why must we be rewarded

it is bike to work week in the lower mainland this week

some sponsors are providing incentives to people by setting up tents/booths to provide food and water

the irony for me is that much of this food and water (bottled) is trucked around in CO2 spewing SUVs

why can't people be happy doing the right thing and not get a big pat on the back? sure, children need positive reinforcement to learn that doing the right thing is rewarded but adults? adults should know what is right and good - doing what is right and good should be in itself the only reward

is climate change all there is to talk about?

so, should we be truly worried about climate change as much as we are led to believe?

i'm not saying climate change is not happening or that something shouldn't be done about greenhouse gases but perhaps other issues should be forgotten such as HIV/AIDs, women's rights, lack of nutrition for many around the world, totalitarian agriculture, the path of consumption, the depletion of oil, etc.

and then the national post has an article about al gore's inconvenient truth and some of the errors within it and then retorts by mentioning the great global warming swindle movie which in itself is full of s**t

yet, i wonder why people challenge climate change - is it because of the bad science? i doubt that because so many peer reviewed journals publish scores of articles on the topic and its effects

the bottom line is $$$ - big oil, big pharma, big agriculture, and the sweat shop phenomenon depends profit and the myth of progress; without it the rich don't get richer

see, in my opinion, climate change isn't the problem - the culture we are all slowly being enveloped in, smothered in promotes and is dependent on growth

your RRSPs, your pension funds, your net worth is all dependent on growth - it is a futile pursuit because resources are limited

life will go on whether we address climate change or not - nature is resilient; now whether us humans will continue to thrive is a separate issue; and if we do, sure climate change should be addressed but fixing climate change won't feed 6, 7, 10, 20 billion people - only an attitude change and a realization that the world's population before the industrial revolution as maybe a billion which is what a non-oil culture is limited to +/- a few hundred million

people will die even if we reduce our greenhouse emissions, reduce our carbon footprint, turn off our lights, buy CFLs because there aren't enough energy sources and resources to keep the world's population at its current levels

growth will slow and things will change because nature will dictate change

only once people accept this will real change initiated by humans be seen

hopefully we don't act too late

it or us

so, what are we saving the earth for? life goes on, whether us humans are here or not...

is the concern for the environment simply a way of conserving conditions for human existence at its current population levels?

well, that won't work

so, what will?

i'm not sure but i think focusing on social justice issues such as narrowing the gap income, wealth and power - and i think this should be done by pulling down the roof, rather than raising the floor

inequality needs to be leveled out because those without harms everyone; health issues attack the impoverished more seriously because of their lack of sanitation, access to medical help and poor nutrition

by fighting these issues then the health of all will be improved giving everyone a chance at establishing authentic existence - something with meaning and hope

HIV/AIDS

i've been reading AIDS in the Twenty-First Century by Barnett and Whiteside and i've learnt a few things

- HIV only has 10 genes

- the aids pandemic is especially damaging because it affects the demographic that is economically important (15-50 year olds) unlike most diseases that affect the young, elderly or sick

- the delay between infection with HIV and full on AIDS that can range from 5 to 10 years; this allows a lot of time for the infected individual to infect others

yup, HIV/AIDS is a much bigger issue than i previously thought and should be a growing concern for everyone

my comments for this week

actually, i just had to put something here - my brain is mostly idling this week tossing ideas of AIDS, military industrial complex, cultural studies, pierre eliot trudeau, attacks on skytrain, trips to get groceries (with its consequent connections to consumption)

and why don't people bring their own shopping bags to the store?

ugh, this will continue at a better time at a later date