As a participating world citizen, here is an outline of the key issues I believe exist in the world today:
The major symptoms of imbalance globally are the:
Global Financial Meltdown
The Bee Pandemic
The recent overly abnormal weather patterns
The causes of these symptoms in my mind would most likely be:
Mass production, mass consumption, and mass waste
Maltreatment of our environment in so many ways:
Slaughterhouses, fishing industries including tuna, whales, dolphins, and more,
the
gross amount of production of CO2 within electricity production
industries, retail production industries, and the gross amount of
consumption of energy wasting all of this away into thin air across
society in every way shape and form.
We as humans mistreat
our beautiful oceans by filling it with absolutely unbelievably
enormously grandiose amounts of rubbish and disgusting filth, we ruin
our rainforests by chopping them all down and making them into
margarine, petrol, paper, wood, shampoo, moisturizer, and so many
countless other pointless products available for consumption that have
negative effects on our bodies anyhow, because remember anything we put
onto our skin soaks straight through to the bloodstream, very quickly.
That’s not the only thing, we also ruin our skies by flying seriously
massive numbers of petrol sculling machines that come in all shapes and
sizes, and we spew everything we consume up into the sky. Working on
aeroplanes is proven to cause lifetime side effects on some air
hostesses, and pilots, due to the amounts of radiation experienced, I’m
sure there are regulation systems, but this doesn’t change the fact of
the existence of the radiation.
So it is clear, we as humans do
everything we can to destroy our environment, we don’t neglect any part
of our beautiful earth, not the ocean, not the rainforest, and not the
sky.
Each nation state has dealt with the GFM in its own way; however the cause is quite clear to me.
All
of the factories which originally existed in each separate nation
state, producing that nation state’s clothes, food, and everything else,
has been shipped overseas, where the production work is cheaper.
This
means that all of the factory workers in the original nation states
have lost their jobs. Not only that but it lowers prices of chain store
clothes in places such as Target, Kmart, H&M, Walmart, and so on.
These extremely low prices are a veil. The products by no means are of
less worth, they took just as much work to create, without question, and
the quality comparison to the original products produced by the nation
state’s domestic factories is unknown. So why then are the prices so
low?
The answer to that question is quite awful, there is
something going on called “the fight to the bottom”, people are racing
to make the prices lower, lower, lower. Prices are lowering because the
wages paid are so extremely low in comparison to other nation states.
The wages are low, the treatment and wages paid to the employers
overseas depends on the nation state running the factory in this
overseas destination. There are people paid to sew “Country Road”
clothes for $0.60c a piece, we pay $60, think of the profit, only the
profit, nothing but the profit.
That to me is disgusting, and just
one example of how awful human behaviour truly can be. However who am I
to complain, I own clothes from this store, I own many clothes from
many stores, I own many shoes, I own technological products, I own this
laptop. I am clearly participating and contributing to this awful cycle.
Yet I have promised myself to no longer buy from chain stores, only
from op-shops, re-using and recycling old clothes, that suit my taste,
regardless of fashion.
This problem is thoroughly embedded in many
of the first world countries across the globe, and I believe it is one
of the contributing factors to the Global Financial Meltdown.
Globalisation
could be pointed out as a symptom of the growing imbalance of the
world. However it could also be viewed as a conglomerating effect on
everything, sort of like how everything in a bath tub mixes together
closer and closer as it goes down the drain, gaining speed as it comes
closer to the drain, and eventually disappearing down the drain. The
water that has gone down the drain already cannot be withdrawn, that is
an impossible venture. So, the astonishingly beautiful and fascinating
cultures of the world are already beginning to go down the drain, they
are mixing closer and closer together, and the individualising factors
are being forgotten, slowly but surely, as the new generations are less
aware of their own cultures, and more distracted by technology, and
absolutely everything that is available for mass consumption on today’s
market.
Many large countries today are quite aware of
multiculturalism, acceptance, and a welcoming attitude, our cultures are
still alive and strong in many ways, and our earth somehow still
continues to function, supporting the global population which is fast
approaching 7 billion people.
Don’t get me wrong, there are
conscientious nation states, such as Germany, who have an environmental
party in government, and cultural pride, and honour has by no means
disappeared, I mean look at Japan, so beautiful, and so honourable, look
at France struggling to retain all the beauty within its territories,
under threat from world religions and super powers. Of course every
nation makes its specific mistakes; humans are not humans without
mistakes and everything that travels alongside mistakes.
My main
worries concern the little nation states, the island communities
threatened by the rising ocean levels. Not only do they hold the key to
solving the problem to mass production, mass consumption, and mass
waste, they also have highly efficient and intelligent forms of team
work, perfected over countless years of generations learning and
teaching the methods, to complete survival activities. Teamwork is one
of the sources of trouble globally, due to the fact that there are so
many voices struggling to be heard, and so many differing opinions. Just
look at any globally staged meeting, too much talk, not enough action.
Already I think individual nation states are using specialized ministers
and appointed political people to solve specific problems viewed to be
the most important. We also have an amazing organisation called “Get-Up”
and “Avaaz” who regulate the politics of the world, and make sure the
people still get their fair say, as true democracy should allow for in
the first place.
This problem is not by any means new,
globalisation began in the 1800s, approximately, the greenhouse gas
issue has been widely known throughout the media for some odd 30-40
years, this problem has been slowly but surely growing, for an extremely
long time. However the entire existence of present human civilisation
is just a single drop, a single second, in the 24hour day of the
existence of earth, in the enormous ocean covering our earth. So if
that’s the case, what exactly is hindering us from taking big political
steps together as equalized nation states towards a world where balance
is restored? Time is only an issue of the mind. I have previously
maintained, and history proves that enough people, pushing for the same
improvement, the same goal, will reach their conclusion, will get
results. “Avaaz” and “Get Up” are living proof of this statement. But
whatever happened to more tangible actions than online voting and
emailing? What about mass decisions to vote one way within communities
completely and utterly separate from any political organisation? I mean
I’ve read about the problems Barack Obama is running into in North
America, and I guess perhaps a female may be voted in next. However
without a doubt Barack Obama and Al Gore will always continue to play a
big role in North American society, no matter how many North Americans
ignore them, mistreat them, judge them wrongly. They will go about their
work in the most honourable way they can, as they obviously have always
done.
It appears to me that many North Americans have an issue
with holding onto their money for dear life, as if losing it would mean
losing their source of survival. That to me is an extremely sad and
sorry fact. I still marvel that Africans with no money still manage to
have a higher philosophical quality of life, than Americans and all the
rest of us westerners rolling around in all our money.
Anyhow, so they are the key issues, maltreatment of people, animals, and the surrounding environment, on a basic level.
All the best to every single one of you in completing your small deed to contribute to the solution (:
Britta
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