Recent thoughts about sustainability

First to clarify, I lump conservation, climate change, pollution and all those types of words under one banner named sustainability. Nature is about harmony, and every time we break this harmony we are living beyond the bounds of sustainability.

I have been very positive about the situation these last few days (maybe still drunk on the Lake District) but I think it is largely because I feel I understand the issues so well now. Also there is no point at all in being down about it. We all have to do something about it, and being depressed and lethargic will never solve any problems. Sure it is very frustrating seeing how most people just don't get it and even take pride in their consumptive habits. This is just about maturity.

So why so positive. Well I actually now think that climate chaos is precisely what we humans need. It is a massive kick up the arse, a real problem at last for Generation X to take on. It will help us see past the trivial issues like the fuss the world's religions are creating. It will help us define ourselves after so many years of extreme change. We must all come together to solve this enormous problem. We can undo the mess Thatcher and Reagan created by encouraging us to be greedy so fragmenting our societies. There is no way we can afford to behave selfishly and get through the next 50 years.

The vindictive elements in me wants to change society slowly so that the sustainable people profit and the Exxon's of the worlds come crashing down like Enron did. I want to wipe those smug business people smiles right off their faces. Those people who think they are so virtuous and innovative with their tacky companies. I want these business psychopaths to realise what they've done and their true worth.

Whether this will happen and the next generation will make it into the next century I do not know. But all we can do is live our own lives with as much energy and integrity as possible. I think their is real joy in the alternatives, and we will find it much easier than we think. Its just a case of realising how vulnerable we really are and not hiding behind oil guzzling machinery.