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Rape the Environment; We Don't Care
The lessons of the past are likely to be forever squandered in the future simply because Americans, as with most others in the world, fail to learn from our mistakes. Global Warming, oil and gas shortages, holes in the ozone, hunger world wide and falling supplies of drinkable water are all concerns in the world today. Today is 2009.
"Of particular importance because of its influence on the public welfare, is the need of a wise conservation policy in the management and control of our national resources."
This is more than just a true statement of fact in the world in 2009; it is a statement which can neither be debated by one side or the other. It is a statement of truth which needs no further defining and certainly no further argument. The same can be said for the accompanying statement.
"Such a policy will lead to constructive development (either in a private or public way) of water, coal, or mineral resources for the greater social and economic welfare."
Amazing isn't it when you look at these two statements of fact and realize they are in summation fully whole in themselves. There can be no debate again for or against such statements in the year 2009. Or, likely ever for this matter.
The interesting thing about these two statements is where they came from and when. These were pulled, word for word, from a US History book printed in 1929! The book is actually a teacher's edition "History of the United States" by Wilbur Fisk Gordy. It was used at Knoxville Junior High School in the Pittsburgh City School District.
Interestingly enough, the above came from the last paragraph on the next to the last page of the book. Mr. Gordy was looking into the future after the election of President Herbert Hoover. The list of presidents in the back lists Hoover 1929 -.
So in other words we were being warned of the very things we're facing now, 80 years ago. In 80 years you would think the world might have gotten a little smarter, a little less greedy and perhaps a little wiser. Smarter we got. We understand the causes for what we're facing. Wiser? We're still fighting the same battle as we were in 1929. Less Greedy? Gordon Gekko lives in the likes of Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling (Enron), Angelo Mozilo (Country Wide), Martin Grass (Rite-Aide) and John Rigas (Adelphia).
"Greed, for the lack of a better word is good. Greed ...will save that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA" - Quote from Wall Street
This flies in direct confrontation with the last line of the paragraph from Mr. Gordy in the History of the United States.
"Too often in the past the tendency has been toward a withdrawal of such resources from productive use through unwise restrictions or exclusive grants to individuals or companies."
Today we call them "corporations." Today we blame the Saudi's, the Arabs in general, Iran, Iraq, the Japanese, the Chinese, India, Congress, states rights, Mexico, Russia and Hugo Chavez. No matter who we blame it's still greed at the heart of it all. Every last person on earth falls into the category even on the smallest scale. For $100 you might not change your ethics, but for $10,000 you probably would.
Bobby Thomson on the night of October 3, 1951 after hitting "The Shot Heard Round the World" as the New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in a three game playoff to win the NL Pennant was caught up in it. Thomson's homer in the 9th inning gave his club a one run victory and sent them to the World Series. That night Thomson tells it the network came to him to appear on the Perry Como Show.
"They said they'd give me a hundred dollars to appear, but I told them I just wanted to go home and celebrate with the family," said Thomson. "Then they were persistent and said they'd pay me a thousand dollars. Well I thought about it for a second and realized I could use the money, so I decided the family could wait."
This is Greed in its purest form. Who could blame Thomson? We can all blame ourselves for the environmental crisis. Americans were warned about big gas guzzling cars and so were GM and Ford. GM went into bankruptcy. Americans stopped driving when gasoline hit $4.50 a gallon. Its $3.20 now and we're back to driving trucks and SUV's.
In 1973 consumer Marty Aproian put it quite handily while standing in a long line for gasoline which was 41-cents a gallon.
"I'll never pay 50-cents a gallon for gasoline, never," said driver Aproian.
Today, 36 years later he's still driving and he's paying over $3 a gallon for the same gasoline.
Comedian Johnny Carson in that same year told his audience there was no gasoline shortage.
"There really is a shortage of fifty cent a gallon gasoline, but off shore in those tankers there is no shortage of $1.00 a gallon gasoline," Carson said in his monolog on the Tonight Show.
Americans more than any other countrymen have a hard time learning from the past. Other countries fall into the same mistakes but Americans seem to learn such lessons over longer periods of time. Eighty years is a long time but it still hasn't sunk in yet.
Maybe we should be more Jewish. The Jews are bound and determined not to let anyone ever forget the Holocaust. And they should continue to persist especially in these days of leaders such as Iran's Ahmadinejad who claims the Holocaust never happened.
While the leaders of the free world gather in Italy for the G8 Summit and vow billions more in aid to poor countries, the Kyoto Treaty languishes. The new US administration is moving forward on the likes of the follow up and could put a stamp on the next edition of the environmental program but why for years has the US objected?
Hard lessons being learned these days are still lingering because of our great capacity NOT to learn from the past. We all know we must "learn from our mistakes" and "history teaches us one thing and that is it repeats itself" and "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" but cliche's are just that, cliches and unless we understand the moral consequences of doing nothing, nothing is what we will do, and something will befall us.
Lest we be left thinking Mr. Gordy was a total genius in 1929, he also left this in this same book, regarding the establishment of a federal budget department aside from the two houses of Congress in 1921 to manage the flow of federal taxpayer dollars.
"We may yet see real business economy in the conduct of our government."
Oh well Mr. Gekko.
Learn more about this author, Bob Brill.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Yes
Are We Over Regulating Our Environment
I watched with interest on CNN, a story on the possible ban of peanut butter from schools in America. This policy has been in place for quite a few years here in Canada, at least in my province. In fact we have now expanded that ban to include snacks as well. Children are no longer allowed to bring any snack into the elementary schools unless it clearly states it is nut free.
This concerns me on many levels.
We are trying to create an environment in our homes, schools, hospitals and public areas in general that seems to foster conditions that in past years were mostly non-existent. There are strict guidelines now as to what foods to introduce to our children later in life than we would have normally. We prohibit scents, pets and cigarette smoking in most areas. We are building homes so air tight that it is now building regulation that any new home build must have an air exchanger.
I don't know about anyone else in my generation, but when I grew up I don't remember any such restrictions. I also do not remember knowing anyone with asthma, allergies, environmental illness or any of the other conditions attributed now to exposure to certain foods, perfumes, pets, cigarette smoke or the like.
I was raised in a home where there was a smoker, we had no air exchanger, (in fact our home was coal heated and the stove was fired by coal as well), our clothes were hung out on the clothesline exposed to the open air, and our parents wore perfume and cologne. Not only that, but we played outside everyday and as toddlers were often caught playing in the coal bucket. Peanut butter was a staple in our home for a quick snack between meal times. We ate, as smaller children, whatever was on the go for the rest of the family. We (6 of us) now range in age from 43-55 and we are all healthy.
My children (16 & 22) were raised in a similar manner. When my oldest was under two he contracted a form of bronchitis apparently common in young children. The doctors gave me ventilin to give him and suggested I keep him on it indefinitely. He was on it a couple of days until his lungs cleared, then I stopped giving it to him. He is now healthy and it never resurfaced. Conversely, my sister daughter had the same ailment and it was decided she would be kept on the medicine, her dayghter, now 23, has asthma. Niether of my children have ever spent a night in the hospital and both are quite healthy. In fact, as they grew up I seldom even took then to the doctor. Today if a child gets a runny nose the parents are flying off to the doctor and the doctor is handing out medicine.
Could it be we are inadvertently creating disease and allergy in our children by providing too sterile an environment with so little exposure that the immune system is not permitted to build it's own natural defense mechanisms? Could it be that our children are inside the artificially created environment of our homes, playing any of the various electronic games on the go now, and not getting enough exercise or fresh air? Could it be we are too often accepting the advice of our doctors without question and over medicating our children when they just have a sniffle or cough?
It is noteworthy that recently there have been a few studies that conclude the allergy rate has climbed significantly in North America, child obesity is rampant, antibiotics are becoming less and less effective because we have over prescribed them in the past 25 or so years.
Another recent study has concluded that children who were exposed to pet dander at a very young age have far less allergies than children who have not had early exposure. Interesting for sure.
We now have a vaccine for chicken pox. I realize there has been a few incidences of children dying from complications of chicken pox (mostly when taking aspirin) but to innoculate all children to prevent something happening to very few as a precaution seems a little like over-kill to me.
We have allowed government to regulate us extensively and have also gone against our natural instincts on how to raise our children.
As one parent I know, who has a child with a peanut allergy said. "It used to be my son was very careful to check labels and knew not to share food or food space with other children. Now he has become lazy about those things. What will happen should he have to be exposed to a different environment while at friends or if we travel"
Once again our system has taken full responsibility off the shoulders of others to be knowledgable and aware, and as a result, provided another disservice to us in an attempt to prevent life's natural and normal course.
Learn more about this author, Kristal Mcvicar.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
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