Musing

today’s Musing written and published from south Calgary, near Fish Creek Park

walk report:-11C/13F, overcast, a trickle of snow dust settling, Gusta pulling hard, I pulled a little harder to maintain the illusion of who is boss

I sort the recycling, I drive it to the depot because PB encourages me, I buy dolphin friendly tuna because my children taught me that long ago but, really, I hardly ever buy tuna; I waste a little less, take a little more care and as I deal with reality of high gas and food prices I do it all because I have no choice; I spend (maybe you do too) some time pondering how to tread more lightly, how to carve out a smaller footprint of space and consumption but not enough time because I (and most people) have not become convinced and active as if it is critical even though there are so many pieces of evidence that we are moved to strong action which is not odd really; we’ve have Darfur, China’s human rights record, smoking and George Bush for quite some time – we’ve not collectively changed any of that so why should we expect to get the world to think green for one day, let alone all year

futility day might be a better name; it’s earth day tomorrow (not today, so no need to think green or turn off a light); thinking people know that it is, yet most of us choose instead to manage our situation by selective listening, modest activism and token initiatives while corporation and government pander to this trend in our thinking with products, green power, conservation initiatives, treaties and protocols; it is easy to argue whether humankind will exist and thrive 300 years from now; harder to guess at what things will be like in 50 or 75

“You forget that the fruit belongs to all and the land belongs to no one.” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau

in Roman mythology, Fortuna, the goddess of fortune, was the personification of luck and also the goddess of fate

every year since 1970, Earth Day, just 1 day of 365.25; perhaps that reflects the ratio of attention the world’s population and its governments have given it; government folks here and in many countries would argue that they are so progressively changing things we ought not worry (in fact, our Government here in Alberta recently recognized Dr. David Schindler as the world class water scientist he is but that rings hollow after they denied every warning he offered for 25 yrs); I have little confidence in established democracies paying more than lip-service to environmental issues and far less confidence in that fuzzy category called ‘3rd world’ or ‘developing countries’

it has been a while since Rousseau shopped for groceries, or real estate; in the 1700’s the world was for the taking and colonialism gave rise to it all being taken; a few generations later there is little on the planet claimed by no one, our material world taking but one day each year (tomorrow is Earth Day) to recognize the fruit and the land won’t be worth having in another 300 years but, if humans are still here, one has to wonder who will own it all, who will control it and what events will lead to real change in how the story unfolds

we can’t do much as an individual or as a group that will make much of a difference; change that makes a difference happens when a lot of unorganized individuals start thinking a new way such that their collective efforts will establish an army of like minded folks who will change the world – I think we need it because we cannot wait for speedy government action (if there is such a thing)

I am not blithely wishing for the days of Rousseau but rather a future day when his words might be true again; sadly I think we risk sporting green skin while breathing through devices installed in our necks (I’ll take the mango flavored one) before that happens; as much as it would be nice to celebrate earth day it seems we treat our planet like a land fill, a nuisance ground, a sewer and a junk yard – rather than celebrating we could mourn what’s been lost forever and take a stab at really changing things so we don’t lose the rest

I wonder if we’ll take better care of the planet when we are 12 billion, when cancer is cured, when oil is back to $60/barrel, when life expectancy grows to 125; I intend to be around so I’ll let you know; today, if I shop for tuna how many cans should I buy in order to save one dolphin? or two?

Mark Kolke
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