I have amassed a large collection
of video films, and every once in a while when I feel like watching
a film I rummage through them. Yesterday was one such day when, as I
was checking the titles, I came across a video by non other than the late Michael Jackson.
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The late Micheal Jackson |
At one point, he is shown giving
a speech at a ceremony of a charity movement he sponsored. As I listened,
my attention was caught by the line "we are destroying the environment".
Front page news on yesterday's paper had carried a report made by scientists
of the state of the environment, and prognosticated a 50 year period
before the earth became uninhabitable, this coming right after the refusal
of some industrialized nations to cut down their emission of harmful
greenhouse gases. I remember imagining generations who survive the catastrophe
wondering what went wrong with their ancestors, and, since you are happy
with what you have, probably writing us off as a primitive stage of
their development.
What caught my attention in Michael Jackson's speech, however, was the
use of the term "we". I have heard this said by many before,
but now, it just didn't sound right.
It is right that an ecological tragedy would be humankind's disaster,
but then a qualification needs to be made here. Some of humankind has
been responsible for the disaster, not all of it, since, while the disaster
has unfolded, much of humankind has not had control of their destinies,
hence little if no control on this disastrous end.
I know that this sounds racist. Many can argue that the catastrophe
could not have been avoided even if other groups of mankind had been
in control. It was an accident that was waiting to happen since man
learnt to control fire.
But looking at our time from the future, and not from the present where
much is lied about, some things become very clear. Adding a bit of every
day common sense to the whole seals the case.
Looking at our present from, say, 5000 years in the future, historians
will be able to map out the origin of the problem, and its spread to
the rest of the world. Unaffected by our present misinformation, they
will know that when the system came to the rest of the world, its center
of control stayed in Europe, for the duration. The fire was started
in Europe, and fanned from there. The rest of humankind helping fan
the fire doesn't make them accomplices, merely players simply caught
up in the whole.
For one, future historians and scientists will know the course of all
of humankind's history today, and be able to tell where the destructive
culture originated. They will be able to follow all cultures, follow
their environments, and be able to tell who had a culture destructive
to his own environment, and who didn't, and, when it became too late,
who had control of the situation, and who had a knife held to his neck.
We are all people, but there is something wrong with a mentality that
accepts that all are to blame for a problem. As such, problems cannot
be resolved, because, by becoming everybody's problem, they also become
nobody's problem.
If there is a pedophile in the area, and everyone says "we are
pedophiles", then no one will bother with confronting the culprit,
since everyone is the culprit.
This truth can be applied to all of humankind too, since they have their
own distinct cultures, languages, and countries. Stating the culture
that is to blame for the catastrophic state of the environment goes
a long way in helping that culture face up to its faults.
With this in mind, recent aspirations to cement our cultures forever
to the western cultures, to become partners with the other house, are
worrying. This need shows nothing more than a lack of concern for our
environment, and humankind. If we want to give humankind a chance, then
the best attitude is avoidance of fusing with systems with a destructive
record, especially when the culture itself seems incapable or unwilling
to correct its faults.
This move not only shows a lack of discretion, an inability to be creative,
but also a belief that nothing else is possible, which only encourages
the warped culture in its ways. There are so many advantages to being
brave, realizing that one is also creative, and embarking on a one way
ticket to one's own ideal of a perfect society, and knowing, and of
course ensuring all the time that one will survive. It not only gives
a glimpse of hope for mankind, but is also the only way to ultimately
challenge the dominant, destructive orientation with visible results
of a better way, as opposed to mere talk.