Just my view of things on the world in general

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Originally Posted by xdeus

I'm basically in that camp. I'm a pessimist by nature and feel that there are far too many stupid and greedy people in the world to turn things around. Eventually we'll lead to our own destruction...

However, I do my part to slow that process down however miniscule it might be. I most likely won't be around to witness the fall of mankind, but I'll enjoy my life, family, snakes :) , and the world while I'm here.

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Here's how you gotta look at it. Lets say you got a room, and someone takes out a deck of cards and throws al the cards all over the room. If someone once a week picks up 1 card and puts it back in the deck, then after 52 weeks, it'll all be done. Yes that's a long time but even little thing count. Little things can do more then not doing anything at all. :D

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Originally Posted by Vomitore

Here's how you gotta look at it. Lets say you got a room, and someone takes out a deck of cards and throws al the cards all over the room. If someone once a week picks up 1 card and puts it back in the deck, then after 52 weeks, it'll all be done. Yes that's a long time but even little thing count. Little things can do more then not doing anything at all. :D

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Perhaps. Like I said, I do my part to pick up those cards, I just feel that there are a LOT more people throwing down a lot more cards than people can pick up.

We're a relatively small country population-wise, yet we use far more resources than any other country. Now take a look at China and India who is just now coming into the oil-age, and consider what kind of impact they will be making. Then consider the population growth that is going on...

I know it looks pretty depressing. I can sit down and feel terrible about it or devote my life to saving the whales, riding my bike to work, boycotting Walmart, or writing letters to the president... but in the end it will just delay the inevitable. That's not to say that people shouldn't care at all. I drive a little Corolla to save gas, I recycle and compost, teach my kids to care about nature and the world... but I realize that in the end I'm really just doing it for my own sense of well-being and social responsibility. :sunny:

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Originally Posted by xdeus

Perhaps. Like I said, I do my part to pick up those cards, I just feel that there are a LOT more people throwing down a lot more cards than people can pick up.

We're a relatively small country population-wise, yet we use far more resources than any other country. Now take a look at China and India who is just now coming into the oil-age, and consider what kind of impact they will be making. Then consider the population growth that is going on...

I know it looks pretty depressing. I can sit down and feel terrible about it or devote my life to saving the whales, riding my bike to work, boycotting Walmart, or writing letters to the president... but in the end it will just delay the inevitable. That's not to say that people shouldn't care at all. I drive a little Corolla to save gas, I recycle and compost, teach my kids to care about nature and the world... but I realize that in the end I'm really just doing it for my own sense of well-being and social responsibility. :sunny:

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Even if what you do and teach may be SO small and barely noticed by many, doing something is more then others do. I agree more people care not to care. But if that was a global trend then I think we'd be even worse. We're human and we'll just destroy ourselves. I choose not to kill myself and others.

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Originally Posted by Vomitore

Even if what you do and teach may be SO small and barely noticed by many, doing something is more then others do. I agree more people care not to care. But if that was a global trend then I think we'd be even worse. We're human and we'll just destroy ourselves. I choose not to kill myself and others.

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Right on. Just don't expend too much energy worrying about what others do, as you can't control the actions of others. Life is too short, you may as well enjoy the journey. ;)

actually i go back to the ripple effect.

when you DO choose to be environmentally action oriented (whatever that is for you) then others see you and you may not even realize it...

for example: i don't use pesticides in my yard... and one of my neighbours has always used them in her yard. she came over one day and asked what kind i use cause my yard looks so great. i told her we don't use any. she was shocked. she didn't realize she could have a gorgeous yard without chemicals. so... she stopped using it in her yard. who knows how many of her friends she 'converted'.

i used cloth diapers with my kids. i had friends who had never used them and didn't want to use them but they did like the idea of using cloth wipes on their kids bottoms... so they stopped buying the pre-made wipes and tossing them away... and instead started using flannel wipes that were washed.

just a couple examples to show... we do each make a difference and we do create a ripple.

now... going from there... trust me, there are lots of people out there working to make changes on a grander scale... it's not our place to make those changes as we aren't connected to that issue (for example: we aren't choosing to go work for David Suzuki) - so instead, we get a better vehicle, walk when possible or ride a bike... compost etc etc etc to make the difference WE can make.

don't give up... cause if everyone does... :puke:

(as the saying sorta says) "become the difference you wish to see in the world"

I have been reading E.O Wilson's "The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth" for the past few days. While the speed and efficiency in which the human population has ravaged the earth are shocking, Wilson points out that while it will be a long and diffiicult road back to balance with nature, it is not out of reach. Many technological advances are helping us head in the right direction now and with proper planning, once thriving ecosystems can and will return to their past splendor. Mother nature is quite resilient, and we have not reach the point of no return.

I do what I can personally, and I work for a NPO that spreads the same message. I realize this is just a drop in ocean of the earth's needs, but I am optimistic for the future. It will get worse before it gets better (we will likely lose a good amount of species diversity on earth before it does), but I do believe it will get better, and hopefully in my lifetime.

On a side note, I am going to hear Wilson lecture at the end of the month, and I'm very excited!!! I also highly recommend his new book to anyone that wants an eye-opening read!!

-Evan

Mike there are lots of days I wonder about the world I chose to bring four kids into too. Then there are days when I look at the wonderful human beings I birthed and I know that maybe, just maybe they might make a difference. When my 5 year old looks at trash someone threw down and he murmurs rather sadly..."momma they are making my world dirty"...or my 19 year old daughter does something that steals my breath away with it's simple goodness....my 13 year old who in the midst of her own teenage drama remembers to be kind to someone less fortunate....or my 15 year old son, almost a man, but still my red headed child who loves his mother and shows such patience with the little and somewhat tiresome brother I gave him....

Well Mike that's when I know that for me it was right to bring these lives into this troubled world of ours. None of them may ever cure cancer, stop a war or do something grand, but they will in their own ways make a difference and that difference will hopefully be enough to tip a scale somewhere. That's enough for me as a parent and as a citizen of this world. :)

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Mike there are lots of days I wonder about the world I chose to bring four kids into too. Then there are days when I look at the wonderful human beings I birthed and I know that maybe, just maybe they might make a difference. When my 5 year old looks at trash someone threw down and he murmurs rather sadly..."momma they are making my world dirty"...or my 19 year old daughter does something that steals my breath away with it's simple goodness....my 13 year old who in the midst of her own teenage drama remembers to be kind to someone less fortunate....or my 15 year old son, almost a man, but still my red headed child who loves his mother and shows such patience with the little and somewhat tiresome brother I gave him....

Well Mike that's when I know that for me it was right to bring these lives into this troubled world of ours. None of them may ever cure cancer, stop a war or do something grand, but they will in their own ways make a difference and that difference will hopefully be enough to tip a scale somewhere. That's enough for me as a parent and as a citizen of this world. :)

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Very proud mama there ;) Please don't think I meant that people shouldn't have kids now in these times. Everyone has a choice they make and to each their own. I tend to worry more about others then myself so things get scary for me when I think about em.

Oh I don't think that Mike and I completely support everyone's choice to be or not be a parent. I'm actually glad we live in a time where we women (and men) do have the choice and are not a victim simply of nature or societal expectations. I just am sad a bit that a young man of your obvious potential and young age is already so jaded by this world of ours. How sad that we as a society cannot stand together and bring into this world a group of children and young adults that are more hopeful of the world we leave them.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Oh I don't think that Mike and I completely support everyone's choice to be or not be a parent. I'm actually glad we live in a time where we women (and men) do have the choice and are not a victim simply of nature or societal expectations. I just am sad a bit that a young man of your obvious potential and young age is already so jaded by this world of ours. How sad that we as a society cannot stand together and bring into this world a group of children and young adults that are more hopeful of the world we leave them.

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I know we can't have the cord attached to our kids forever but man I'm like super emotionally attached to those who I care for. Lil scary ... Also, I had to deal alot with my sis when I younger up till I was about 21 or 22 and I saw the hell she put me and my family through and I dunno how I'd deal with something like that. Now she has 2 kids that she had to give one up for adoption and the new one he's just gonna be a nasty problem to deal with. He's 3 or 4 and he got up the other night and killed both rabbits, their parakeet, and their 2 rats and hid the bodies. She took him to a therapist and he said he's showing signs of manic depression among other problems and he said that my nephew really needs to kept under intense watch. Well, my sister is not a responsible person. I think I'm just so tired of constant problems rampant in my family with imbalances ect.