With gas prices now over $4 per gallon, what is the average person to do?
The middle class is being especially squeezed by the gas price crunch, and prices aren’t just going up at the pump. Heating and cooling bills are rising. Food costs are rising. And retailers are generally jumping prices up because why the hell not? They’re facing higher manufacturing and transportation prices for their goods … so it’s the end consumer that will be footing the bill.
All of these problems are symptoms of a generally unsustainable way of life. We are too dependent on fossil fuels for our lifestyles (big surprise). The crunch we’re facing now is not the result of political instability or other temporary supply problem. It is the result of a slow and steady increase of prices over time that has no end in sight and no quick fix.
So our Government, in all its wisdom is subsidizing the production of ethanol. That’s a good thing, right? Not necessarily. They are choosing to subsidize ethanol from corn, which is the least efficient method of production, costing more energy to produce than it creates … and also putting upward pricing pressure on food prices. More efficient methods of producing ethanol include switchgrass and hemp … but don’t expect to see government subsidies for those methods any time soon. It would make too much sense. O.o (Not to mention the marijuana/hemp controversy!)
This is yet another reason that I believe true and meaningful economic recovery for this country is not going to come from the top down. We can’t count on the government to know what the hell it’s doing. After all, look at the current results we are experiencing as a result of laws and government that prizes the corporation over the individual, and the wealthy over the common good. Not so great, is it? In fact, there’s buzz all over the internet regarding the impending doom of the United States as we know it … possible economic collapse, possible martial law, possible governmental overthrow, possible debt enslavement of an entire population while corporations rule unchecked, definite loss of status as the world’s #1 superpower, likely loss of the dollar as world reserve currency, and the list goes on.
Who knows what the future holds? I do know I’m more than a little concerned for the future of my children. I wonder what the world is going to look like when I reach my Grandmother’s age, or if I’ll even make it that long with all the environmental pollution, corruption of health care, and perversion of the food supply. I wonder if companies like Monsanto will succeed in their bid to enslave and make profit from all life while destroying biodiversity and genetically engineering the extinction of species through their “terminator technology” which means seeds from fruits and vegetables are sterile and will no longer grow new food. I wonder if we’re ever going to change our minds about what is trash and what is treasure, cleaning up and utilizing this massive mess of plastic that is choking the ecosystems of this planet. I wonder if the government is ever going to stop putting a halt to the actual solutions that would fix things because it would hurt the profits of their biggest campaign donors.
When I started this blog, I kind of envisioned it as a place for hope and solutions. I just keep seeing these huge and overwhelming problems that are going to take so much to overcome. What we need is for everyone to chip in their two cents, and get their hands dirty working to find and implement real solutions. If we sit and wait for the government or “someone” to save us, I am quite convinced we’re doomed.
So how about it? What do you think? What solutions do you see? How would you pitch in to fix the very large problems we are all facing? One by one by one is the only way change ever happens. When one by one by one, we each pitch in and add our effort, it adds up to one very large change. So let’s get those brains and those hands working! Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Make 2 fewer car trips in your week. Boycott companies with insane, profit hungry, people hurting practices. Pick up litter and stop littering. Buy whole foods and ingredients in order to cook stuff our bodies recognize how to use. Think of a new way to use something that you would otherwise just throw away. Think of a new something that can be used to address one of the massive multiple problems we all face.
Post your ideas here along with the link back to your blog, information or website so we can spread the word. As more and more people realize that our individual contribution makes an enormous difference, more will wake up to what we need to do to heal this world and ensure a future for our children and our children’s children.
Wishing you ideas and motivation to save our world, and hope. Always hope.
Namaste,
Lina
AlinaPhoenix's Weblog - Only Occasionally Obscene 