The Good, The Bad, And ....

I find myself at an age where I sometimes feel like making later day assessments of my life.  I wonder how the good and the bad are stacking up against one another.  Cutting right to the chase I think that the good includes finding architecture, leaving the city, and living close to nature.  I think that the bad includes acquiring an excessive amount of material possessions (which I seem to covet) and not doing more to help preserve the natural world.  A few words about these latter two…

 

Material Possessions

In truth many of my possessions are akin to saving things that may have some future use.  Things like old Porsche engine parts, salvaged redwood lumber, and libraries of books on architecture, art, nature, fishing, etc.  But there are also my three vehicles, two boats, three pieces of property, a shop full of tools, collections of art, an exorbitant amount of fishing related paraphernalia, etc.  This is way more than the average world citizen could possibly possess on a planet with stable material and energy resources.  So what’s the answer?  Usually I just shrug my shoulders and begin the next day.

Natural World

I think of this as meaning all of the natural world, but with particular emphasis on the other life forms that inhabit the planet.  They are being cornered, diminished, and exterminated while we increase our numbers, increase our material possessions, and give little thought to where this is all leading.  One likely result is a greatly increased human population and a greatly decreased number of species and individual populations with the species.  I can’t help but wonder what if I were one of those other species?  What about “do unto others as you would have others do unto you”?  Can I bale cups of water in the flood of the tsunami?  Organizations can be more effective, but I don’t see any organization that actually looks to and addresses this` future.  They only adhere to their own, temporal interests – they being the Democrats, Republicans, CalGreen, LEED, AIA, X, Y, Z, etc.  In some ways some of these groups may be bailing buckets, but out there beyond the horizon is the source, and it is increasing much faster and more precipitously than token environmental gestures like rationing water use, buying locally, or driving electric cars.  That doesn’t even equate to the little toe on the human footprint.  I’m convinced that our human mindset will not change on its own. – it will require governmental enforcement and a vision of what we wish earth’s long term state of existence to be.  What will that population be?  And why?  To date the idea of where we are going is not even in the conversation.  I have a vision, but don’t know what to do about it…this is my greatest disappointment.