Whose Fault Is It?

   This post is going to be a little different for me. It might be a little strange, and a lot condensed. I think I could write a book about my feelings on the things I want to talk about today.I started writing a post about my feelings on the Sandy Hook tragedy. I couldn't... I don't know how I feel. There is no possible way I can comprehend what those people are feeling. I don't even have children of my own and my heart is absolutely broken for them. I don't have words for what I feel. So I thought I would address the eminent destruction of our earth tomorrow. But when I went blog-surfing today I noticed eight bloggers out of every ten were posting about Armageddon. I don't believe the hype anyway. I think life will continue on very much like it has been. That's not to say I don't think our world is in jeopardy. So I'm not going to target either subject in particular. I thought I would just write about some of  my concerns with the environment and society.

   I'm just going to dive in head first and take on my biggest environmental concern. Have you ever asked yourself why there is oil in the ground? What's it doing there? What is it's purpose? It has one you know. I'm not an educated man. I dropped out of high-school in the tenth grade. Never been to college. I'm no geologist, but I know that everything in nature has a purpose. Everything carries weight in the balance.
   So, I asked myself what do we use petroleum products for. I can think of hundreds of things, and that's the part that really scares me, we use oil for so many things, we're dependent on it. Anyway, I think I can safely lump most of oils uses into  three categories. The biggest use is obviously fuel. But we also use oil to reduce friction with lubricants, and to regulate temperature in many machines and structures.
   I think it serves similar purposes in the earth. I don't know... Does oil lubricate tectonic plates? If you take too much oil would it cause more earthquakes? Does oil help regulate the temperature of the earths core? If we suck all the oil out of the ground would it cause a global rise in temperature? Maybe we would see more volcanic eruptions, and more intense storms. I know I'm reaching... I don't have any real knowledge of such things. But, it all kinda makes sense in my mind. It seems possible. I may not know what the affects are, but I guarantee there are affects.
   We are now exploiting the deeper reserves of the earth. Every where you go on our coastlines you see the oil rigs searching for oil deeper and deeper. Why? Are the shallower reserves running out? It's not like we can put it back you know.

   And do we really all realize that we need trees to survive on this planet? I don't think we do. We keep cutting down more and more. We don't replace them... We build houses there, and department stores, industries that burn more fuel, and consume more wood.
   And it's not just cutting them down either. There have been massive fire outbreaks all around the world, decimating entire forests.
   Our climate is changing. We have eleven apple trees in our yard. We didn't pick up a single bucket of apples this fall. There weren't any. If trees don't flower and fruit properly, they don't reproduce. If they don't reproduce... Eventually we won't either.

   And what the heck is going on with the animals? Where are the Honey Bees? Why are there whole flocks of birds falling dead from the sky? Why are there fish washing up on shores across world by the tens of thousands? These are our base species, these are animals that we depend on for survival. These are animals that are critical to the balance.

   All these things are happening in our environment. There are a lot of other things going on too.  And quite frankly it scares the hell out of me. But what scares me more than any of this is... Us. People. This is OUR fault. We are the ones responsible. And we seem not to care... We don't do anything about it... We just keep trudging through our daily lives, consuming everything, hoping we make it from one day to the next without being affected by our own neighbors.
   No one takes accountability. We blame things on the Government, we blame things on nature, we blame things on our neighbors. Then we blame things on God. And in the meantime terrorists fly planes into buildings, and blow themselves and whoever else they can to pieces with a bomb. Our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers, are dying in wars in foreign lands, were we have no business. The ever looming threat of nuclear war grows while people are killing our children right here in our own schools, on our own streets for Pete's sake. The world has gone crazy.
   We have to wake up. We have to take accountability for the things that happen around us, because we affect those things. We make a difference in what happens around us. We have to take the blinders off and start taking responsibility, and stop passing the buck. We have to think about what we are consuming. Where did it come from? What is it's purpose? Can we replace it? Is there something better we can use? We can't continue to blindly consume whatever is given to us. If we don't consume it, there's no reason to keep producing it. The less we use, the less we have to produce. It's basic logic. We are the ones that are throwing off the balance.
   We have to get involved in our communities. We have to get to know our neighbors. We have to get involved in local government. We have to learn how to handle emergencies ourselves. We have to stop investing all our efforts into technology, and get involved personally. We have to stop being so wrapped up in our own lives and reach out to help someone who needs it. WE have to take responsibility.

   I don't know... Sometimes I think maybe things have gone to far, maybe there are things set in motion with our environment that can't be reversed. Maybe we have over-populated and are now destined to regular outbreaks of violence as people compete for their space in this world. But then, I can't help but believe that if everyone took responsibility for their own actions, and held themselves accountable for the things that happen around them, these things wouldn't happen.

   Maybe, just maybe, if someone would have taken the time, and made the commitment to helping a troubled kid in Connecticut. Maybe there would be twenty-eight people still living there. So the main question I'm left with is, whose fault is it?.. Whose fault is anything really?..