"Let us celebrate"
We consume more and more energy.
We burn more and more fuel.
We deplete the energy reserves of the Earth.
We increase the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere,
and now we wonder why the climate has begun to change.
Yes, why is it
changing?
Could you perhaps
explain that to me,
Mister
Homo Sapiens,
since you're so smart?
We are living today in indescribable energy luxury
which will become even greater tomorrow.
We need heat in the winter. We use colossal
amounts of energy to keep our buildings warm.
But we also need cooling in the summer.
The U.S. which is the pioneer in this field,
already
uses as much energy for air
conditioning as it does to heat the buildings.
And what can you say about the waste of energy for transportation?
Once, when we wanted to go somewhere, we walked.
Today life without a car of at least 100 hp is unthinkable.
So, the proud owner comes down from his apartment
on
the first floor (with the elevator, of course, where a
dozen
horses have to carry him down), gets into his car,
turns
on the stereo so loud that the windows of the
neighbouring
buildings rattle (an extra horse power here) and whips
his
hundred horses to bring him to the next street corner
in order to get his cigarettes from the vending
machine.
Homo
sapiens!
We've said it already.
It is not necessary, I think, to list more examples of waste.
• About the food we throw away,
• about the clothes we dispose of,
• about the packaging materials we discard,
• about the bottles ....
You will of course say:
but are the bottles the problem?
I purposely mention it, because it is
characteristic
of our mentality and because this act of throwing
away has its educational effect.
When you get used throwing away something small,
than afterwards you will throw away something bigger.
What is the value of a bottle?
A couple of cents. We use it to take our
whisky home, then we throw it away.
But it is made of a precious material
that can remain intact for centuries,
that can withstand any chemicals and
for its production a tremendous amount
of energy was needed (as for the aluminium
can of Coca Cola too, by the way).
― And
so what? What can I do?
I do not care what the
bottle is made of, and
neither how much energy
was spent on it.
I am interested in
drinking my whisky.
When I have drunk it, I
throw the bottle out.
What do you want me to
do?
Would you have me
perhaps stop drinking whisky
so as not to throw out
the bottle and keep the bottle
and refill it at the
farm again and again with plum brandy?
― And
with my mentality, I have not understood
what it is you do not
like?
Do I not have the right
to do whatever is more
convenient and easier
for me?
Am I not supposed to
ensure that my life is
enjoyable and
comfortable?
Am I not free to do
whatever I want?
Am I not the owner, the
ruler of the Earth?
Is it not exactly
this the purpose of my
existence, was I not
created for this reason?
What should I say here?
Should I ask if it was always so, or whether
it is the same in other regions of the Earth?
What's the point asking, when I know the answer?
― What's
it to me?
Will this not be the answer?
Is this not always the answer,
when we try to suggest, that
today's excess consumption
would have been unthinkable
in the past or in other societies?
And unfortunately, behind this simple and usual
answer, something very serious is hiding.
It hides our attitude towards the whole world.
We are absolutely indifferent to what is happening around us.
The only thing we care about is our own welfare.