Peak Patience

It's irrefutable fact that our world is in trouble. Oil, water, food, politics, money, big business, war, pollution, natural resources, mainstream media, an oppressive government, the environment; each on their own have their issues, but from a birds-eye perspective they are all interconnected as if on a giant spiders web. A tug on one strand will have direct effect on all others, as even a minute pull will ripple across the web, stirring complex relationships to movement.

The issues are severe and largely ignored by citizens, the media, corporations, and the government. A handful, which over time I am sure to speak about:

Oil: The amount of oil which has been extracted from the world's oil reserves is either close to or past the peak. With oil production dwindling and demand growing, skyrocketing prices and crashing economies will become a reality within our lifetimes.

Water: As the population of the world grows exponentially and the amount of irrigation to grow and water the food we consume tapping the freshwater supply, the amount of water available ebbs. Also, the industrialized world continues to dump billions of pounds of toxic chemicals into landfills which pollute the water table, or directly into our oceans, lakes, and rivers.

Food: The food which we eat contains harmful chemicals, pesticides, additives, and preservatives, and in many cases, the foods themselves are harmful, whether it's sugary or fattening, or it's the plants which were grown to manufacture the food is biologically unsafe.

Politics: Most all politicians are cut from the same cloth. There are rare exceptions, but for the great majority, ego and a self-serving nature rule.

Money: The statement that money is the root of all evil is pretty accurate. And money doesn't necessarily lead to happiness, in many cases it can lead to crime, drugs, rampant consumerism, debt, greed, loss of identity, family issues, and addiction.

Big business: Big business has a god, and his name is Profit. Rather than the sustainable preservation of our environment, big business has taken the unmitigated raping of the planet to new levels, and all in the name of the almighty dollar.

War: The wars of our lifetimes are not about ideology, or about removing evil from office. Wars now are about securing access to natural resources, namely oil.

Pollution: There are very few pristine locations left on our planet. As the population grows and sprawls out those few locations left will likewise become polluted, squalid, overdeveloped cities. Pollution is a huge problem, affecting every facet of our existence, from the air we breathe to the water we drink to the food we consume.

Natural resources: Forests are clearcut, rainforests are mown down. Lakes' water levels are dropping, oil is depleting, and the many metals and minerals are being gouged from the ground. Mountains are having their tops blown off to find veins of coal, the oceans, once diverse and teeming with life, are overfished with growing de-oxygenated dead spots and swirling stretches of garbage.

Mainstream media: The mainstream media ignores many issues, mainly because the media outlets are extensions of big business, and big business doesn't like informed citizens. The media offers fluff stories and on occasion attempts to cover a real story, but more often than not, the truth is not pursued to it's logical end, its left behind.

Government oppression: The government loves preoccupied, stupid, acquiescent, passive, inactive citizens with immense consumptive habits. Pay your taxes, buy your shoddy goods, consume like it's going out of style, rack up as much debt as possible, and above all, don't question the government!

The environment: Every day species are becoming extinct, acres of rainforest are leveled, fisheries become commercially extinct, ice shelves fracture, weather patterns become more extreme, plastics are washed into the ocean, tons of toxins are dumped into our drinking water, rivers are dammed, and power plants and factories belch tons of pollutants into the air we breathe.

Many people have an interest, perhaps even a passion for one or more of the above stated themes, though many have none. Most people seem content to live in their excessively large houses overindulging in the luxury of cheap energy, greedily focused on vanity and pretentiousness. The accumulation of "stuff" and the need to appear wealthy keep many preoccupied from the realities of a crumbling world around them. I'd wager that many prefer to be consumed with other things, living in a narrow, self-indulgent fantasy world. It's easier to bury one's head in the sand and pretend that the problems don't exist. Doing so doesn't eliminate the problem, it only serves to extend the moment where the problem comes crashing down around one's head. But crash they will, and those unprepared will suffer needlessly.

My hope is that by writing and reading and sharing, the veil which obscures the realities of our world will be dropped, and a more informed person will emerge. This blog is Peak Patience, because I am fed up with waiting for the world to become a better place. I am done with hoping that the next politician will live up to campaign promises. I am tired of counting on companies to recognize that their practices exploit and despoil the planet. In fact, the opposite is happening. Our once-pristine world is fast becoming an overpopulated, polluted, barren, unlivable place for not only humans, but all species.

Peak Patience

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A Poisoned World

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The first entry!

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