Headline - DominionPost 22 Oct 2009 (& Stuff.com)
Save the Planet: time to eat dog?
on Stuff today. To save you reading it the couple involved are not advocating eating dog, rather, I assumed, a subeditor sitting around at 7pm thought the headline would get the maximum shock value. Until I read:
"Victoria University professors Brenda and Robert Vale, architects who specialise in sustainable living, say pet owners should swap cats and dogs for creatures they can eat, such as chickens or rabbits, in their provocative new book Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/2987848/Save-the-planet-time-to-eat-dog/
I've come across a lot of eco-shock articles in the last while, probably a reaction to increased panic around global warming, that in itself creates more panic and worry and perhaps hysteria. (Hysteria is not the best word to use if you believe the planet and humanity have only 15 years left - as then it is justified urgent panic.)
I'm going to try my own version of eco-shock-urgency panic as well.
Consider humans are always going to impact on the 'natural' environment, our lifestyles, the way we think, our desire for warmth, better food, and quest for science and learning will always be a drain on the planet. I remember as a young pseudo-lefty believing if we abolished private wealth greed would disappear (a la Russian Communist literature circa 1919 - new communist man). I believe now it won't, so the idea that humanity can be taught to not want nice clothes, ace food and choice computer games is equally silly. Also try telling the Chinese and Indians they can't have nice stuff, and lifestyles similar to us and see how far you get.
Given then that humans will always be a drain on the planet - the most green thing we can do is swallow native tree seeds, dig big holes in our backyards and kill ourselves. Or maybe someone could kill us and fill the hole in for us.
So - now you've been shocked into thinking about doing the right thing and digging pits for you and your loved ones - what do I actually think?
Unless we give more time and space to reasonable sustainable living experts who accept that all things affect our eco-systems (plants and animals, and human animals) and it's about working to manage these impacts with sustainable goals in mind.
The usually unspoken but clearly visible utopion ideal of living in little eco-bush shacks with as little eco-footprint as possible is a nice one but really people won't do it willingly, except of course some eco-puritans who are often already trying this.
Science. We have to start resourcing science with as much effort as we can. rather than spending 1% of GDP on science and allowing performing arts, media and coms graduates to be more numerous than science graduates, we need to actively prioritise the very thing that got us into this mess in the first place.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment