Earth Hour 3 comments

Earth Hour has come and gone, but the war lives on. On almost all the blogs and online news sites the comment wars rage on about whether global warming is real or a hoax, and whether or not events like Earth Hour are useful to save energy, raise awareness or are organized by rich corporate organizations whose real agenda is far from saving the planet. I think everyone is so busy fighting for their cause and trying to prove their point that they are missing the real point and the big picture.

I have always known that the truth usually lies somewhere in between what two opposing sides are saying. The reality of the matter is that in the global warming debate - the two sides are arguing so much about who is right, they fail to realize that they are actually both right and if stood together instead of selfishly trying to prove how right each side is, we might actually manage to do something good.

Are the motives of some people and organizations not always primarily for the overall good of the Earth, but about the bottom line or making sure that resources are protected for a few at the expense of others? No question about it in my mind.

Is Global Warming a natural cycle that we have little or no power to stop? Probably.

Do humans contribute to making Global Warming much more of a crisis than it would be without us. No question.

The real problem that people fail to realize is that over the past 100 years - maybe even less, our western society has rapidly become a materialistic, resource consuming monster that both individually and in organizations is selfish to the point where the 'monster' analogy is true. We don't even realize what we have become. We are bombarded by the media. Technology has become a parasite on humanity, not the labor saving saviour that was promised to us. The deadly combination of our rich society, the constant bombardment of images and expectations in media that we need better and more 'stuff', that we need to keep 'fixing' ourselves because we don't look like the people on TV or in the movies or in magazines, does nothing but lead us like sheep in a constantly downward spiral of disappointment, depression and dissatisfaction with ourselves and our society.

So at this point, devoid of our spiritual compass in many cases, and part of a society where 'anything goes' and everyone can do 'what they want', and where nothing is really wrong anymore, people have little choice but to 'check out', hang on for dear life, or to turn into themselves as selfish people who only care about living the good life before any government or other country starts to use 'our' resources.

Oh, most of us do our token 'guilt' giving or conserving so that we don't feel like we are evil. We really have no idea of what is going on outside of our little sphere of influence. We think we do, because we watch TV and read newspapers and are educated. But do we really have any idea of how people live in Africa, or Mexico, or South America, or even in our own country?

We are the lucky ones. We have it all, yet want more. We blame the poor and sick and say they just don't try and don't deserve handouts. We justify what we do saying we have worked hard for what we have and demand more.

We complain when we are asked to turn our lights off for an hour, saying nobody can tell me what to do. I have earned the right to suck the resources of this planet and throw them in the garbage if that's what I want to do.

Wow. Have we really come this far? I'm afraid we have.

So what do we do? Do the people that care continue to work to conserve our precious natural resources while others waste them? At what point do we throw our hands up and say why are we doing this?

The reality of our situation is that no matter what we do to conserve non-renewable resources, they are going to get less and less and then run out. The price of oil will keep going up until there is no more oil. Global Warming will likely keep causing the wet areas of the Earth to get wetter and the dry areas to get drier. Areas of the world WILL experience terrible drought and people may have to leave areas of the southwest that will not be able to support growing populations. Storms will get worse, flooding will happen more and more to coastal areas. I know, people will deny it, but it does not matter which side of Global Warming you are on - the 'humans caused it' side or the 'it's just a cycle' side. If you can't understand the trends either way, then you are an ostrich with your head in the sand.

We need to adapt to our Earth and understand it, not to insist that we can abuse it and deplete it of resources and poison it. The native people understood that. We could have learned from their understanding, but as soon as we invaded North America, we started the systematic rape of the land and its resources.

It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So for those who insist on their right, (no longer God-given in most cases) to consume resources and waste without regard for others, the time will come when their ride is over. That time may come sooner than we think and for those people, it will be a great shock. Think of those countries where a rich few ruled over the poor and how in the end when the people were so desperate that they had nothing more to lose, how they rose up and the once rich and mighty fell at the hands of the majority. Do we learn nothing from history? Why do people always think that it will never happen to them?

For the people who do care, do not be discouraged by what you see or hear. Keep true to what you know is right in your heart. Stay true to your spiritual self and understand that we are all one. Opposing one another in wars of words and deeds is opposing ourselves. Discard arguing to prove you are right and someone else is wrong. Show people what is right by your deeds, not your words. Do what is right in the face of scorn and mockery. Hold your head up high and teach your children to lead by example. Find ways to understand this place we call home. Get out in nature and reduce or eliminate the technology monster that is sucking our life away. Don't be influenced by the media's narrow view of life. Get out and see for yourself what is really going on in our world. Give back to others, not out of guilt, but to strengthen us as a whole.

Above all, be thankful for what you have, not disappointed that you do not have more. Spread your thankfulness to others, rather than complain to them. Only in this way, will a grass roots movement begin to grow that is a positive, unifying light in the darkness of our world.

You know, I think the people who turned their lights off for Earth Hour had 60 minutes without distractions to ponder some of this. Maybe that is what Earth Hour was really about.