Oorgo

This silent screaming

Silence. People are silent these days.

Even though things are bad all over the world, so many terrible things happen every day, rights are being trampled on, tortured, killed and the general populous is only beginning to understand the mess we've made of the planet, people are silent. I keep reading stories wondering where the revolution is: Where are the mass protests? Why is Bush still in power? Why am I being arrested for drinking coffee in a cafeteria because I'm wearing a peace t-shirt? Why are there still personal transportation vehicles that make 10 mpg?

Perhaps they are silent for the exact reasons above. So many things in so many places and so many facets of their life are or will soon be affected by world events that they are overwhelmed. They shove their heads far into their work, their family, reality tv (make sure you don't watch the news though), video games and booze as an escape from the monsters outside their door.

It's not that they don't care but they can't put that much thought into the future, the present is too occupying, their job is too stressful, their kids are in too much trouble and the price of gas is too high. Nevermind that if the little grasshoppers would have thought about storing away or conserving, the coming winter would not be so dastardly. The Hummer owners and coal burners are busy fiddling and dancing while the ants are scrambling around trying to figure out what the fuck to do to get us out of the situation.

I've been silent about these issues lately as well, pretty much for the same reasons. You feel sort of powerless, unable to change things, I mean hey I'm a tech who moonlights as a musician, I'm no scientist and I can't afford to switch my house over to solar. I've been quietly trying to lessen my impact environmentally: soon to be buying a new fuel efficient, lower emission vehicle... not much else I can afford past that. New furnace? Power efficient water heater? Yeah, get real. I can't even find a frickin' evaporation air cooler system, something other than the power sucking AC unit that's currently installed.

Alongside all the issues, it seems that there are so many voices and so many contradicting facts people manage to find/makeup to support their view, that really who can you trust? Also, the facts change as things proceed, we've only been studying carbon effects on the environment for awhile so what we know is always evolving. Some folks I've talked to have latched on to old facts that have now been shown as incorrect and using them as a shield to block differing view or results. Perhaps they should also be chanting loudly: "I KNOW THIS, IT IS TRUE, LA LA LA, CAN'T HEAR YOU"

Posted by Oorgo at July 6, 2006 02:28 PM Permalink - Category: Ponderings | TrackBack