The way the world economy is run and all that results from it has a finite life span. “Progress” is moving at lightning speed and is growing exponentially. To cope with that we have to dig the STUFF they need out of the ground like crazy! I wouldn’t do that I would save some for later.
We don’t live in a contented world where we are happy with the basics of life as I believe we once were. Instead ego and greed are the driving forces. People forget that if everyone on the planet had the same standard of living as those in the USA then we would need six planets.
Then there is the problem of global warming which will only get worse as greed will regulate the atmosphere not common sense. We know we have passed peak oil which again can only mean the price of petrol will rise to phenomenal levels perhaps in less than ten years. Then there is the problem of food. Already there is a grave shortage in any parts of the world which will only get worse as the population gets bigger and the climate change adversely affects the farmer’s crops.
You would have to ask if the bureaucrats had really got a handle on the world’s problems. Of course not! Fiddling around and making deals at Copenhagen to limit carbons emissions won’t solve a thing always assuming someone gives an inch which to me is doubtful in any real sense. What is needed is a gigantic change to the whole structure and way of life in the world. That would not only solve the climate problem but also the financial ones. The way we live in western countries means we get more and more selfish. We want more and we are never satisfied with what we have which in turn feeds the massive money making machine called progress. The rich get richer and the rest get more and more into debt trying to buy all the things on offer motivated by advertising including food. In general you could say we get fatter having more things to make us poorer!
The bins get collected regularly full of STUFF we can’t eat because we waste a lot, stuff we don’t want and our out of date used toys. Our working CRT TVs will get dumped for flat screens now we are becoming digital all filling up the rubbish tips. The faster and better new models of everything we produce the more resources are used up; most of us get into debt one way or other so we pay enormous fees for credit and the financiers are laughing because they can hardly spend our money fast enough. The rich retain their self respect by giving tiddly bits to charity which of course qualifies them for a tax deduction and leaves a mere scratch on their ever increasing bank account totals.
Then more and more people are being crammed into less and less space. We all know what happens in the animal kingdom when that happens. Maybe that’s one cause of drunken violence. There is not much indication that most people are becoming more loving and caring. People are becoming less so because their purpose for existence apart from sex – which is more of a sport these days than it ever used to be and I don’t only include golfers in this – is having THINGS. Spiritualty is becoming rare. The church questionably once supplied some of that sort thinking and guidance but never true spirituality. Today, many services now are more like a sales meeting for Jesus and a threat at the end to pay up or else Hell will be your next destination. We all know that evangelists pocket most of the loot so Jesus doesn’t really benefit. It’s a sad world full of mostly selfish people who only want money and THINGS like an expensive car or a large yacht. Damn it, wish I could join them! Well not really! Although it would be a thrill at first and money is useful stuff but as I’ve learnt in my quest for spirituality it would be short lived happiness and not long term satisfying. They say the rich are always trying to protect their wealth so they have money worries too.
Something needs to change before it’s too late. But will it? I have found big companies and politicians would not voluntarily look round the corner to see if the wind of change was blowing (unless it hit them hard enough) especially if it meant changing something they’ve been happy with for centuries and such change might bring about a sense of unpopularity with V I Ps, poor chance of re-election and a lot of extra work. Naa! Naa!
It’s business as usual, crisis management will prevail and no-one will stand up and say things to advocate the real change to society that’s needed! Global warming you’ve won.
Now I thought it was worth mentioning that I seriously thought about writing about golf but I decided against it because the birdies might cause problems later.