MMeM, Vol. 14 Issue 28 – This is Us
S
o, we’ve made it to the end of another year in spite of ourselves, barely. Look, I’m not about to debate climate change, or as it was previously known by its failed marketing slogan, #GlobalWarming. Yes, the climate is changing and it’s probably, at least in part, our fault. But here’s the deal, we didn’t set out to do this. I don’t think millions were rebelling about giving up walking in favor of domesticating the horse, or for that matter moving into the automobile kicking and screaming.
Now is the time to work together to try to make things better, and it’s already happening. Look at autonomous vehicles running on battery power. It’s coming so fast. Some of us may have already purchased our last combustible engine car or truck and don’t even realize it yet. Change. Change happens and as much as it’s human nature to fear it and dislike it, it’s part of our DNA, it’s evolution, survival and growth. Learning and moving forward is what WE do because nothing stays the same forever.
However, the millions of us not on the frontlines of working to combat the climate change issues before us, are left to….gripe. We gripe and point out all of the bad that humans have done to help bring all of this Armageddon. Again, we didn’t know it at the time, how could anyone have known? It’s not like one of the cave people who witnessed the first campfire decided to NOT point out the concern of the heat that was being generated by the man-made heat source. No! And from that first fire, it all started.
Fast forward to the rest of us searching and mining for examples of how horrible we humans are. Take the banning of PLASTIC STRAWS! Ah hah! How many landfills are overflowing with plastic straws? How many dolphins are struggling to swim with their bodies being squeezed through a plastic straw? Ok, I’m being sarcastic here. I know there are millions of straws that wash up every year on beaches everywhere.
Let’s do away with them. But why can’t we simply phase them out without all of the fanfare? We can’t because corporations and people want to spin simple efforts for doing the right thing into huge pats on the backs for themselves.
Just stop. Stop hating our own species so much. We’ve collectively done things to aid in the heating up of the planet. We didn’t mean to, and we’re working on reversing things or finding other options. But the point is, all of this finger-pointing serves no one. From cow farts to plastic straws, we’re all to blame, all 7.5 billion of us.
Oh, and Happy New Year!