I’m Sorry! It’s Not Me, It’s You!
I’m probably not the best of friends, at least not in the traditional sense. I don’t call my friends very often and I’m pretty distant and uninterested when I do talk to them. The same applies to my family. Haven’t seen some in years. Weeks and months go by without much else besides a short WhatsApp or Messenger text. That’s not because I don’t love them, I do love them very much. It’s just that I’m totally uninterested in what they have to say. I’m like Stan in that episode of South Park where everything he hears just sounds like crap.
Some of them say I’m too negative and that I can’t look at the world that way. Others say I’m snobby and think I’m better than everyone else. I understand them and I do see how I can come across that way from their perspective, but again, I simply don't care. If you have read some of my previous articles, especially this one, you maybe understand my mentality a little bit.
I don’t see myself as the problem, I see them as the problem. I couldn’t care less about the topics most of them want to talk to me about. Who you hooked up with, what bar you hit up, what TV show you’ve seen, what face your child made, and all that trivial nonsense. Those topics are a waste of my time and filling up precious, limited, memory space. None of that stuff matters to me and only a handful of people listen and understand the topics I want to talk about. By this point, you are probably siding with my friends and family and thinking “Gee, this guy really is an a-hole.”
I am a man that is consumed from within. I am consumed by the fact that I live in a society I don’t identify with, a society where very few of my values are represented. A mass of genocidal halfwits that are at best to dense to comprehend what is happening. Their victim is the future. Our species complete lack of interest for the vital systems that keep us alive and thriving on this planet and our absorption into the cult of celebrity worshiping and materialism is downright repulsive to me.
I try to engage people as much as I can but nobody likes a party pooper. “Don’t be so negative! People don’t like hearing that!” or “You should try to end the stories on a positive note!” Why? So you can feel better? So that you can keep living in your little bubble while the house is on fire? No, thanks! I want to keep ringing the bells and wake you up from your sleep to realize the impending danger that we are all in. I don’t even have children, you have three! I should be the one talking about crap and you should be the one being alarmed because it’s your kids and nephews that are going to be worse off.
The earthquake is happening as we speak yet we’re standing on the beach saying “What Tsunami? What are you talking about? The water is receding!”. Unbeknown to us, a massive wall of water hundreds of miles in length is traveling across the great blue desert of plastic polluted ocean at the speed of a commercial jumbo jet to end our existence. Meanwhile we’re taking selfies with the stranded fish and looking for lost jewellery on the seabed where the water has receded. That’s how I feel about what’s happening to our beautiful planet. That’s why I am sad when I am all by myself. It’s my mood by default.
I probably won’t even get to see the wave, I’ll be long dead. But I know it’s coming and my actions today can have a small impact on its force and so can yours. You can either feed the tsunami or detract from its force. With a few small actions now, you can save an exponential amount of suffering in the future. We’re trapped in the comfort zone! Especially in the developed world. We don’t want to make any sacrifices, we want to send thoughts and prayers and fingers crossed all will be well. It won’t be! Action is needed!
It’s not all lost yet, but it will be if we don’t undertake a major shift in our priorities as a species. We have the capacity to undo some of the harm we’ve done. There are still strongholds of nature that can be protected and areas that can be healed back to life. Like the heart-warming story of renowned photographer Sebastiao Salgado and his partner Lelia, who took a 1740 acre depleted cattle farm and over the course of 20 years restored it to a tropical rainforest, with over 2.7 million trees, that 172 species of birds, 33 species of mammals, 15 species of amphibians and 15 species of reptiles now call home. Even water has returned to the property! The eight natural springs on the farm have come alive and, even in times of drought, they now flow at a rate of some 20 litres (5.3 gals) per minute.
There, I ended the story on a positive note. Hope you are happy!
