Back in My Carless...Carfree Days

         Cleaning out my desk...found some old writings, from the days when I wrote a weekly column for a small newspaper. This paragraph popped out at me...I'm amazed and dismayed by the willingness of every American to partake in the wanton and frivolous distribution of carcinogenic chemicals into the air and water. The same air and water that we all use to sustain our finite lives.
         My wife brought home a DVD called Chemical Roulette that she picked up at the local natural foods store and we invested our Sunday evening in watching this thoroughly frightening expose on corporate food production..... No wonder I totally immerse myself in my two favorite sports; cycling and baseball!
          It's true, we are going to die and... the meek are not inheriting the earth, but, no matter how hard we try, we are not going to change the minds or reform the consumptive and polluting behaviors those around us by bitching and proselytizing about "a better way" to live.
         So, all that's left is...just live, and do your best to enjoy each day and try to enrich the lives of those around you. We all have the power to screw up the environment that we share, and I realize that many of us are not performing this act out of anger or meanness but, we can all do better, we can strive to tread lighter on this planet and each other.
         Once we are aware of our impact and develop a desire to do less damage to the air and water we share, then, the change begins. This change and awareness has been going on during most of my lifetime...but, I am impatient with our progress. As John Muir said, "The money-changers are in the temple." and as long as money has the power to blind and possess a majority of those who live near us, we will only be the small voice in the back of their conscience that says, "This isn't right, I'm being selfish here."
         We may be unlucky enough to be the generation that sees radical change in how we treat each other as a result of numerous natural and unnatural disasters, that may be or not be the result of our bad environmental and political behavior...comeuppance, I think it's called. People do "pull together" during these times and definitely learn to be compassionate toward those less fortunate.