A Better World, Part 1

I was talking to a successful and highly regarded lawyer some time ago about volunteer activity. He told me that except for doing work on behalf of his professional association, he felt that by paying his taxes on time and without trying to chisel, he was making an adequate contribution to our society. I appreciated his candour, but at the same time knew that he was not the realist which he probably prided himself on being. He and his wife, also a professional, have two daughters, not quite teenagers. If many persons of comparable intelligence, influence and wealth as my acquaintance take a similar approach, a world utterly polluted and in a state of perpetual violence is guaranteed for his grandchildren.

A number of times in the past twenty or thirty years, alarms have sounded. We were told that petroleum reserves would give out in less than a decade, that greenhouse gases would raise havoc with agriculture, the air we breathe, and our climate, that population growth was going to choke us, and that disease and illness would be beyond our control. In fact, petroleum and natural gas reserves are still surprisingly large, but the other dire predictions are proving correct, except that the disasters of which we were warned have developed more slowly than anticipated. It is always instructive when we personally experience examples of these or hear of similar problems. I do a fair amount of grocery shopping and find the price of fish puts it pretty well in the luxury category. Even the lowly cod is expensive because overfishing has pretty well wiped out the East Coast fish stocks and the fisheries.

A post-doctoral student in biological sciences, who comes from a large Chinese inland city, reports that he never saw blue sky at home, for the daytime colour of the sky was always a very pale brown. Photos from Canada's Far North show a drastic reduction in ice and glacier formations within only the last five years. The wealthiest countries have aging populations and birth rates below replacement levels, whereas countries with too high a birth rate, such as Egypt, cannot create enough jobs for those seeking work. The AIDS epidemic has practically destroyed civil society in many parts of Africa. The exodus from the countryside to the cities in less developed countries continues, but the misery in the cities is appalling. The task of making the countryside more productive and more agreeable has barely begun.

Poverty and hunger make a very hostile base for freedom and democracy. In some ways the indifference of the wealthier countries to the problems, only partially enumerated above, is in itself a staggering problem. Looking at the actions of President George W. Bush, and the prime ministers of Canada and the United Kingdom, one must conclude that, in spite of a little rhetoric to the contrary, all three are not committed to the struggle against poverty and for the protection of the world1s environment. The desire to make a real difference must come not only from the intellect but also from the heart or the gut, whichever you prefer. The majority will continue to be indifferent as it was to slavery, children working in mines, the Holocaust in the 40s and so on. That leaves the minority which is willing to act responsibly and globally. But what can it do? Everything!!!!

April 2003