Cozy Contemplations - 27. Chapter 27 Ringside

10 hours ago, Headstall said:

 

 

 

Exactly, Geron. There are always two sides, but this is one, maybe not definitive, but where 'evidence' and opinion have been building over decades,  should not be ignored, or worse, scoffed at. Regardless of where a person sits on the issue, whether scientist or layman, pollution is bad. We all know that, even without considering climate change, which, personally, I do. We all know where the lead for gasoline used to end up... our lungs for one thing... and the ground we grow food on for another. Many pesticides have been banned for good reason... after the loss of considerable wildlife and people. Air quality is suffering... and water quality is a very real problem. Just ask Michiganders, where the problem has existed for decades, and appears impossible to fix under current and past administrations. So... I agree wholeheartedly... err on the side of caution. Elected (or otherwise) leaders should take responsibility for future generations, and have the vision to look ahead. The world deserves it. We deserve it, and anyone who doesn't think so should take a good long look in the mirror. Cheers, my friend... Gary....

I agree. As long as there is any evidence that human activity negatively affects the environment, it is cause for concern. If you start a tiny fire in your living room, do you just walk away from it and ignore the fact that it may grow larger and burn the whole house down?

Sometimes, the stupidity of people is not even the question. The power to tell ourselves nothing is wrong in order to preserve our own interests is simply part of the human mindset. Underneath it all, is whether or not people who have the power to make effective change care enough about others to put aside their own interests and do it. Politicians are absolutely the worst people to expect this sort of grace from. As if we did not all already know that.

23 minutes ago, Geron Kees said:

I agree. As long as there is any evidence that human activity negatively affects the environment, it is cause for concern. If you start a tiny fire in your living room, do you just walk away from it and ignore the fact that it may grow larger and burn the whole house down?

 

Sometimes, the stupidity of people is not even the question. The power to tell ourselves nothing is wrong in order to preserve our own interests is simply part of the human mindset. Underneath it all, is whether or not people who have the power to make effective change care enough about others to put aside their own interests and do it. Politicians are absolutely the worst people to expect this sort of grace from. As if we did not all already know that.

There is not caring, and there is being deliberately callous towards the concern and struggles of others. I see the latter more often than the former, and as long as I've been around, and as much as I've seen, this reality shocks me. I love nature... I respect the gifts it gives us, and I hate the sacrilege I'm seeing from people in power. They are damning us and the planet, in order to fill their pockets from special interest groups. It disgusts me... and it disgusts me it is allowed to occur. Cheers, my friend.