Stop the World I Want to Get Off!

Is it just me or has this whole world gone crazy?  I mean it, it doesn't matter where you look, there are not many subjects you can talk about and stay optimistic.  To me, it looks like our world is in serious trouble. The economy is insane - the entire world is in  and there just are not enough good jobs, the environment is being exploited at an alarming rate, overpopulation is becoming an issue, there are wars and threats of new ones, and countries have even collapsed... Yikes! This isn't how I thought life would be when I was growing up.  Sometimes it reminds me of a ride at the amusement park, it's going too fast and it feels like it's out of control.  Maybe it feels like that because so may aspects of life are out of control..  It makes me want to scream: "Stop the World, I Want to get Off!.

When I was growing up, I had a lot of hope about the future, it looked like things were going in the right direction. The economy seemed stable, the job market was booming, the water was clean and Canada's military role was that of a peacekeeper. People were allowed to take to the streets and voice their opinions without the fear of being labelled a terrorist or fined for "illegally" protesting.   Life was much simpler and everything was more relaxed. People had much more time on their hands.  The future looked promising.

People really cared about the environment, Greenpeace was on the news regularly stopping corporations from destroying our resources. Why don't we hear about them anymore?  Where have all the activists gone?  How come there have been oil spill after oil spill, pipeline break after pipeline break, oil-sands environmental disaster and yet no one is tying themselves to tankers or putting up a blockade? No one is protecting our children's interests.

 It is very interesting and even surprising how, in this age of internet technology, cell phones, emails and instant text messaging we are so less organized as a community.  As connected to the internet as we are, we are so disconnected from each other.  We have lost our power to organize and affect change.  Remember when we used to boycott gas stations when they played price wars with gas prices?  Everyone would not buy gas on a Wednesday or stop buying from a particular giant supplier like Shell or Esso.  It worked though, they brought the prices down again.  It worked, while it lasted...What happened?  How come we are less able to act as a group with all this communication technology at our fingertips? Isn't that interesting? Of course back then the media was with us.  Radio stations would announce the next location to boycott.  Now corporations and the government own the media and control everything we are told.  It's not always the facts and it's not always the truth.  Information is manipulated and censored to control and influence public opinion.  I have first hand experience at how news reporters pick and choose which "angle" to give a story, which "sources" they want to be heard - they chose who will be interviewed.  It's not about reporting the facts or the "whole story", it's about what they want the public to believe, react to, buy into...

Back then, it seemed like the government cared more about our well being than it does nowadays. It paid for huge advertisement campaigns on TV, magazines and billboards about eating healthy, getting regular check-ups and exercising  It gave money to communities and schools to promote health.  "Participaction Parks" were in almost every city and town giving people a free place to get healthy with physical exercise and helping people stay connecting with nature.  We need to get away from it all, it's our way of keeping our batteries charged.  All the parks are now gone or privatized and the government no longer makes public service announcement about health and diet.  Our society has become very unhealthy physically, emotionally and spiritually.

It's the first time ever that the next generation has a shorter life span expectancy than the one before them.  Our kids are not healthy, their life expectancy is shorter than our generation. This is unheard of.  Lack of exercise and healthy eating habits is causing them to have weak hearts and bodies.  The food they eat has lost it's nutritional value.  Our fruits and vegetables have been so genetically modified that they no longer have the same nutritional value as they once did and still should.  They have a different lifestyle than we did, it is more sedentary.  Government cuts to school physical activities and social fitness programs and of course, the invention of computers are some of the contributing factors.. It's not like television wasn't enough of a great babysitter.  Televisions and computers are also partly to blame for the decline of moral values and the disintegration of the family unit.  Although we are more technologically connected than ever, people are more isolated and lonely than before.  As internet communities and chat rooms boom, real communities and real communication are becoming a thing of the past.

Electric cars where up and coming 20 years ago, what happened to them?  How come they never went mainstream? Why are we supporting still supporting the dirty polluting oil industry?  Why are we continually allowing corporations to put their profits ahead of clean energy, environmental protection and ultimately our well being and that of future generations. 

Government and corporations have shaped our society.  They lead us this way and that way.  The economy is such a mess, the whole world is on the verge of bankruptcy. Small business used to be the back bone of this country and the US.  Why do we allow governments to keep giving our tax dollars to big corporations like General Motors?  The government gives them million of dollars to bail them out, meanwhile they have been paying their CEO's millions of dollars in salaries.  This is completely ridiculous and I would even consider this criminal activity if you ask me.  Our government is corrupt, like most others in this world.  The whole economic system is corrupt.  The world economy is based on imaginary money - the rich get richer at the expense of the rest of us.  There really are only two classes of people - those who are rich and those who want to be.

It used to be that we called this a "dog eat dog" world, but now I think it's turned into more"man eat man" world.  What's happened to people?  What happened to kindness, charity, generosity and looking out for your fellow man?  I lived in Victoria BC,  for 4 years and it is considered Canada's homeless capital, even though it is also renown for it's upper class retirement community..  Everywhere you look, elderly and sick people are roaming the city, alone and lost.  They carry their belongings in shopping carts or backpacks; they sleep in cardboard boxes, in parks, stairwells and sidewalks.  People drive and walk by without giving them a second thought.  The BC government spent millions on the homelessness issue but are not longer using them for this purpose.  The BC government has closed many psychiatric residences sending mentally ill people on the street off to fend for themselves.  There must be at least a dozen government funded organizations like Our Place, Victoria Coalition for Homelessness and  Cool Aid Society. and instead of solving the problem, the money is just passed among these useless agencies. It's all about keeping money in the government budget.

I think it's because life has gotten too hard.  Good jobs are hard to find, job security is a thing of the past, the competition for survival is on.   Whereas before, one person could support the family, now it takes both parents to work outside the home to be able to afford to live in this over inflated economy.  Inflation has gone up and wages have not kept up, especially for the lower working classes.  My daughter has just started university and the competition she faces is discouraging to her.  Her future is so uncertain.  Our children have little to give them hope.

I used to think that conspiracy theorists were all nutcases.  

Where have the activists gone?

Where have all the activists gone?  Are there any heroes left out there?  We need someone we can believe in.  We need someone who is selfless and generous and who cares more about the world than themselves.  We need a real life hero.  An honest to goodness hero we can look up, be inspired by, stand behind, support and follow. 

As I've reached my early forties, I find myself looking at my life and wondering how I can become more of who I wanted to be. How can I make this world more of what I wanted it to be? When I had envisioned my future as a child, I had pictured a much different society than the one we live in, the one we have created.  It looked like we were going to go in the right direction, it looked like we were going to clean up our act and make all of our lives better.  It looked like we were going to take care of our planet and work on ending world suffering. But the reality is, today, the planet is facing all kinds of environmental challenges and more people are dying of hunger, disease and poverty than ever before.

I grew up in Ottawa, Canada's Capital and I was proud of the efforts that were being started and talked about.  I remember, there was a certain buzz, an excitement that together we could change our world.   It looked like we were going to make changes - correct our wrongs and move ahead in the right direction.  It looked like, in our future, we would focus on bettering our lives.  We were beginning to focus more on health and the environment.

That was over 20 years ago, recycling campaigns were started, electric cars were going to eradicate the need for polluting gasoline engines and solar and wind power were going to be the wave of the future.  Organizations like Greenpeace made the news regularly and people were hopeful that in the future we would be better taking care of ourselves, humanity and our planet's resources.  Participaction was a commonly used word, we were beginning to focus more about how to keep ourselves healthy so that we could live longer and have better quality lives.  It seemed we were heading in the right direction: we were going to improve our quality of life - individually and collectively.  I was excited to jump on board and help make this world a better place for all us.  But then, life happened...it got real hectic and it was so easy to get swept up in the craziness.  For a long time, I lost my way - I got all tangled up in society and lost myself.  For a long time, I listened to others and,for awhile, I forgot who I was and what I wanted.  I just want to be happy and I want other to be happy - cause that's what life is all about.  Health and happiness - don't you wish that for everyone?

It turned out that many of the promises that were made were just government hype.  More false campaign promises.  Either the technologies they promised us don't really work well or they are being kept from becoming mainstream.   Government does not always act in our own best interest - (surprise!) - often, I am saddened to know, government will make decisions based on the financial factor rather than the environmental cost.  Alberta's Oil Sands environmental disaster is a perfect example of allowing profit to take precedence over our health and the environment.  Even on a individual basis, people risks their lives working in a toxic environment so that they can make a few extra dollars.  Is that Harley in the yard really worth the health problems created by working in such a volatile environment?  You can read more about it and what Greenpeace thinks about:  Alberta Oil Sands Health Risks

photo from Bing Images: garthlenz.com

The electric car should be mainstream by now, but it has just hasn't happened and both governments and big industry are to blame.  The oil industry is one of the wealthiest industries in the world, if we all of a sudden had no need for oil what would that do to the world economy?  What about all the tax dollars oil generates - how could governments recuperate all those billions?  They couldn't.  And so you pay $1.14 a litre for gas to fill your car - and it becomes status quo. 

We are still such a money driven society - wealth is placed of higher value than health and greed wins over humanity.  It used to be much harder to qualify for a credit card, now most people have a wallet full of plastic and more debt than they will ever be able to repay in their lifetime!  What's the point of trying to get rich if you can't walk down the street when you are 60! (Either because you are too weak or the air quality index is too high). The thing that infuriates me the most is how irresponsible government and industry have become. It's all about budgets and making profits.   I hate that they can take something positive like recycling and turn it into big business, driven first and foremost by the bottom line.  Many of us have concerns about recycling.  Recycling plastic still causes alot of pollution and what is this re-melted plastic going to do to us - is it safe?  More and more controversy on the subject appears - it seems the more it's broken down the more we are creating plastic that is simply more toxic.  There is just not enough focus on REDUCE!  Let's stop buying so much stuff!  We need to encourage people to lead simpler lives and to reduce their impact on this planet - but if people started spending less money that would affect the economy...  Here is an interesting article on the: War on Plastic 

It's kind of ironic even how nowadays your wallet is filled with more and more plastic designed to make you spend more and more money!  Rewards cards have never been so popular, in order to save money you need a membership card to just about every retailer you can imagine.  I can't wait to see the day when society shifts.  It will be a welcomed day when we care more about our health than our wealth and when companies gain our loyalty by being responsible and accountable.  This will be the day when will all be working towards a better world instead of living the existing rat race we call life.

We have become such a wasteful and materialistic society - it's a shame. I just hope it's not too late when we realize what we have is not to be taken for granted and that all we are doing is hurting ourselves.  We need to come together as a society and demand better for ourselves and our future generations.  What are you gonna do with all those shoes when the air outside is too toxic to breathe? 

I feel it's very important to spend time in the great outdoors - to get away from civilization.  Fresh air clears the mind and invigorates the body.  Getting away from all the advertising and all the noise, commotion and pollution from the city allows us to reconnect with nature and calm our minds and spirits. Being in the great outdoors allows us to hear our selves, it allows us to find our selves. Nature provides (or at least it did) us with everything we need to survive: we can grow our food from it's soil and quench our thirst from it's water.  People need to step back, stop for a minute, look around them and see what is really going on, what really matters. When you are out in the wilderness money does not matter.  You can be happy just sitting there, basking in the sunshine, watching the clouds drift by.  Isn't that what life is all about being happy - being well?
 
 

 
I don't know how to fix the world's problems, like most people I have a hard time enough with my own life.  But I do know that since I reached forty, it seems to have triggered something inside me to try harder.   I have been made many positive changes in my personal life:  I have quit smoking, become much more active, am eating healthier and I have started writing more and more.  And now that I am taking better care of myself, I want to take care of my world and I want to help others.  I wish I had someone to take me by the hand and help me, someone I could completely believe in.  I just find it harder to trust these days - it seems everyone has a hidden agenda.  I wish I could find a real life hero.
 

And so I wonder where have all the activists gone?  I went to Greenpeace's website and was shocked to see 2.9 million members support Greenpeace.  I haven't heard about Greenpeace in a long long time - I am not saying that Greenpeace is not doing anything - I am saying we are not hearing much about Greenpeace anymore - not like we used to.  We need organizations like Greenpeace to get louder - we need someone to get us all motivated.  We need someone to believe in - we need some to look up to.  We need to come together to make lasting positive changes to how we treat this world we live in and how we treat each other.