hurting. There are a number of reasons that a person can give, and here are a few of mine:
- People seem to have decided with their pocketbook that it is easier to leave messes behind rather than to clean up after themselves. This applies to both folks using our parks (city, state, or national), as well as to big industry (ever REALLY look at what is left behind from mining, petroleum extraction, etc.)? When we place money at the center of life, it isn't hard to see why this happens, but it has at it's core the breakdown of human moral fiber.
- Our environment is changing. Regardless of how you wish to attribute it to human use of fossil fuels, general cycles in Earth's environment, etc. is not really what I care about. The overall issue seems to be that nobody really wants to (again) spend the money to try to limit our own involvement with the environment. It is not that people are not talking about alternative energy, it is that nobody is talking about RESPONSIBLE USE of what energy we have.
- Our species, as a whole, seems to lack anything like a "long term goal" mechanism. It's all about "living in the moment" when it comes to our planet. This would be fine if we were say at the 1B total humans (or some other lowish number), but as we approach the 8-10B it is just not sustainable.
- Common Sense, Self Restraint, Personal Responsibility, and Living within your means, as concepts we build our lives around, seems to be a lost art, to say the least.
- You cannot talk to the average teenager today and ask them to solve a problem. They don't know how. Their entire lives have been handed to them on a plate (sometimes accompanied with a "participation ribbon"). Move even two degrees off of what they know, and they are lost. We have not taught them HOW to learn common sense.
- Self Restraint, especially when it comes to sex (oh no, we need condoms and birth control) or money (ever see their bank accounts...whatever comes in goes right out) is just a plain joke.
- Personal Responsibility, again is very much like Self Control...a lost art. How do you take responsibility for your own actions when you cannot control yourself?
- And Living within your means? The number of credit cards that are pushed onto young people is amazing. Enter college and you will be inundated with offers, that just further the goal of fiat currency.
Even with these few observations (and many hundreds of others that could be made here), it doesn't take long for a thinking person to decide that our world is in trouble. And still, all we do is hem and haw about it, trying to kick the can down the road saying "someone else after us will fix it."
Well, this will just not do! I do not wish to put this on the shoulders of my children, let alone our grandchildren. At the rate that our poor choices are being generated now, and with the multiplicative force of 4-7B folks doing them, the collapse of the world seems almost inevitable.
So, what can/shall we do about it? Well, to #fixIt2015, I propose several things, all interrelated to the mess I see our world in:
- I suggest we all consider conserving what energy we have/use as part of our daily lives. If you need light, don't turn on EVERY lamp in the vicinity, but rather just what you need to get the job done.
- If you are hungry, eat just what you need to survive. We in America are vastly over-fed. People around the world show us on a day to day basis that you can live on FAR LESS. Even as I struggle with this one, I recognize the truth that the less I eat, the less energy/fertilizer/pesticides/etc. are involved.
- If you are restless sitting in front of the TV watching something pointless (ie, non-educational), get up and go for a walk. Clean your house, do something ELSE.
- Minimize what money you spend. Form a budget, and stick to it. Don't really like TV (or at least all of the stupid ads), cut cable. IF you are tired of having multiple phone bills, ditch a line or two. YOU CAN CHOOSE...just do so.
- When the family car starts to go down hill, consider trading it off for a smaller, more fuel efficient USED vehicle. Cars are useless status symbols...stop pretending otherwise. An out-of-debt family is a far nicer symbol.
- Bored? Get a second job, so you can pay down your debt even faster. Got excess "stuff"? Sell it, to pay down your debt. Got a good skill? Use it to serve others who don't have that skill and make money to pay your debt off.
- Got broken appliances? Learn to fix them. Education weighs nothing, and can be valuable to you in so many ways. Go take a Vo-Tech class on electricity, carpentry, etc. Learn those skills.
One inspirational bit that got me to think about this is this TED talk by David Christian about "Big History." Try it, you'll learn something.
