is it possible to achieve a higher quality of life without damaging the environment? by higher quality of life i mean - open access to education, electricity, clean water, clean food for all, all!. the burgeoning global population is no excuse for us to take the easy way out in agriculture, use pesticides and genetically engineered crop species to increase food yield, what the heck? top earning scientists owe it to middle and lower-class taxpayers to find a way that safeguards both human and environmental health. i watched two documentary films about dams, one in southeast asia, one in turkey and the amazon river. it’s worrying how people on the other side of the world are struggling to survive but here in this country everyone is so insular, sheltered by a false sense of security and permanence. this world cannot and does not last forever. there are people fighting to stay alive, fighting for their rivers and forests and oceans, the weak fighting against those in power, how can we not care. how can we help. how can things be better. how can money become more important than lives, a life is a life no matter how small and insignificant it measures up against wealth and status. a woman i spoke to the other day says “it’s hopeless, there’s nothing we can do. the haze comes everywhere at that time of the year, there’s nothing we can do to stop the fire from burning.” what can we do, what can i do - this question burns in my mind. if you’re interested to find out more about dams go look up ‘damocracy’. there is nothing controversial or hippie about these issues, these are real world issues, not just a bunch of fantasies that hippies, high on weed and marijuana talk about in between dancing naked around a campfire. wake up! i have less and less respect for those in power now, am i becoming an anarchist? i find myself going back to prayer, motivated now by helpless indignation and anger more than fervent timid requests - empower me to dosomething to help let my existence be of some use to others’, goddamit.
