What We Are?

Humans are basically very selfish. It can be a good thing- it is a survival mechanism. With the onslaught of mass media, where we learn of crises around the world in moments or at the very least hours of their happening, we have tried to overcome that essential selfishness, thinking it uplifting to soul and mind to help others in trouble out. The U.S. in particular has gotten very good at rising to the occasion most of the time, to the point where it is almost expected of us. "You're the rich guys- you do it!" Well,.....this latest international duster may show how things are changing. Actually, some local stuff may too.
I have noticed that the debates about global warming have come to a screeching halt in the face of rising prices on fuel. That problem in turn is pressuring the wallet of every person on the planet, as well as curtailing delivery of food to places that cannot produce enough for themselves. Now we have the possibility that one of the biggest producers of rice for Indonesia- Australia- may not be able to make enough to export in the face of a huge drought. A friend in Austin expressed mild horror after being told by a touring Aussie band that people were starting to collect "brown water" to keep their lawns alive. Basically, if you don't know, they are using the water out of septic systems, only mildly treated, definitely undrinkable. In the face of not even having enough water to drink, I toot that as being smart. Every drop counts there right now.

The oceans are so full of our plastic debris that seabirds are dying of starvation while their stomachs are full- of plastic.

We have over fished to the point of destroying ecosystems that might take hundreds of years to come back.

Ice caps and glaciers world wide are melting at an alarming rate, and yet the amount of fresh water available for human use, both personal and agricultural, is diminishing at almost the same rate.

Weather patterns have changed worldwide, and our ability to predict, much less deal with it has not grown fast enough.

I don't know that the whole world is out of balance so much as She is shifting as she always has, and we are just too numerous to be able to deal with the shifts sensibly.
I bring this all up because I noticed that aid going to the most recent disaster in Myanmar (Burma) is maybe half of what would have happened two years ago. To top that off the political regime of the area is making getting aid to the worst hit places next to impossible. The human death toll may top 300,000, with disease and starvation taking many due to lack of help.

Is this what we are destined for ,as weather changes everything most of us alive today have ever known? Americans on the whole are a soft lot, and we may find ourselves in all sorts of trouble soon. If fighting for food and water starts to hit our streets, I will then know it is time to pack only what I need and head to where there are fewer humans.

I truly do believe we are the catalyst for the 6th great die-off of this planet's history. All the signs point that way. I personally think it is speeding up, but what kind of timeline exists for such things?

If I can remain dispassionate as it gets worse, this should be interesting to watch.


oh...and how did the local stuff show all this to be happening? A South Texas food bank has been begging for help this week- they literally have nothing in the warehouse to offer those who cannot afford to feed themselves. Are we so self concerned that a tank's worth of gas spent on groceries for the less fortunate is outside out ability anymore? I have to wonder.


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5333797585907820770