A SENSE OF VALUE.
This is admittedly not going to be the most popular thing I've ever said here, but I can't help but feel like gas needs to be $10/gallon or more––not $2. And although I have no idea what water costs these days, it should be more expensive, as well. As should energy and natural gas. Food—my God—food should triple in price. Why? Because we wasted hundreds of millions of tons of food last year, and who knows how much water, gas and energy. We cannot possibly value something upon which we place no value.Would we really waste gas, or food, or energy at the impressive levels we do if it cost double or triple the amount it does now? It's hard to believe we would. If food and gas and energy and water we're more expensive––or reflected their true costs––they would be more valuable to us, and we would learn to cherish them––too valuable to waste. That investment would force us to be more creative with our resources, more conservative, more considerate. And most importantly, it would give our poor, ailing planet a fighting chance.Which has to happen. We know that. Another group of scientists told us AGAIN recently that it has to. Unequivocally, if we don't change there will be no future on Earth, or not one we would subject even our worst enemies to. (Though unfortunately we don't even get to choose who suffers, it will be our children and grandchildren who will get that honor). We have to change, but cheaper is not the answer. In fact, cheaper is the problem.If we continue to use water like it has no value, to gobble up oil and natural gas reserves, and only eat the cheapest, chemically-grown foods, we will kill this planet off. And ourselves along with it. But if we just charge more for the things we need, and learn to value them more, the world would prosper. It would be harder, sure, and we would have to wear coats in the house, ride bikes, take shorter showers, cultivate our gardens and budget more for food in lieu of devices (or what have you), but it would be a small sacrifice to ensure a reasonable future for this place. We shouldn't have it so easy if everyone after us has to suffer for it. That's not fair. That's lazy. That's cheap.- Jesse.
FEELING THE BURN.
We as humans learn primarily by reaction: touch the stove and it's hot––OUCH!––ok, don't touch the stove; kitten puts ears back, hisses, then bites––OUCH!––fair enough, don't touch kitten when hissing. Then we constantly test and retest until we're absolutely certain about our observations, and our boundaries.This collection of information teaches us how to behave in the world. But what if something doesn't hiss or bite you back?––at least not immediately. How are we supposed to learn how to treat it?"Because of climate change," reports the Boston Globe this week, "scientists predict the frequency and intensity of [super] storms will only increase in years to come." Couple that with a forecast for a century of droughts, as recently reported by the New York Times, and we have some potentially serious concerns facing us, and facing our children.If the first time we did something destructive to the land, the land slugged us back, the world would probably be in much better shape today. However, though the Earth has always got around to punishing us eventually, the repercussions have never been immediate. And like little children, we push and push to test those boundaries, but when we push the planet, the planet doesn't hiss. It doesn't cuss us out or take a swing. When we do something that irritates the Earth, the planet reacts slowly. POWERFULLY, but slowly.So we're left to assume we don't affect it. The same goes for the human body. Although it's barely even food at a squint, you could hypothetically survive on fast food alone––and thousands do––for several years before the human body started to shut down. If the effects were immediate, though––say, eat a Big Mac get a belly ––then no one would likely eat Big Mac's. But they're not, the effects are slow. DISASTROUS, but slow.With all the problems we're going to be facing in the next few generations, and in the wake of a terrible drought followed by a devastating storm, I'm simply struggling to make sense of why we all haven't dropped everything, changed our diets and our lifestyles and become more sustainable. Quick. Is it possible we are simply not built to learn from long-term mistakes? Are we (horrifyingly) biologically apathetic to climate change? If we felt the burn from touching the stove several weeks, or months, or even years later... would we ever learn not to touch it? Would we still touch the stove, knowing in a few years it would burn us, or our children? Looking at the shape of the planet right now, and the forecast, I'm terrified of the answer.- Jesse.