Centuries of 'doing' have blocked our escape

Easter Island's civilization
 is on that historically
 famously collapsed.

Centuries of “doing” have fostered for us a way of living from what is now nearly impossible to escape.

It is understood that the acceptance of a new idea is not what frustrates change rather it is the letting go of that with which we are familiar.

Considering that and conscious that we have become so emboldened by, and addicted to, tradition – a familiar and established way of doing – that the vitality and excitement of change is no longer attractive, interesting or inspiring, and so instead, in the extreme, frightening and so something to be avoided.

Society has changed immeasurably in the past few centuries, but those differences have always been within the relatively narrow confines of cultures driven by wants rather than needs.

The difficulty confronting humanity, particularly in the past two or three centuries but in reality for millennia, has been differentiating between wants and needs.

History is littered with examples of civilizations being sacrificed on the altar of a perverse wants, a want that could be answered only through the pointless and needless death of millions and, ultimately, the collapse of the civilization of which there were an integral part.

The current trajectory of modern life has, it seems, just one destiny; a point where the developed world will fall to its knees, exhausted, from the weight of its own largesse.

Rather than live in hypnotic-like trance in which we tirelessly pursue profit and growth in our materialistic, confrontational, consumerist world and in which happiness and contentment is at best chancy; we need to reassert fundamental human values of collaboration, sharing, generosity, friendship and a connection with nature.

Humanity’s present aspirations are perverted in that they appear unrelated to the broad betterment of people, regardless of their socio-economic standing, except, of course, for those among the super-rich minority.

Happiness is not connected, despite our present mindset, to wealth and consumption with many studies demonstrating how the relationship between happiness and wealth ends about the time our needs are answered.

Work and human wellbeing are intimately connected and yet the former has gained such primacy that the latter is left in disrepair with most of us medicating our unease through consumption.

Humans are innately social and instead of bonding through shopping, we should be investing our time and energy, and resources, into building stronger and more resilient communities in which our neighbours become our friends.

We should be advocating for public transit; sharing everything from vehicles to various house appliances and garden tools; working with neighbours to build and repair our homes and grow and share our food; re-inventing our neighbourhoods, enabling them to become places in which we live, in every sense; and, importantly, remain engaged with our fellows.

Rudd was right, but forgot to mention what really matters

Stepping back into to what is colloquially known as Australia’s “top job”; Kevin Rudd said “politics has failed Australians”.

Kevin Rudd - right, but he
 missed what mattered.

Our new Prime Minister was right, but forgot to add that it was not just politics that had faltered, but politicians themselves.

Politicians are embedded in a political paradigm that is broken; a paradigm in which there is a vacuum of ideas about encouraging Australians to prepare for a decidedly different future.

Australian’s have the opportunity on September14 (well, that is presently the date) to change that and elect people who can help us understand and make-ready for that difference.

What is missing, however, are the people, the personalities and the leaders with the intellectual athleticism and the courage to make the essential decisions we need if Australia is to endure the unfolding global differences.

Australians elect their federal representatives in September this year, but their choice, if it is that, is little more than deciding between a Jonathon or a Pink Lady –both are apples, about the same colour, taste pretty much the same and have similar nutritional value.

Irrespective of who we vote for on September 14, little will change and the dynamics of impending disasters that have the world in their thrall will continue to close in.

The agonies of the Labour Party are equally irrelevant, although it seemed Julia Gillard had some grasp on what was needed if Australia, and the world, is to puncture the envelope of difficulties in which we are trapped.

We need leaders who accept and understand the implications and complications of the world’s changing climate; who will lead us through the arising maze of difficulties it will produce; those who will change government priorities to build a country in which emphasis is on small and local; who are sufficiently independent thinkers to comprehend that the paradigm of the past is not feasible in a future in which collapse will be driven by financial disarray, burgeoning population growth, a looming energy crisis, and food and water shortages.

Questioning the effectiveness of our politicians or at least those of her home country, American finance and energy commentator, Nicole Foss, said: "The only things that are likely to come from the top down are problems, not solutions."

“Fixing this situation goes beyond politics; it requires leadership at all levels of society. But politics has a role to play. Both politicians and the electorates they serve must have the courage to enact sweeping policy changes that shift the course of the deep current, not just stir up the surface eddies”, Ms Foss said.

Our politicians continue to waste valuable time as they verbally joust about issues they consider serious, but in reality matter nought when it comes to preserving circumstances in which our communities can flourish.

Rather than worrying about digging up, using and exporting more coal; making us wealthier through financial wheeling and dealing, which by any measure is less than honest; or implicating us further in existing market systems; our politicians should be building resilience in our communities and shaping the lives of Australians in way that would allow them to endure a very different future.

Our present political trajectory driven by bickering and misunderstood wants takes us closer to the abyss, and although we demand courageous and innovative leadership we, as citizens, face an equal ultimatum.

Profit, growth and sexualization of our childredn tied together

Profit and growth are responsible for the sexualization of our children.

Melinda Tankard Reist.

That is the implication of the well-researched views of Canberra author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for women and girls, Melinda Tankard Reist.

The essence of her views is that the rude drive by companies and corporations to become bigger and more profitable combined with almost total community silence ensures our children will be psychologically damaged and grow to be equally damaged adults.

Ms. Reist, known for her work on the objectification of women and sexualization of girls and working to address violence against women, presented her thesis about the erosion of children’s values recently to nearly 100 people at the Lakeshore Church on the Sunshine Coast.

Her presentation was part of an on-going program introduced to the church by its pastor, L.T. Hopper, to engage his congregation, and others, with contemporary societal issues.

Introducing the church’s second parenting seminar, Pastor Hopper, said: “As a church we are obviously just a bunch of ordinary people who have issues that are common to everyone and so particularly as parent myself I know that I’m a bit like a beggar myself looking for crumbs when it comes to getting help when it comes to being a parent.”

In introducing Ms. Reist, he said most parents were really at a loss when confronted with the issues about to be discussed..

Her concerns were primarily about girls, but she was also alarmed how contemporary society treats boys, who she said were being raised in a “very brutal and callous version of masculinity”.

Ms. Reist began with criticism of a society that celebrates violence, but then considers fining parents who allow their children to become bullies.

She looked at the cultural landscape in which people were struggling to raise happy, healthy and resilient children and asked why is it so hard to raise children? – “It’s the toughest gig in town,” she said.

In what was probably the most daring presentation ever hosted at a church, Ms. Reist took those listening on a tour of the realities of contemporary society showing the acutely sexualized images that children are confronted with every day.

She explained how many international corporations that are either based on sex or profit from sex, portray themselves innocently, but profit handsomely from the corruption of young minds.

She argued that it was the silence of the community that allowed this perverse profiteering to continue.

Many examples of the sexualization of youth were collected by Ms. Reist in Queensland, but frequently from companies that are represented throughout Australia. An example was a padded-bra, which she held up, for a four-year-old.

Ms. Reist argued that all those listening should immediately talk with their local politicians and demand changes to protect our children from sexualization.

 

Hypocrisy and Spaceship Earth solutions

Hypocrisy riddles my writing.

"Spaceship Earth" - rebuilding it in
flight demands courageous leadership.

Frequently I lament public behaviour that furiously depletes earth’s finite resources and worsens the damage to our atmosphere and yet I stand with those my criticisms target.

That’s hypocrisy or in more colloquial terms, is the pot calling the kettle black.

My only defence, and it is rather weak, is that at least I am aware of the damage, why it is happening and what societal responses are necessary to mitigate the trouble, or at least how we should prepare ourselves for what is ahead.

A friend discussed the dilemma just recently and he too feels like something of a hypocrite in that he frequently espouses the challenges of climate change, but in the broader scheme of events is doing little, or at least in his view.

Personally, my life and that of my family, is embedded in the consumer society and although the courage to step aside from it is absent, that alone does not appear to be the solution.

Individual actions are wonderful and deserve applause, but without society as a whole shifting and realigning its priorities, we simply end up with a bunch of individuals living in way that might be sustainable, but absolutely inadequate in context to counter the behaviour of most.

The honourable work and intentions of that absolute minority is simply not enough to support society’s “free-riders” – that’s me, you and a whole bunch of people we know.

There is no immediate or easy solution to climate change – something unimaginable to generations of people who have grown up in an era in which technology could solve anything – as a two-degree increase over pre-industrial temperatures is certain  and three, four and five degrees is almost certain this century.

And so what does a hypocrite do?

Admit to the problem, find like-minded souls, set about creating a community conversation about the unfolding difficulties; ready, as best you can, local communities for what is ahead; and hopefully have some impact on Local, State and Federal politicians in the expectation that they may have vision and understanding of the coming challenges; and, subsequently, the courage to introduce legislative changes that will significantly alter society’s behaviour before nature steps in, forcing despotic changes, without appeal.

The idea of retreating from society to survive has its appeal, but ultimately it is strangely defeatist and it is worth remembering that climate change plays no favourites and while withdrawal to a well-stocked bolt-hole might allow momentary preservation, it will not, in a truly altruistic sense, do much for the overall salvation of society.

Rebuilding an airliner in flight would be an impossible undertaking; spaceship earth is in flight and with all systems failing, we now need courageous and innovative leadership to take us through this delicate refurbishment.

Unintended consequences a parent doesn't want to face

Life is really just a series of consequences.

Chase and Tyler who died in
 2010 of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Some are hoped for and so are the outcome of directed and planned effort, but the other side of the leger is made up of unintended consequences; some often pleasing and others quite the reverse.

An unintended consequence that derailed the life of Mooroopna’s Vanessa Robinson in 2010 when her sons, Chase, 8, and Tyler, 6, died of carbon monoxide poisoning further unfolded recently at Shepparton’s School of Rural Health.

The ramifications of that tragedy continue to ricochet through Vanessa’s life, but rather than succumb to the sorrow such moment can bring, Vanessa has set about helping others understand how such consequences can be avoided.

Just last month Vanessa launched the website for the Chase and Tyler Foundation - www.chaseandtyler.org.au.

Vanessa’s welcome on the website says:

“In 2010, my children Chase and Tyler Robinson died from carbon monoxide poisoning from an un-serviced gas heater in our rental property. They were only eight and six years old.
“In 2011, The Chase & Tyler Foundation was established to reduce the number of deaths and injuries in Australia caused by carbon monoxide.
“Through the efforts of the foundation to educate communities about this health hazard, Chase and Tyler’s legacy of saving Australian lives will live on.”

Ever eager to ensure that others don’t suffer a fate similar to her own, Vanessa, who works at GV Health and now lives in Shepparton, has exercised her contacts and recently had an expert in recognizing and treating carbon monoxide poisoning, Associate Professor Peter Morley, talk with about 100 people at Shepparton’s School of Rural Health.

Prof Morley, an intensive care specialist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, took medical students from the Shepparton School and staff from GV Health through the intricacies and difficulties of recognizing a patient with carbon monoxide poisoning and then the equally complex subsequent problem of treating them.

Carbon monoxide is odourless and tasteless making its detection difficult in the extreme and there was some discussion at the recent lecture about the effectiveness of alarms for devices that produce carbon monoxide, particularly gas heaters.

There was some discussion about the importance of regular servicing of gas-fired heaters and one audience member said a recent service of her heater provided great peace of mind.

There appeared broad agreement among the audience about the need for regular checking and although there appeared to be agreement about mandated servicing and checking for rented properties, there was decided discomfort about making that society-wide.

 

Whatever happens, Vanessa wants others learn from the unintended consequences that left an indelible stain on her life and learn about it and take steps to ensure that the silent killer that is carbon monoxide doesn’t visit their lives.

First we 'Recognise' and then we vote

Well, that’s Reconciliation Week done and dusted for another year.

The symbol for
 the "Recognise"
campaign.

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Maybe the actual week is over, but its intent, its reason and the idea that drives it goes on.

The matters discussed in Reconciliation Week are simply about human decency and they continue irrespective of what the week is called.

The treatment of Australia’s indigenous people got off to a rather bad start from the moment the first fleet arrived in January 1788.

The country’s indigenous people watched bemusedly as the rag-tag bunch of English men and women struggled to find a foothold in their new home, unaware that those new arrivals were about to be subject them to a genocide that constitutionally continues today.

Although Aboriginals had lived happily, sustainably and successfully on this country for thousands of years, the English arrived, acted as if it was empty and set about to recreate their homeland, and that included getting rid of whatever stood in their way, among them a few troublesome locals.

Those “troublesome locals” were slaughtered, harassed, herded, stolen, disposed and finally being considered a dying race, were not recognised in any sense in the 1901 Australian constitution.

About 50 people listened recently in Shepparton as constitutional lawyer and University of New South Wales law professor George Williams explained the dispossession and discrimination that is now a constitutional part of Australia’s indigenous citizens’ lives.

Professor Williams’ visit coincided with national Reconciliation Week and the launch of the pamphlet “Recognise”, a nation-wide initiative to make all people fully aware of the detrimental wording in the current constitution has on many people; particularly the many indigenous people who are a critical and vital part of the social mosaic of Australian communities.

Listening to Prof Williams was rather uncomfortable, for as a “white fella” who linage is linked to those “first fleeters”, I fall in with those naïve, insensitive, brutal and single-minded people who treated rather badly the original inhabitants of what we now call “Australia”.

I can do little to make right the transgressions of those early European colonizers for what  is done is done, but the constitutional genocide goes on and it is through that more than 100 year old document we could make some adjustments, as minor and as seemingly insignificant to us they may seem.

What happened in the lead-up to the writing of Australia’s constitution was, seen through today’s eyes, clearly wrong, but it had legitimacy then, but now is not then and the responsibility to change, update and recognise our original inhabitants will fall upon as all within about 18 months when the matter goes to a referendum.

Between now and then, it’s our responsibility to learn about the need for change and recognise it is simply about human decency.

The fragile candle of the future flickers in Shepparton

The fragile candle of our future flickers in Shepparton on Thursday night.

The passionate and articulate,
 Arundhati Roy.

A trio of speakers, marshalled on the night by Professor Kate Auty, will talk about opportunities arising from our changing climate, but deep within that conversation will be an urgency on which our understandable future hinges.

Thursday night’s “Slap Tomorrow – A Wake-Up Call” is about our communities understanding, accessing and utilizing opportunities that surface as we adapt to our changing climate.

Beyond that, Thursday night, in an almost unrecognized sense, is about this community re-imagining how it lives; it’s about our institutions; it’s about our governance; it’s about how we treat each other; it’s about regaining a sense of who we are, understanding why we are here and what is our purpose; it’s about an appreciation of our intergenerational responsibilities; and it’s about, importantly, securing the resources on which humanity is dependent –clean air, drinking water, food production, stable climate and a rich biodiversity for natural ecosystem function and the benefits of nature in providing human psychological health and the sustenance of countless other species critical to our lives.

It is not a debate about whether or not climate change is happening for the evidence is conclusive; humans have interfered with earth’s atmosphere to the extent that the Holocene, an epoch in the world’s history that has allowed humans to thrive, is collapsing.

Our voracious capitalist and market driven world has polluted not only most everything in the biosphere, but it has also invaded our minds leaving many of us intellectually crippled and so unable to understand and comprehend the threats to our future.

Helping us break out of that status quo-induced mental prison will be the co-founder of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Anna Rose; a Sydney based professor recognised through the world for her innovative ideas about the re-use of materials, Prof Veena Sahajwalla; and environmental communications consultant, Rob Gell.

Thursday night’s conversation is about recognizing and adapting to opportunities emerging from our changing climate, but deeply implicated within those discussions are questions about what happens next?

Writing in her 2009 book “Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy”, Arundhati Roy, asked what happens now that democracy and the Free Market have fused into a single predatory organism with a thin, constricted imagination that revolves almost entirely around the idea of maximizing profit?”

She argues that what we need now for the survival of this planet, or at least conditions in which humans can thrive, is long-term vision.

Thursday night’s conversations are about that urgently need long-term vision; they will be about our intergenerational responsibilities; and they will be about escaping from what Roy describes escaping from our “greatest folly”, our near-sightedness.

Roy wrote: “Our amazing intelligence seems to have outstripped our instinct for survival.
“We plunder the earth hoping that accumulated material surplus will make up for the profound, unfathomable things we have lost,” she said.

Thursday night begins a journey, though rather late, when we can ponder the questions Roy asks.