Democracy depends on:
Do you care enough to take action? To do something about things in
your community or state or country that aren't the way you think they
should be? Or to (just as importantly) tell your representative that
you do agree with the way something is going? Even if it is simply
sending a piece of email to your Congressman? If you don't have
enough motivation and care enough to do even that, then at least pat
yourself on the head for reading this much, and continue reading...
Caring (Giving a Sh*t)
+ Good Information
+ Action (Do Something!)
Do you think you don't really care enough to take any action?
Then pick one of these that you Do care about...
Children:
OK, so you do care about your kids and/or grandkids (and maybe even out
to the proverbial 7th generation, etc.). Sustainability means having
a world in which they can be born healthy with a good chance of staying
that way most/all of their life until they die many years later. And
they can live in a culture that allows them to build knowledge and skills
that they want/need to pursue whatever their dreams are. These things
require interaction of some sort with other people outside of your
immediate family, so you'd better start caring about that too, or else
your supposed caring about your kids is really only a shortsighted/narrow-
minded shell of caring without the commitment needed to make it worth
anything.
Housing:
Are you able to find all the raw materials to build your house (and
heat it in the winter) right on your own property? If so, then maybe
you are in a position to just say, "Screw the rest of humanity, I don't
need to deal with them for me to make myself happy." Congratulations,
and may your spouse/kids/cohabitors feel the same way. But don't forget
to check out other things like food and water, mentioned below.
Food:
And just where does your food come from? Even if it is
Burger Thing, they had to get it somewhere. Think about it.
Grains (bread), Vegetables, fruit come out of the ground. Meat is animals
that have been eating the stuff that came out of the ground. All the
factories, cars, airplanes, nuclear power plants of the world spew their
exhaust full of toxic chemicals into the air that constantly circulates the
globe, distributing all that stuff on all the farmlands where your food
grows and on the lakes and rivers that provide water for irrigating the
crops. On top of that, most of our food (certainly all of it that you
would find at Burger Thing) comes from farms that purposefully put on
even more toxins (pesticides/herbicides) and chemical fertilizers that
get into the food and degrade the soil for future crops.
Water:
OK, let me get this straight... you care about having unpolluted water
to drink and maybe even to swim in, but you claim you don't care about
your community, your government, your neighbors, etc.?? Well, I've
got news for you. Even if you get all your water from collecting
rainwater, it is going to be carrying the chemicals put out by all the
cars, fireplaces, and industries upwind of you for many miles.
Government:
Let me guess -- government is
just for politicians, lawyers, and people who only care about winning
popularity contests? And anyone who is honest and really gives a shit
could never get elected anyway because of the stupidity and apathy of
the voters? Well, in many cases, you're right -- it has gotten that
bad. So how bad does it need to get before you get angry enough to do
something about it? Some people like you are finding ways to either
get around the problems with government or to get in there and become
part of government. It has been proven that it is possible. Just
check out the pages on Democracy and Information to find out more.
None of the Above:
So, you don't really care much about anything, eh? Then why are you
bothering to read all this??
[Sustainability]
[Caring]
[Information]
[Action]
[Foresight]
[Democracy]
[Ecology]
1/11/95 Last updated: 12/10/2008