The world has changed enormously over these last 500 years and not always for the better. Since Columbus ‘discovered’ the Americas and put into motion the events that led to the genocide of the Incas and North American Native Indians, the setting up of the United States, Canada and South America, the introduction of slavery and the rape of the land with its ensuing destruction of wildlife, the human population has gone berserk. All over the planet we teem in great numbers, chopping down forests, hunting and building roads, towns and cities. There is racism, war and huge climate change. We are now in the Anthropocene – a time when humans are impacting on the climate of the planet. The future has never looked as uncertain. Will we pull back from the brink?
I believe that only through a global body to regulate our pollution, climate effects and population, wars, poverty and environmental destruction, can we hope to have a future. Already for many species it is too late. Our planet’s wildlife has been devastated.
I listen to all manner of people telling me that the UN is useless and a waste of money, that any global control is equated with a world government and tyranny, that we want less government and more freedom. Yet they offer no solutions, no alternatives. They simply deny the destruction is happening.
Meanwhile the wars rage, the population soars, poverty for a lot of the world continues, the exploitation of poor people goes unchecked, the forests are cut, the animals slaughtered and the relentless capitalist machine continues forward unchecked. A small elite is creaming it in and evading all taxes and responsibility. The multinationals play nation against nation with impunity and scam us all.
The planet is being raped through mining, fracking, agriculture, pesticides, and urbanisation. So many people are in denial yet the evidence is right there. I see it in my own backyard that used to be a riot of butterflies and bees. The ponds that used to be full of frogspawn. I see it flying over devastated land that used to be jungle teeming with life. I see it when sailing the seas which are bereft of life. I see it in the dirty sprawling cities and overcrowded streets full of desperate people in Asia, India, South America and Africa. Yet people still tell me it isn’t happening.
It feels to me that we are careering towards that edge with people fighting for control of the wheel and nobody reaching for the brake.
Will the United Nations finally come into its own? Because there sure as apples is apples ain’t no superman.
I put my faith in the United Nations and it’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a beacon to humanity. Because I’ve not heard anyone coming out with any other solution and market forces are not going to fix it. The UN Charter for Human Rights is my bible. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
I swear by it:
You know one of the things that worries me the most is the whole fracking thing. I keep asking myself how long we can take stuff out of the earth without everything falling in on itself… Is that even possible? We’re having so many earthquakes here in places that have never had them before. That’s always in the back of my mind. (I’m a WCW. World Class Worrier!!)
No nothing to worry about Cheryl. If the Yellowstone Caldera collapses two thirds of America could be under molten larva – just like the Russian Steppes.
My Mum used to say ‘worry about what you can change’.
My view is that you make a stink about the things that need putting right. That’s all you can do.
Wish I could convince my mind of that! 🙂
We just do what we can as best we can. That’s all.
I agree that the UN is the best solution – but as it stands today, it has no teeth. In order to put a stop to the madness of wanton destruction, the organization would have to be transformed into a world government that could legislate and enforce. I realize that this scenario is highly improbable, but so was space travel 100 years ago.
Yep – you may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one. Maybe ……….
>>> “I believe that only through a global body to regulate our pollution, climate effects and population, wars, poverty and environmental destruction, can we hope to have a future.”
Agreed, but it would be a two-edged sword. Lord Acton’s axiom (“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”) would unfortunately be realized.
As you correctly observed, there doesn’t appear to be any other solution. However, in an admittedly frightening thought experiment I conducted recently, I hypothesized on how the powers-that-be might have considered a solution. To summarize:
The basic problem is overpopulation. Question: How can the populace be reduced while preserving the existing socioeconomic order? Answer: Seize control of the global food supply, attribute shortages to the very real dynamics of climate change, and allow people to die-off over a period of time.
Could our leaders be so coldly-calculating?
Some would say so Robert. I’m not so sure. I think the world is being run for a small elite who pull all the strings. They want profit above all else. For that they need a market and cheap labour. The love expansion.
I don’t think they care what happens to the planet. It’s incidental. Their mantra is growth.
Overpopulation is the biggest issue for me. It desperately needs addressing.
Yes, and I addressed the market/cheap labor point in my thought experiment.
Sounds interesting Robert. I wouldn’t put anything past them.
Why do you need someone to tell you not to pollute the earth? Are you not intelligent enough to know not to do that? What do you think should happen – 10 years in prison for littering?
Ken – I don’t need someone to tell me to stop polluting. It is the big corporations who are causing the problems and I feel there is no international regulation or control. They use corruption to buy their way in and abuse the environment for profit. I think we need a universal control.