Paper Street

From Science: “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm.” -James Hansen, NASA chief climatologist

You see, it is not that we won’t survive at our current levels of lifestyle. There is no doubt we will. But the endless chaos that will surely ensue when <em>billions</em> begin to suffer from the effects of climate change: sea levels destroying cities (don’t just think about, say, Brazil, but think, say, Venice, or Miami), whole populations starving because there is a lack of food (production of ‘biofuels’ has demolished global corn and wheat supplies to the point where there is a major shortage of staple foods around the world), and endless wars over precious resources like timber, water, and what’s left of the world’s oil.

It’s not that I feel guilty about living the way I do. In fact, I don’t. I like living in North America. Having shared a 400-sq-ft public housing apartment with a family of 8, I don’t ever want to go back to that kind of life. I don’t envy the populations in China, or India, or Africa, or South America. I fear their lifestlye. And it is because of this very fear, that I even begin to contemplate such ‘grandiose’ issues like the environment. I am afraid that if we don’t do anything now, when we still have the luxury to, then we won’t ever be able to have the kind of lifestyle we’re having now. We could be living in a golden age, and never be able to turn back again – and there ain’t no amount of money in the world that will solve it.

Have you read the news lately? There is a global rice and wheat shortage; Japan is having trouble filling its grocery stores with butter; oil prices are at an all time high while the oil companies are making record profits; there is an island of plastic waste in the middle of the Pacific Ocean reported to be at least twice the size of Texas; global fish species like wild salmon are projected to be gone by the end of the century; meanwhile, the United States is in the process of approving the biggest ever military funding budget for their continual war in Iraq.

Frankly, it doesn’t surprise me. We are so disengaged with the political process, we are so enamoured by our Capitalist-Consumerist culture that none of this concerns us. Some of you unfortunate souls whose lifestyles depend on the consumer mindset in the capitalist economy may have heard me rant to the death about why you need to rethink your life. I think people like you are the scourge of this planet.

So you think earning more money will make you happier? You think living in a bigger house will make you more comfortable? You think owning a bigger car, with your brand name clothes and your designer sunglasses makes you better? You are the reason why there is still widespread poverty in places all over the world. Get off your high horse, and take a look around. It’s not all about your earning power, and not all about the prestigious schools, and your fancy degrees.

Your consumerism is driving the capitalist corporate empire to conquer and enslave millions of workers in the developing world. Your insistence on paying bottom dollar is making the multi-billion-dollar corporations richer, while making the peasant-class factory worker in China suffer for mere dollars a day.

In the midst of consuming your ‘goods’, throwing out your junk plastic, eating your expensive meats, you are clogging up the oceans, sawing through forests, and killing tha atmosphere. Have you no self respect?

Do you think just because you are born into the wealthiest class of humanity, that you deserve to be treated like a prince? Your very existence goes against every principle that has allowed humans to survive and become a dominant species. No, it is not normal for you to live using hundreds of times more resources than your counterparts across the world. Having more money doesn’t mean you are entitled to waste it on useless consumer crap.

Listen to me. People like you need to change. No, you need to lead the change. Having spent your life in luxurious and lavish conditions, you now have the moral obligation to lead the revolution.

Why do people starve, when we produce more goods than we can sell? Why do people work in sweatshops for pennies an hour, when someone across the ocean sitting at a computer terminal can earn millions in an instant for trading imaginary capital? Why do people die of diseases that already have cures and vaccines? Why should you be on the priviledged side? Do you have any idea what you’ve done just by living the way you’re used to?

Do you really think you’re doing the world a service by learning from these ridiculous educational institutions? Do you think you’re contributing to the world by developing more technology that will end up being more waste and more pollution in the end?

I hope you’ve opened your eyes.