A hope for a new future
It's like we're hostages of society paying our own ransoms. We see the intensified hyper-development forces swallowing the last bits of nature into controlled commodities. But instead of doing everything in our power to defend what's left, we surrender to the privilege of getting a bigger piece of the exploitation pie.
We're OK with cutting down the last forests as long as we get the majority of the paper. Why are we more concerned with maintaining our ‘way of life' than our lives themselves? Are we that cowardly that we'd prefer to just go along with our societies mass suicide than act against it? I don't think so.
Although the percentage of people who've shifted their priorities from what's best for them to what's best for the earth and future generations is still tiny and somewhat marginal, it is growing quickly, and the support base is widening. Awareness of the severity of humanity's impact on the planet is widespread, and more people are beginning to think critically about our ‘way of life'.
The problem lies not with spreading the awareness, but with helping people make the connection and the leap from thinking critically to acting. People want easy solutions. This is why we see David Suzuki hawking low energy light bulbs instead of encouraging people to disrupt industry and capitalism, which are the driving factors of environmental destruction. So we keep fueling it while hoping it ends, and saying we want change. This is not to say that we are insincere in our hopes. We all need something to hope for, and we all want change. But it isn't enough to hope for change. We must act for it in ways that we become that change. The ends are the means.
We become what we do, and I have faith that humanity could liberate itself and become so much more. I see a bright future because I am not afraid to dream. Nothing will stop me from thinking and acting independently to create a better planet today and a better tomorrow for the coming generations. I will not be intimidated into the economic slavery system that passes for ‘freedom'. Nobody is as hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they're free. You are only free to the degree you resist the physical, social, and psychological chains in your life. But there's progress everywhere. People everywhere are making serious gains in the fight against the systems of control and destruction.
The cultural tide is turning, and the awareness of global issues has overtaken the thought control of monopoly media. Don't get it twisted, there is still an insane media monopoly dominating the mainstream forms of communication our society such as television, radio, and most print. It's true that the number of the few companies who own it all gets smaller all the time with mergers of what are already mega-conglomerates. But as the mainstream media centralizes to the extreme, decentralized media is spreading.
But we have a very effective weapon now and its independent media. The internet has connected millions of peoples and democratized media. The fact that we have citizens have access to wide communication networks and independent sources is forcing the mainstream media industry to report in a slightly less biased way. However, the internet has it's own major social and environmental problems. Instead of real-world communities, we have online communities, which are monitored by our enemies. Instead of speaking face to face we type emails from halfway around the world and power our computers with coal and nuclear power. Did you know that the production of one computer creates almost 50 pounds of hazardous waste and consumes over 5,000 litres of water?
With that in mind, we need to reduce our dependence on computers and other technology as soon as possible. But the master's tools, especially the internet, can be used to dismantle the master's house. The Internet can be used to disseminate important information that others can act on, and can be used by environmentalists as a mobilizing force. Earth liberation is human liberation; escape.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
We're OK with cutting down the last forests as long as we get the majority of the paper. Why are we more concerned with maintaining our ‘way of life' than our lives themselves? Are we that cowardly that we'd prefer to just go along with our societies mass suicide than act against it? I don't think so.
Although the percentage of people who've shifted their priorities from what's best for them to what's best for the earth and future generations is still tiny and somewhat marginal, it is growing quickly, and the support base is widening. Awareness of the severity of humanity's impact on the planet is widespread, and more people are beginning to think critically about our ‘way of life'.
The problem lies not with spreading the awareness, but with helping people make the connection and the leap from thinking critically to acting. People want easy solutions. This is why we see David Suzuki hawking low energy light bulbs instead of encouraging people to disrupt industry and capitalism, which are the driving factors of environmental destruction. So we keep fueling it while hoping it ends, and saying we want change. This is not to say that we are insincere in our hopes. We all need something to hope for, and we all want change. But it isn't enough to hope for change. We must act for it in ways that we become that change. The ends are the means.
We become what we do, and I have faith that humanity could liberate itself and become so much more. I see a bright future because I am not afraid to dream. Nothing will stop me from thinking and acting independently to create a better planet today and a better tomorrow for the coming generations. I will not be intimidated into the economic slavery system that passes for ‘freedom'. Nobody is as hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they're free. You are only free to the degree you resist the physical, social, and psychological chains in your life. But there's progress everywhere. People everywhere are making serious gains in the fight against the systems of control and destruction.
The cultural tide is turning, and the awareness of global issues has overtaken the thought control of monopoly media. Don't get it twisted, there is still an insane media monopoly dominating the mainstream forms of communication our society such as television, radio, and most print. It's true that the number of the few companies who own it all gets smaller all the time with mergers of what are already mega-conglomerates. But as the mainstream media centralizes to the extreme, decentralized media is spreading.
But we have a very effective weapon now and its independent media. The internet has connected millions of peoples and democratized media. The fact that we have citizens have access to wide communication networks and independent sources is forcing the mainstream media industry to report in a slightly less biased way. However, the internet has it's own major social and environmental problems. Instead of real-world communities, we have online communities, which are monitored by our enemies. Instead of speaking face to face we type emails from halfway around the world and power our computers with coal and nuclear power. Did you know that the production of one computer creates almost 50 pounds of hazardous waste and consumes over 5,000 litres of water?
With that in mind, we need to reduce our dependence on computers and other technology as soon as possible. But the master's tools, especially the internet, can be used to dismantle the master's house. The Internet can be used to disseminate important information that others can act on, and can be used by environmentalists as a mobilizing force. Earth liberation is human liberation; escape.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
