Do you ever wonder if there really is life out there?
What would happen if Barack Obama announced today that an alien race had
contacted us? What would we think? Would we be scared?
Sometimes I think that while it’s just a conspiracy theory,
it can’t be proven. And while it can’t be proven right or wrong, it’s safe for
us to think about. Safe for us to make movies about or write books about. But
imagine if it really were true. It would change everything about the way we see
ourselves and the universe. We can’t even get along with our own kind, let
alone an alien race.
It makes me think the same thing about the planet. I
remember when I first learnt about environmental issues in school. There was a certain
optimism; that as the future generation we were the key to solving the problem.
And I believed it. Captain Planet always had a happy ending.
That was 20 years ago. And when I look around at what is
happening today, things have only gotten worse. It appears that what I once
thought of as off limits, no longer is. Will Finding Nemo be enough to save the Great Barrier Reef
from coal mining? Malcom Douglas couldn’t stop copper mining in The Kimberly. No
one could save Kakadu. And now Shell are planning to drill for oil in the Arctic
Circle.
When I heard about it this morning I had an ‘Aha moment’. Oil
and mining companies will never stop. They will mine and drill every last bit
of oil or mineral that they can find on this planet, until there is none left.
That is there job. It doesn’t matter what we say about these resources being
precious – not only to the planet but also to our society; where would medicine
be without plastics and metals? It doesn’t matter how much we say about any of
it because it is their job to get oil and they will keep doing it anywhere and
everywhere, until there is none left. I’m not saying this in a sad, save the
world kind of way. I’m just saying it in a, this is the truth of the matter, kind
of way. It’s like I’ve suddenly grown up and seen the world for what it is.
And that brings me to the next question. What is going to
happen to us? Because as long as we keep arguing about climate change - whether
or not it’s actually happening, and how we can stop it - it means that it’s not
real. It means we don’t really have to think about it.
But cutting down old growth forests and digging up world
heritage listed national parks to mine for resources is real. And the future is
real. We talk about the future all the time but do we really think about it?
Because for me the future has already happened. And it will happen again. But will
it be any better than the present? My guess is that if we continue the same way
as now, it will be exponentially worse, and in another twenty years time I will
probably be saying the exact same thing.
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