Am I being actively passive - or passively active?



My fliers waiting for distribution

 I went to the "Say Yes" Rally on the weekend to show my support for a carbon tax.  It's been a few years since I've been to a rally, having been a regular rally-goer years ago when I was working for the Australian Conservation Foundation and then for the Women's Refuge Group.   The whole event was well managed, I just followed the beating drums to the wetland redevelopment at the Perth Cultural Centre. It's good to see that drumming at rallies hasn't gone out of fashion, though the drummers were all clean cut young men and not a dreadlock in sight.  While the speakers were earnest I couldn't help feeling we'd lost some of our oomph!  Everyone was very sedate and well spoken, but where was the passion??  Has the debate about a carbon tax gone on for so long that it's just sucked the energy out of even the most ardent supporters?  If we were in Europe we'd have been screaming "Yes, Yes, Yes" and then gone and rioted down William Street.  Instead we collectively mumbled a bit and felt embarrassed about speaking above a whisper then we all shuffled off feeling like we'd done our bit.  What has happened - have we become so complacent that even can't even manage to stir up a bit of excitement about the "greatest moral challenge" of our time?  Or is it because that moral challenge was so easily put aside by our former Prime Minister when the polling got tough, or is it Tony Abbott telling us not to worry about Climate Change because any tax on carbon will just make the sky fall down?  All I know is I have a bundle of letters to drop off in my neighbours letter boxes still sitting on my kitchen bench.   I seem to have run out of Oomph to put my name on them and then continue to drive the message home to my fellow country folk living in quiet comfort here in Perth. Even the flier's look bored, what happened to a few eye catching graphics?  With the planet going to hell in a hand basket  you'd think they could have at least found a bit  of clip art to grab your bored homeowners attention.  Have I become just another well intentioned citizen who lacks the conviction to actually keep beating away at issue?  Perhaps, but I guess in writing this I have shamed myself into getting those letters out today, then I can sit back with a smug smile, pat myself on the back and think that I have made a difference. 

The time has come....

...as a famous Walrus said and so I guess it's time to take a foray into the world of blogging.  My resistance to date has been the utter disbelief that I would have anything of interest or value to add to enormous amount of digital discourse already happening.  But inspired by a chat with my friend Angy Braine I thought why not? 

Seagull at Gordie Bay Rottnest Island

In the face of a growing number of natural disasters effecting Australia, and today with New Zealand's latest earthquake,  it's becoming a full time job assuring my children that the world isn't coming to an end, the fact is we live on a dynamic planet.  Of course global warming is a reality - at least in my book - and it is, or will, contribute to more extreme weather conditions.  We are in the middle of the hottest February on record and frankly I'm a bit over sweating.  I like the heat but this is getting ridiculous.  At home we are trying to do our eco bit, we've got the photovoltaics on the roof, ceiling fans and a complete lack of air conditioning, much to my children's consternation.  Our house is practically bulging at the seams with have energy efficient and water wise appliances.  Of course all our effort is less than a drop in the ocean of CO2 that's being released across the rest of the globe.  I'm all for individuals doing their bit but I'd really like a bit more action on broader sustainability measures across all levels of government and industry.  Our driving economic philosophy that we engage in continuous growth is not only unsustainable but defies logic.  In my book we need a new economic paradigm that places a greater value on maintaining systems rather than continuing to exploit them with only short term gain in mind.  "That's all very good and well", I hear the moguls of industry and economists cry, "but how do you do that"?  I admit I don't have an economics degree but many people who are far smarter than me do.  No doubt if we don't change the planet will force us to, unfortunately there may be even more mayhem, disaster and sorrow before we that happens.