There are a few thoughts I’d like to put out there and ask
you to think about. The first one is
from the late George Carlin, the inimitable master of irony:
“Trying to be happy by
accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches
all over your body.”
But we try, don’t we? Of course we do. Can’t run out of
anything. Need to stockpile supplies just to be sure we have enough. But
wait! That’s just to manage supplies.
Carlin, of course, is speaking of something more. Stuff makes us feel good
about ourselves, I suppose. The funny thing is I feel best when I’m thinking
good thoughts, meanings deep in the mind that are often elusive. Things of that
sort.
Sure things can make us happy. Here are some examples. An
art piece is not just something to appreciate because of its beauty. It often
evokes thoughts that nudge the brain into action. Art communicates ideas,
feelings, sensations. In turn these spark mental activity that takes us on journeys
of intellectual fantasy. The symbolic nature of the art piece is powerful.
Alone it is not an item that makes us feel good or ‘wealthy’. It becomes a tool
in our life, however, inasmuch as it sparks mental activity. It possesses us;
we don’t possess it other than in the ownership capacity. And that is more a
responsibility!
We have been told over and over again that ‘we can’t take it
with you”; when death occurs, all worldly possessions are insignificant to the
owner. Those things become the chattel for others to worry about.
We are happy because of what we have contained within
ourselves, not what we own outside of our bodies.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist of world renown, and
public spokesman for all things science, provides this thought for us to
consider:
“Anyone who has studied the
universe knows that there is no shortage of sources of energy in the universe,
and that there is no shortage of energy sources on Earthy. And yet, here we
are, crawling on the surface of this dot we call Earth, extracting caloric
content that’s buried in the soil, and when you look at that, you can’t help
but reflect on how primitive that behavior is.”
Indeed. We think energy is scarce. We have entire markets
built on that price/value assumption. Reality holds more energy for humankind
than they can conceive. We just have to develop the means of accessing it. The
use of these energy sources are more healthy for our environment, too.
Why then do we struggle with aging infrastructure for old
energy forms? Natural gas pipelines that
age, weaken and explode? They leak, too. The act of extracting the gas supply
from the earth despoils landscapes, fresh air and destroys precious ozone
layers in the atmosphere. Then too oil pipelines pose similar problems and
logistical nightmares. We citizens are not aware of these things unless a
problem develops. The real problem is that the problems exist now and pose
enormous dangers that aging infrastructure merely multiplies.
The electrical grid? The transmission towers crisscrossing
the national landscape? They need to be maintained and replaced regularly. They
are damaged and even destroyed in major earthquakes and tornadoes. And
hurricanes. And forest fires. Expensive above ground transmission of power
throughout the nation. Power poles on city streets knocked down by vehicles,
old age and storms. Power outages. Failing infrastructures. Unreliable power.
Cost of this. As though there is a shortage.
Dr. Tyson knows otherwise. So does the scientific community.
Why then are the decision makers in government not responding to the long term
needs of society for ample power supplies and healthy infrastructures?
That is for them to ponder and then answer. To us. Why
indeed have they not worked on this issue? Might it be that the industries
controlling the energy supplies in the first place do not want the challenge of
renewing and replacing their old technology?
Who then is in control of this? A good question in need of
an answer!
January 28, 2014
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