We've been to the moon, are able to send rovers to Mars, tout Artificial Intelligence as a productive future force and look to technology for new solutions to old problems. Yet our planet is drowning in rubbish, plastic or otherwise, and we seem to be unable or unwilling to do anything about this, other than on a small scale individual basis while being derided by the majority. A majority that is happy to destroy our world for the sake of convenience, just that - fuck everything so long as I can have an easy life!
I am sorry that I have seen very little new on recycling, other than that the 'civilised' Western countries until recently were sending most of their goods to be recycled in China and the Far East in general, in a blatant case of 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind'. So long as we choose to bully our citizens to recycle, rather than inform them as to why, educating them and showing the facilities and methods available, taking the majority opinion with us, we have a weak position. When rubbish is shipped halfway across the world just so long as we do not have to think about it, we are all complicit with the destruction and waste it entails.
Where do manufacturers get off bringing products to market in non-recyclable - and in many cases harmful to the environment - materials purely for convenience or cost reasons? Is there a greater cost than the destruction of our world? What is the excuse?
The USA - and don't get me wrong, I have been a fan of America most of my life - is a huge producer of rubbish at a much higher percentage than their population. It is also a technological leader, a world superpower with immense ability to tackle problems intelligently and efficiently. Why isn't President Trump and his colleagues encouraging the development of ever more efficient recycling practices, but allows them to still choose ship ton upon ton halfway around the world at tremendous cost? Is it that rubbish is not a glamorous field to attract the great minds, minds that are able to conceive and create iPhones and their like, amazing computers and other superb products? Or is it that they are engaged in pursuing short-termism, unicorns and easy profit - hell, I'll get what I can now, in the long term we're all dead, anyway - to the exclusion of all else?
We need to do better, folks everywhere and not just in the USA, we need to do better NOW! There are no excuses, whatever strange orange people might say; the truth is that they don't care. If we do nothing, though, we who DO care, our world will be destroyed. What a legacy that will be for our children and our children's children - shame on us!
Saturday 6 July 2019
Friday 5 July 2019
War - what is it good for?
Despite being rather aged - I am in my 65th year - I have been lucky never to have witnessed war directly, but only through news reports. Some of my American (U.S.) college friends had served in Vietnam and never wanted to talk about it, as it was an experience that had affected them deeply. I also met people who had been involved in trying to defend Cyprus during the Turkish invasion of 1974; they also bore scars. Always with wars, however we label them, there are victims, often very many of them.
Recently we had the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1, perhaps the most bloody of all modern wars, fought in the muddy trenches of Belgium and France. Looking back at it now we can see it for the enormous waste of life, the massive bloodbath that it was and, yes, we can ponder on whether it was truly justified. Shocking as the high number of deaths is, the destruction caused in everything all around is also mind-boggling - at the end of these things a large part of the world is left in ruins, economies in tatters with misery reigning everywhere.
Yet still people regularly advocate going to war and, indeed, there is a war on in Yemen currently, resulting in not only many civilian deaths directly attributed to the hostilities but a severe local famine as well to further decimate the population, irrespective of affiliation. The reason for the hostilities is not entirely clear to me but seems to centre around the disruption of the power structures in the region; the local 'major players' are reacting to something they perceive as wrong/disagreeable or not in their best interests with catastrophic consequences.
It seems that some of us - President Trump seems a prime example, his dictator 'friends' also - regard going to war, with all that ensues, almost as a show of character/strength/bravery. But is it so?
I dare say there are just wars, such as protecting one's country, home and family from those hell-bent on causing harm. There may even be noble causes, wars to protect, liberate or prevent the slaughter of innocents, but the end result still involves untold pain and suffering, even if it has prevented even more of the same. For there is no glamour in war, no romance, only death and destruction on a scale hard to imagine, so we mustn't fool ourselves thinking carefully before we accept glib arguments and justifications.
And no, I am not advocating weakness, nor am I a particular fan of the Nazarene's 'turn the other cheek' or 'love your enemy' doctrines. Whatever we do, though, we must never allow wholesale slaughter like WW1 again no matter who or what is involved, be it Russians, Americans, Chinese, whoever. We must undeniably progress, we must surely also improve, and this must mean limiting wars - and, therefore, their effect - to rare and absolutely unavoidable events. It should be crystal clear to us by now that little good can ever come from them.
Cowardly orange draft dodgers who advocate violence, thinking that their wealth and privilege will shield them from the consequences should be be ignored or ridiculed and marginalised, not lauded, for they are neither strong nor brave in condemning others to death in order to play their little games. Tanks to celebrate 4th of July indeed!
Recently we had the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1, perhaps the most bloody of all modern wars, fought in the muddy trenches of Belgium and France. Looking back at it now we can see it for the enormous waste of life, the massive bloodbath that it was and, yes, we can ponder on whether it was truly justified. Shocking as the high number of deaths is, the destruction caused in everything all around is also mind-boggling - at the end of these things a large part of the world is left in ruins, economies in tatters with misery reigning everywhere.
Yet still people regularly advocate going to war and, indeed, there is a war on in Yemen currently, resulting in not only many civilian deaths directly attributed to the hostilities but a severe local famine as well to further decimate the population, irrespective of affiliation. The reason for the hostilities is not entirely clear to me but seems to centre around the disruption of the power structures in the region; the local 'major players' are reacting to something they perceive as wrong/disagreeable or not in their best interests with catastrophic consequences.
It seems that some of us - President Trump seems a prime example, his dictator 'friends' also - regard going to war, with all that ensues, almost as a show of character/strength/bravery. But is it so?
I dare say there are just wars, such as protecting one's country, home and family from those hell-bent on causing harm. There may even be noble causes, wars to protect, liberate or prevent the slaughter of innocents, but the end result still involves untold pain and suffering, even if it has prevented even more of the same. For there is no glamour in war, no romance, only death and destruction on a scale hard to imagine, so we mustn't fool ourselves thinking carefully before we accept glib arguments and justifications.
And no, I am not advocating weakness, nor am I a particular fan of the Nazarene's 'turn the other cheek' or 'love your enemy' doctrines. Whatever we do, though, we must never allow wholesale slaughter like WW1 again no matter who or what is involved, be it Russians, Americans, Chinese, whoever. We must undeniably progress, we must surely also improve, and this must mean limiting wars - and, therefore, their effect - to rare and absolutely unavoidable events. It should be crystal clear to us by now that little good can ever come from them.
Cowardly orange draft dodgers who advocate violence, thinking that their wealth and privilege will shield them from the consequences should be be ignored or ridiculed and marginalised, not lauded, for they are neither strong nor brave in condemning others to death in order to play their little games. Tanks to celebrate 4th of July indeed!
Thursday 4 July 2019
The Animals and I...
No, don't get upset, I'm not having another go at the SYRIZA 'politicians' currently running Greece, nor am I referring to the wonderful but long extinct pop group that sang about houses and rising suns; my concern, very real, is for proper wild animals, these majestic creatures found all over this Earth of ours.
For centuries we have treated our environment and the animals living within as being there for our convenience and service, inferior species to human beings, really not that important. Our actions have led to great harm to a number of species and, sometimes irreparable, damage to the environment in general. We either did not know or, simply, refused to understand what was in front of our eyes - that animals have feelings, intelligence and an important role to play in this world of ours; some of us still refuse to realise this despite all the evidence now being freely available and largely irrefutable.
The public domaine is full of stories, films and videos showing us animal behaviour in the proper, respectful light, without making then out to be cartoon creatures. To my mind one of the major problems in the way we perceive animals today is the false sense of anthropomorphism gained through watching too many cartoons, where animals are shown to behave exactly like humans and just look different. This does the animals and our perception of their role in this world a huge disservice.
Nature is enchanting, magical and full of beauty, but it is also harsh, cruel and violent; wild animals do not behave according to some code of sportsmanship and kindness, though they can at times exhibit both. Their main preoccupation is with the survival of their species, often solely their immediate 'family', and to this end they do their utmost, including killing other animals as and when needed. They don't hunt purely for sport - humans do - and they don't destroy another animal for pleasure, responding as best they can to the demands of their environment. Death is part of the natural cycle, cuddly animals do get killed and eaten, which is not pleasant to watch but is an essential part of that cycle.
Yet the same fierce predators that do not hesitate to pursue and rip another animal to shreds in order to feed themselves, ensuring the survival of themselves and their 'families', also exhibit tremendous tenderness and affection towards all they consider their own, including humans. The incredible Kevin Richardson (a.k.a. The Lion Whisperer) in South Africa is accepted and loved as an equal by pretty well all the wild animals in his sanctuary, but his approach is rare, unique even - he treats each animal as an individual, giving them respect and approaching them with sensitivity over and above the affection. Perhaps what he does is not perfect, but it comes as close as possible in this imperfect world of ours and offers a hope of preserving - properly preserving - amazing species that, in turn, will help preserve a world worth living in.
I urge you all to watch animal documentaries on YouTube - I have no channel and no financial interest in any other - to see animals rescued from conditions of unimaginable cruelty, to look into their eyes and see the confusion and pain. I urge you to look at nature documentaries, seeing these animals in their natural habitat, happy and expressive - hear the might of a lion's roar, for example - and alive with what makes our planet tick. I urge you all to condemn the mistreatment of all animals, but especially wild ones, understanding that we share this world with other creatures without needing to abuse them. You do not need to fall in love with these animals (lions, elephants, even hyenas), as I have, but you should try to understand them and learn to appreciate them and what their continued existence means for all our futures.
And if you can and want to, please support all those who devote - truly devote - their lives to these majestic creatures and their survival, enriching us all immeasurably.
As for the other beasts, the politicians, alas there is little hope of them becoming extinct anytime soon; also, we are already paying for them and their actions.
For centuries we have treated our environment and the animals living within as being there for our convenience and service, inferior species to human beings, really not that important. Our actions have led to great harm to a number of species and, sometimes irreparable, damage to the environment in general. We either did not know or, simply, refused to understand what was in front of our eyes - that animals have feelings, intelligence and an important role to play in this world of ours; some of us still refuse to realise this despite all the evidence now being freely available and largely irrefutable.
The public domaine is full of stories, films and videos showing us animal behaviour in the proper, respectful light, without making then out to be cartoon creatures. To my mind one of the major problems in the way we perceive animals today is the false sense of anthropomorphism gained through watching too many cartoons, where animals are shown to behave exactly like humans and just look different. This does the animals and our perception of their role in this world a huge disservice.
Nature is enchanting, magical and full of beauty, but it is also harsh, cruel and violent; wild animals do not behave according to some code of sportsmanship and kindness, though they can at times exhibit both. Their main preoccupation is with the survival of their species, often solely their immediate 'family', and to this end they do their utmost, including killing other animals as and when needed. They don't hunt purely for sport - humans do - and they don't destroy another animal for pleasure, responding as best they can to the demands of their environment. Death is part of the natural cycle, cuddly animals do get killed and eaten, which is not pleasant to watch but is an essential part of that cycle.
Yet the same fierce predators that do not hesitate to pursue and rip another animal to shreds in order to feed themselves, ensuring the survival of themselves and their 'families', also exhibit tremendous tenderness and affection towards all they consider their own, including humans. The incredible Kevin Richardson (a.k.a. The Lion Whisperer) in South Africa is accepted and loved as an equal by pretty well all the wild animals in his sanctuary, but his approach is rare, unique even - he treats each animal as an individual, giving them respect and approaching them with sensitivity over and above the affection. Perhaps what he does is not perfect, but it comes as close as possible in this imperfect world of ours and offers a hope of preserving - properly preserving - amazing species that, in turn, will help preserve a world worth living in.
I urge you all to watch animal documentaries on YouTube - I have no channel and no financial interest in any other - to see animals rescued from conditions of unimaginable cruelty, to look into their eyes and see the confusion and pain. I urge you to look at nature documentaries, seeing these animals in their natural habitat, happy and expressive - hear the might of a lion's roar, for example - and alive with what makes our planet tick. I urge you all to condemn the mistreatment of all animals, but especially wild ones, understanding that we share this world with other creatures without needing to abuse them. You do not need to fall in love with these animals (lions, elephants, even hyenas), as I have, but you should try to understand them and learn to appreciate them and what their continued existence means for all our futures.
And if you can and want to, please support all those who devote - truly devote - their lives to these majestic creatures and their survival, enriching us all immeasurably.
As for the other beasts, the politicians, alas there is little hope of them becoming extinct anytime soon; also, we are already paying for them and their actions.
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