[Baut Images: Beyond the Visible]
There is an old saying that comes to mind, as I think about the latest eco-disaster in America, and that saying is "There are none so blind as those who will not see!" With the oil spill in the Yellowstone River, in Montana on July 3, 2011, courtesy of Exxon Mobil, we now have one more episode in a long list of environmental disasters, that is adding to the contamination of our land and bio-shere. For further information on this and other stories, please go to the following link http://www.projectworldawareness.com/ We have only to look about us, watch the evening news, or read the newspapers, to see that our planet is fast becoming more of a toxic dump every day. As a hiker and photographer I get to see many out of the way places, and believe me I am always surprised to see plastic bottles, papers, and refuse laying about in the most unexpected places. It's always hard for me to believe what other hikers, backpackers and "supposed" nature lovers leave behind. A sad statement about mankind.
What I do find really interesting, however, is the focus of the media, on how eco-disasters will be cleaned up, or how this or that will be done to remedy the situation. In reality, folks, there is no way, for anyone, to clean any of these messes up 100%!
It also surprises me how blithely people just go about their daily lives as if nothing has happened in the Gulf of Mexico, Kalamazoo River, fracking, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, et cetera, et cetera. Simply go on as if nothing has, or is happening in their world. We are at a nexus point where people have a great opportunity to stop all of this insanity and make our world a better place, or watch it desintegrate day by day before our eyes. John Major Jenkins has written, "The materialist delusion has run its course," which I hope is true, but it seems like it's still hanging on in Washington, D. C., and other major cities.
Some time ago, I watched a program based upon a book entitled, The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman, which addressed the idea, of what the world might be like, if mankind were suddenly no longer on the planet. I heartly recommend this book to anyone interested in our environment, and how the planet might correct itself without the intereference of mankind.
Homo sapiens has been contributing to the demise of our eco-system, and itself, for hundreds of years, but now with all the chemicals, pollutants, GMOs, radiation, weapons, carcinogins, and toxins it has developed, it is speeding up the process of changing the planet and itself in a negative way that may go on for many years. I sometimes wonder, if that's what occurred on the Planet Mars?
As I have written before, mankind, for the most part, is the only species I know of that not only maims, kills, poisons and tortures others of its own kind, as well as the flora and fauna of the planet it lives on. It almost seems as if our species is innately destructive.
Osho says, that "99.9% of the people living on the planet are either asleep or drunk," which might explain why we seem to be living in a Dark Age of intolerance, ignorance, bigotry, hate, and greed. A time when little is done to help the millions of homeless verterans, youth and families that abound. A time of apathy and uncaring. A time our forefathers might not have thought could ever occur, but in their wisdom said, "United we stand. Divided we fall."
One day, and hopefully soon, people will begin opening their eyes, and start working together for the benefit of everyone, and the old phrase, "There are none so blind, as those who will not see," will be a thing of the past!
Roger Allen Baut
