Let’s discuss a potentially problematic subject that seems recently to cause significant confusion for some:
Conflation of care and responsibility for the health of our living planet with current governmental (et al.) world-domination schemes.
Okay. Let’s examine.
So.
There’s a somewhat popular opinion floating around that there IS no climate change, there are no environmental issues, and that it’s all been a big fat hoax designed to fool and control the populace.
So………..
Please bear with me here for a paragraph while I explain why I think I am qualified to address this at all:
I earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from CSUS—I mention that only to assure you my degree is from an actual college and wasn’t some shady online certification (I have a few of those too)—although I know, for sure, yes yes, we could also include here a pertinent discussion regarding college accreditation and governmental influence…another time perhaps. (Although I’ll also hazard here that professors, especially those in Env. Studies departments, as a group tend to be extraordinarily passionate, intelligent, caring and principled people). I get that my degree, no matter how legit, is no PhD but it does represent two years of concentrated study in this area, which is why I think I have at least the right and perhaps responsibility to weigh in here, although maybe I’m taking myself too seriously. You decide, I’ll type.
Alright.
Now that that’s taken care of…
While it’s understandable, given recent events and subsequent justifiable heightened distrust of government, that people might make the assumption that anything to do with environmental issues (and hence the urgent need for personal adjustments), might simply be a narrative purported to motivate people to unknowingly, and maybe even worse—out of the goodness of their hearts—do the bidding of evil overlords. I get it. These types or narratives, disseminated for just those purposes, certainly are being revealed left and right as as of late.
However.
I strongly personally feel that, given my education, my own studies, review of the literature and observation, along with the many branches of science weighing in on the many, many issues having to do with thousands of wide-spread environmental problems for many many decades, that the belated plea for urgent action to address environmental issues being a hoax aimed solely at control of the people would be highly, highly, highly unlikely. And functionally impossible, really, to be exact. *
My fear is that people may throw out the baby with the bathwater in this climate of “leadership” overreach, censorship, compliance demands, all types of control happening currently.
Because here’s the thing:
If you examine, for more than three minutes, any number of purported environmental issues—take your pick: habitat destruction, deforestation, species decimations, pollution, ocean acidification with coral reef loss, to name just a few and oh, dare I include, sigh, here we go…overpopulation**), you’ll see very quickly that not only are these and many other issues very real, but that you can probably observe some of them yourself even in your home town.
BUT HOLD UP:
That is not to say that corporations/those in power do not conveniently USE these issues for their own benefit and to advance their own agendas and sell you products. Absolutely, of course, duh, they will and do.
AND
Let’s, on the whole, also look closely at suggested (or mandated) methods of addressing environmental issues.
(Which are of course, also HUMAN issues).
(Which, of course, we should be doing anyway).
For instance, there’s a big difference between a) depopulation via killing people off (would anyone be that evil?? It’s happened before) and b) employing scientifically and historically proven humane methods of reducing birth rates such as providing women with access to education (very effective; the higher the level of education, the lower the birth rate), curtailing poverty or introducing women to and supplying them with safe methods of birth control.
Just for fun, here’s another example: producing (or growing in a petri dish for that matter—but that’s a slightly different issue) processed fake meat for the population to consume (of which ingredients included as well as preparation methods are known to result in multiple, serious and life-threatening health problems—perhaps as much or more than consuming actual non-human animals—although admittedly much less traumatic on the non-human animal), might not make as much sense as simply educating the populace on the considerable health risks of eating animal meat and products period, along with the wide array of benefits to eating plants (e.g., eliminating almost all of the top ten killers).
But then some corporates would be left out in the cold. Can’t have that.
Hmmmmm….
So
It takes discernment.
**Which often seems to me to be in somewhat short supply these days**
Using discernment, especially in the face of current issues with censorship, corporate control of media etc., can recently prove more challenging than it should be. But that doesn’t absolve one of responsibility. Perhaps it requires a bit more research (and by research I am not referring to just Googling—consider the source, the source of the source and the sources’ funding). It takes following the money. Maybe looking under the rug a bit. Or a lot. It also takes looking into your own heart and into your own practices: how are we affecting everyone else and the living Earth we depend on? Consider not just our own species, but the trees (without which we have no oxygen, just a note), ecosystems, other animal species and plant species (maybe they deserve to survive and thrive too?), for a start. What do we know is the compassionate thing if we’re informed? What do we know is right? It takes common sense. And heart.
It takes connecting with our True Selves, which, coincidentally, is the best thing we can do for ourselves, for humanity, and for the planet.
*As far as climate change goes, I am not a climate scientist, and I do recall one professor, when we were studying climate change phenomena, rather than informing us that climate change was real or not, suggested we consider the data presented and make up our own minds. And folks, there is a lot of data. But that’s good advice for anything, provided the data is reliable. So I’ll say the same thing: if you have the time and the energy and the resources to study the actual data, do so, and make up your own mind. Potential problem: But has the climate science always been rigged? Perhaps a valid question. Have the 97% of all scientists who fall into the camp of validating the existence of climate change (and published a trove of studies) been on some kind of payroll or under a campaign of threat? I don’t know. And I don’t pretend to know. Even if it sounds like I’m leaning one way, I may have a personal opinion about it, but I don’t really care about that. The truth is that I just don’t know and do not have the time, funds, resources or interest in trying to figure out if everyone was bribed or threatened. But here’s why that may not be all that relevant to you (unless you’re a lawmaker etc. and it’s your job to get to the bottom of it): I can see with my own eyes the environmental devastation around me and that’s enough to motivate me to care and try to help where I can.
** The Ishmael issue. Always touchy.
Contraception and fertility rates/BR example.