Los Angeles feels both pre- and post-apocalyptic, all at once. It's the place where it really could go either way. Cars make no sense here, so everyone drives an SUV instead. It's like they think you can't see them behind those tinted windows all rolled down. Every other house in Malibu has a "For Sale" sign on the front, while to the south, homeless. The paradoxes of our modern life are coming to a crescendo, at least that's how it feels from here. California reminds us that we are on the edge of destruction, always. Has it always been this way? Before we had toxic chemicals, there were Mastodons (capital M cuz they are big!). In our quest to dominate nature, we've forgotten that we're natural.
I can sometimes forget that the King and I can't have children the old fashioned way. Then I read in the news that 10% of babies born through IVF-ICSI have a horrible birth defect. (Luckily, if we freeze the embryos first, the risk goes way down). I know this is common, I know we are all putting up with it. We are putting up with breast cancer and ADD and an increase in "functionally sterile" men from 2% to 12% of the population. But why?
I think we all forget, most of the time, that our habits of consumption come with terrible consequences. I guess I don't expect much more from us, the animals that we are. Still, I find it curious that at this time of incredible machine power, scientific intelligence, and wild, hedonistic pursuits, we/I continue to passively stand by and consume.
It's complicated and dangerous on these cliffs of Topanga. Wildfires, rattlesnakes, earthquakes... I guess it's been this way for all of human history. I guess I'd prefer the battles we can run from or fight with a machete over the ones we can't even see.
There are enough resources in California to have everyone thrive, man and beasts and birds. Don't let Liberepublican friends convince you otherwise. On the other hand, it would take a whole different paradigm for that miracle to unfold, and it's probably going to take a little more effort than we have so far been willing to give.
Eat organic!
Peace
I can sometimes forget that the King and I can't have children the old fashioned way. Then I read in the news that 10% of babies born through IVF-ICSI have a horrible birth defect. (Luckily, if we freeze the embryos first, the risk goes way down). I know this is common, I know we are all putting up with it. We are putting up with breast cancer and ADD and an increase in "functionally sterile" men from 2% to 12% of the population. But why?
I think we all forget, most of the time, that our habits of consumption come with terrible consequences. I guess I don't expect much more from us, the animals that we are. Still, I find it curious that at this time of incredible machine power, scientific intelligence, and wild, hedonistic pursuits, we/I continue to passively stand by and consume.
It's complicated and dangerous on these cliffs of Topanga. Wildfires, rattlesnakes, earthquakes... I guess it's been this way for all of human history. I guess I'd prefer the battles we can run from or fight with a machete over the ones we can't even see.
There are enough resources in California to have everyone thrive, man and beasts and birds. Don't let Liberepublican friends convince you otherwise. On the other hand, it would take a whole different paradigm for that miracle to unfold, and it's probably going to take a little more effort than we have so far been willing to give.
Eat organic!
Peace
No comments:
Post a Comment