And so they marched. I have no hope. This is distraction of the masses. All the drumming and singing and chanting and dancing, what a jolly good day for all. We are fooling ourselves, as if.
I did get the point of the silent march in Berlin (climate change is silent etc.) but my marching days are over. In my helplessness I vowed again to do whatever it takes to cut my personal CO2 footprint, not taking the car unless absolutely necessary, no air travel unless it's a family emergency and never without offsetting the carbon, no palm oil produce - very difficult, no biofuels and so on. Some days, exhausted and scared, I just sit in the garden and look up at the solar panels on our roof and feel like a fool.
Yet, watching (on our national news channel) Mark Ruffalo marching next to Vandana Shiva cheered me up a bit. I hope they had a good time together.
Just this morning, after I checked to make sure the faucet wasn't dripping a single drop, and I looked out the window at the browning grasses, I thought "Does any of this help?" We moved to a small town so we could walk to the market. We hardly ever use the car anymore. We never fly. We are conscious of our energy use, and plan on putting up solar panels when we buy a house here. Yes, we'll feel like fools too, but every little bit of foolishness must help. Right? I wish you were our neighbor!
ReplyDeleteWe all feel like that sometimes. I think all we can do is our individual best, and occasionally write to and MP or whoever, and then carry on caring for those we love. There is so much we cannot change (like how the emerging nations can cut carbon emissions and grow economies at the same time) that we'd give up and hide in a cupboard forever if we got caught on it.
ReplyDeleteThat's not to say we give up, simply that we do our individual bit.
To my mind, marches have two functions: a) to stir up the faithful and increase their sense of affiliation with the cause, and b) to intimidate the enemy. So I think marches are lovely for people who are encouraged, rather than depressed, by people in crowds (which is totally NOT ME.) The enemy, of course, which consists in this case largely of corporations and their paid political professionals, could not care less about the marches, except as another data point.
ReplyDeleteI will never go on a march again, personally. Even the thought of them induces despair in me.
You walk the walk while so many people simply talk, or march as the case may be. Still, I think there is some energy in people coming together for a cause that just might ripple outward and change something. We might not even see it happen. But maybe?
ReplyDeleteI do love Mark Ruffalo.
No need to feel like a fool. If each of us have thoughts about changing our lifestyle and keep on doing what we already do, we will strengthen this 'climate change' movement.
ReplyDeleteFor sure you are no fool; it's the deniers and politicians who are the fools.
ReplyDeleteAnything we do, with love, makes a difference. Marches are the grand gestures-then there are the small ones, the daily walk to be kinder to ourselves, to others, to move more slowly in this brief life.
ReplyDeleteXX Beth