Troy Thomas, who occasionally leaves comments on this blog, is a brilliant observer and a fine writer. He's of a British Columbia First Nations' band up near Salmon Arm. Yesterday Troy left an exceptional comment to a post I put up concerning the perils and pitfalls of geoengineering. I'd like to share it:
When the white people first appeared, the elders of my people recognized in a few of the white people a frightening mental illness: greed. It drove those people to want more and more and more.
Far more than they needed. Far more than any person would ever need in their entire lives.
And now, this illness has driven all of the earth's population to this point.
The elders had no cure for those people afflicted with this illness. Or rather, the afflicted white man already had good cures available, but these people did not avail themselves of them.
We all need less in this world. We need less luxury. We need less sprawl. We need less pollution. We need less of the shit they dig out of the earth, and more trees and plants planted back into it. We need less of this civilization and we need more nature. We need far less of what we don't need, and probably we could do with a little less of what we do need, too.
We need to learn to make do with less, because in the harsh future I see coming headed straight at us, we'll have to do so, regardless of what we want.
3 comments:
Troy, I know who makes up the true last line of defence here in the north. The consequences of what's been sown...the seven deadly sins are called that for a very compelling reason.
L&L, these days, especially in Western Canada, the First Nations constitute the front line of our environmental defences. It's up to the rest of us to join them.
I joined with them when I was a teenager. I live near, no on, disputed Six Nation's of the Grand- territory. I do it for Dudley George. And Brant. And all the others, locked up for their political beliefs or on trumped up charges in a very flawed system. For the dead and dying,fighting since the invasion and terrorism against them began. Too strong? No. We need to get real so we can help each other's nations, together. Third world conditions in a non-apartheid, rich 'democracy' is a crime. Against humanity. The humanity of every single last one of us. Worthy of nothing and a crying shame. HonorTheTreaties.com
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