click here
an overview of the economic basis of the United States' war machine, the concentration of power in the executive branch and the factors that are most likely to decide the fate of this once great nation as it continues to drive towards imperialism at the risk of democracy. The tremendous clarity in this article makes it, in my opinion, required reading.
What does this have to do with Sustainable Development? - everything. An understanding of the political and economic lay of the land will assist in a SD design which takes these factors into account as much as possible. For eg. the repercussions of whatever is happening in the U.S. will have profound direct impact on Canada. The fallout from the unsustainable path that the U.S. has committed itself to (and Canada, largely as an extension of the U.S- and yes, it hurts to say that!) suggests that S.D. must include, as much as possible, support from an entire community, for it to withstand the pressures exerted upon it by the dominant system in demise. This broad support can help create a transition that provides for basic needs of a population and resists a freefall collapse of a society unprepared.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Stephane Dion - a Bilderberg
Doesn't it just suck to take a position, only to discover that you are probably wrong in a matter of a few days. I was kind 0f excited at the prospect of Stephane Dion as the next Prime Minister of Canada, only to discover he is a Bilderberg member. This means he is an elitist, and believes in the dismantling of the sovereignty of Canada. Too bad.
His "Clarity Act" which he wrote in response to the Quebec separatist movement, is used as proof he is a "hardline federalist". The article below (click on the link "North American...") suggests the opposite (see near the end of the article)
I'll try and keep an open mind until I finish reading David Orchard's book "The Fight for Canada", and understand Orchard's perspective on Dion better.
I'll try and keep an open mind until I finish reading David Orchard's book "The Fight for Canada", and understand Orchard's perspective on Dion better.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
The Corporatocracy
Following is a link to the video of his talk and a description of the talk from "The Information Clearing House" : John Perkins, author of "An Economic Hitman" blows the lid off U.S. imperialism and provides the reasons as to why we are at war in the Middle East and describes the efforts of the corporatocracy in Central and South America.
http://tinyurl.com/w63d2
I've included this, because I think it gives an insight into the political landscape which, I believe, is dominant in Canada (though Canada is not mentioned). Perkins talks about the power of the Corporations and describes the present Imperialistic Corporatocracy and the need to move toward a more democratic Corporatocracy. In the Q and A segment (3rd film) he is asked, amongst other things, essentially why we should support any sort of Corporatocracy.
The questioner in this third segment mentions that Corporations are legally bound to maximize their profits for shareholders. I thought I had heard this too in the film "The Corporation". He says that this is a common myth and supports his assertion with a very common sense response.
Overall, his speech is disturbing, but not terribly surprising, and unless he is some sort of agent, seems credible as he claims to be coming from his personal experiences in dealing with heads of state as an "economic hitman".
It gives an insight into the ruthlessness and evil behind the friendly branding of the multinational corporations. Know thine enemy
"The history of mankind is a history of the subjugation and exploitation of a great majority of people by an elite few by what has been appropriately termed the 'ruling class'. The ruling class has many manifestations. It can take the form of a religious orthodoxy, a monarchy, a dictatorship of the proletariat, outright fascism, or, in the case of the United States, corporate statism. In each instance the ruling class relies on academics, scholars and 'experts' to legitimize and provide moral authority for its hegemony over the masses." : Ed Crane
=
Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power: Benito Mussolini
=
"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group," : Franklin D. Roosevelt quotes
=
Fascism is capitalism plus murder." : Upton Sinclair
http://tinyurl.com/w63d2
I've included this, because I think it gives an insight into the political landscape which, I believe, is dominant in Canada (though Canada is not mentioned). Perkins talks about the power of the Corporations and describes the present Imperialistic Corporatocracy and the need to move toward a more democratic Corporatocracy. In the Q and A segment (3rd film) he is asked, amongst other things, essentially why we should support any sort of Corporatocracy.
The questioner in this third segment mentions that Corporations are legally bound to maximize their profits for shareholders. I thought I had heard this too in the film "The Corporation". He says that this is a common myth and supports his assertion with a very common sense response.
Overall, his speech is disturbing, but not terribly surprising, and unless he is some sort of agent, seems credible as he claims to be coming from his personal experiences in dealing with heads of state as an "economic hitman".
It gives an insight into the ruthlessness and evil behind the friendly branding of the multinational corporations. Know thine enemy
"The history of mankind is a history of the subjugation and exploitation of a great majority of people by an elite few by what has been appropriately termed the 'ruling class'. The ruling class has many manifestations. It can take the form of a religious orthodoxy, a monarchy, a dictatorship of the proletariat, outright fascism, or, in the case of the United States, corporate statism. In each instance the ruling class relies on academics, scholars and 'experts' to legitimize and provide moral authority for its hegemony over the masses." : Ed Crane
=
Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power: Benito Mussolini
=
"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group," : Franklin D. Roosevelt quotes
=
Fascism is capitalism plus murder." : Upton Sinclair
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Sustainable Development Defined
Sustainable Development is a term used by its proponents to describe their recommended methods of creating economic growth which protect the environment, relieve poverty, and do not destroy natural capital in the short term at the expense of long term development.
Contents
* 1 Scope and definitions
* 2 Environmental Sustainability
* 3 Criticism of the term
Scope and definitions
While many definitions of the term have been introduced over the years, the most commonly cited definition comes from the report Our Common Future, more commonly known as the Brundtland Report, which states that sustainable development is development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Sustainable development does not focus solely on environmental issues. More broadly, sustainable development policies encompass three general policy areas: economic, environmental and social. In support of this, several United Nations texts, most recently the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, refer to the "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development as economic development, social development, and environmental protection.
The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO, 2001) elaborates further the concept by stating that "...cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature”; it becomes “one of the roots of development understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence". In this vision, cultural diversity is the fourth policy area of sustainable development.
Some research activities start from this definition to show that the environment we inherited and that we will transmit to future generations is a combination of nature and culture. The Network of Excellence "Sustainable Development in a Diverse World" SUS.DIV, sponsored by the European Union, works in this direction. It integrates multidisciplinary capacities and interprets cultural diversity as a key element of a new strategy for sustainable development.
Sustainable development is a notoriously ambiguous concept, as a wide array of views have fallen under its umbrella. The concept has included notions of weak sustainability, strong sustainability and deep ecology. Different conceptions also reveal a strong tension between ecocentrism and anthropocentrism. Thus, the concept remains weakly defined and contains a large amount of debate as to its precise definition.
Environmental Sustainability
Main article: Environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the damage to the biosphere as a whole due to human activity. Environmental degradation occurs when nature's resources (such as trees, habitat, earth, water and air) are being consumed faster than nature can replenish them, when pollution results in irreparable damage done to the environment or when human beings destroy or damage ecosystems in the process of development. Environmental degradation can take many forms including, but not limited to, desertification, deforestation, extinction and radioactivity. Some of the major causes of such degradation include: overpopulation, urban sprawl, industrial pollution, waste dumping, intensive farming, over fishing, industrialization, introduction of invasive species and a lack of environmental regulations.
The goal of environmental sustainability is to minimize these, and other causes, to halt and, ideally, reverse the processes they lead to.
An unsustainable situation occurs when natural capital (the sum total of nature's resources) is used up faster than it can be replenished. Sustainability requires that human activity, at a minimum, only uses nature's resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally:
Theoretically, the long term final result of environmental degradation would result in local environments that are no longer able to sustain human populations to any degree. Such degradation on a global scale would, of course, mean extinction for humanity.
In the short-term, environmental degradation leads to declining standards of living, the extinctions of large numbers of species, health problems in the human population, conflicts, sometimes violent, between groups fighting for a dwindling resource, water scarcity and many other major problems.
Consumption of renewable resources State of environment Sustainability
More than nature's ability to replenish Environmental degradation Not sustainable
Equal to nature's ability to replenish Environmental equilibrium Steady-state Sustainability
Less than nature's ability to replenish Environmental renewal Sustainable development
Criticism of the term
Many environmentalists have criticized the term "sustainable development" as an oxymoron, claiming that economic policies based around concepts of growth and continued depletion of resources cannot be sustainable, since that term implies resources remain constant. Resources such as petroleum are consumed much faster than they are created by natural processes, and are continually being depleted. It is argued that the term "sustainable development" is a term invented by business to show capitalism as ecologically friendly, thereby placating people promoting environmentalist values.
However, technologies such as renewable energy, recycling and the provision of services can, if carried out appropriately, provide for growth in the economic sense, either without the use of limited resources, or by using a relatively small amount of resources with a small impact. In the latter case, even the use of small amounts of resources may be unsustainable if continued indefinitely.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development"
Contents
* 1 Scope and definitions
* 2 Environmental Sustainability
* 3 Criticism of the term
Scope and definitions
While many definitions of the term have been introduced over the years, the most commonly cited definition comes from the report Our Common Future, more commonly known as the Brundtland Report, which states that sustainable development is development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Sustainable development does not focus solely on environmental issues. More broadly, sustainable development policies encompass three general policy areas: economic, environmental and social. In support of this, several United Nations texts, most recently the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, refer to the "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development as economic development, social development, and environmental protection.
The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO, 2001) elaborates further the concept by stating that "...cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature”; it becomes “one of the roots of development understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence". In this vision, cultural diversity is the fourth policy area of sustainable development.
Some research activities start from this definition to show that the environment we inherited and that we will transmit to future generations is a combination of nature and culture. The Network of Excellence "Sustainable Development in a Diverse World" SUS.DIV, sponsored by the European Union, works in this direction. It integrates multidisciplinary capacities and interprets cultural diversity as a key element of a new strategy for sustainable development.
Sustainable development is a notoriously ambiguous concept, as a wide array of views have fallen under its umbrella. The concept has included notions of weak sustainability, strong sustainability and deep ecology. Different conceptions also reveal a strong tension between ecocentrism and anthropocentrism. Thus, the concept remains weakly defined and contains a large amount of debate as to its precise definition.
Environmental Sustainability
Main article: Environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the damage to the biosphere as a whole due to human activity. Environmental degradation occurs when nature's resources (such as trees, habitat, earth, water and air) are being consumed faster than nature can replenish them, when pollution results in irreparable damage done to the environment or when human beings destroy or damage ecosystems in the process of development. Environmental degradation can take many forms including, but not limited to, desertification, deforestation, extinction and radioactivity. Some of the major causes of such degradation include: overpopulation, urban sprawl, industrial pollution, waste dumping, intensive farming, over fishing, industrialization, introduction of invasive species and a lack of environmental regulations.
The goal of environmental sustainability is to minimize these, and other causes, to halt and, ideally, reverse the processes they lead to.
An unsustainable situation occurs when natural capital (the sum total of nature's resources) is used up faster than it can be replenished. Sustainability requires that human activity, at a minimum, only uses nature's resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally:
Theoretically, the long term final result of environmental degradation would result in local environments that are no longer able to sustain human populations to any degree. Such degradation on a global scale would, of course, mean extinction for humanity.
In the short-term, environmental degradation leads to declining standards of living, the extinctions of large numbers of species, health problems in the human population, conflicts, sometimes violent, between groups fighting for a dwindling resource, water scarcity and many other major problems.
Consumption of renewable resources State of environment Sustainability
More than nature's ability to replenish Environmental degradation Not sustainable
Equal to nature's ability to replenish Environmental equilibrium Steady-state Sustainability
Less than nature's ability to replenish Environmental renewal Sustainable development
Criticism of the term
Many environmentalists have criticized the term "sustainable development" as an oxymoron, claiming that economic policies based around concepts of growth and continued depletion of resources cannot be sustainable, since that term implies resources remain constant. Resources such as petroleum are consumed much faster than they are created by natural processes, and are continually being depleted. It is argued that the term "sustainable development" is a term invented by business to show capitalism as ecologically friendly, thereby placating people promoting environmentalist values.
However, technologies such as renewable energy, recycling and the provision of services can, if carried out appropriately, provide for growth in the economic sense, either without the use of limited resources, or by using a relatively small amount of resources with a small impact. In the latter case, even the use of small amounts of resources may be unsustainable if continued indefinitely.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development"
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Stephane Dion - The next Prime Minister of Canada?
CBC's Evan Soloman interviews Stéphane Dion. Click here
Monday, November 20, 2006
People Centred versus Profit Centred Politics
I can't support the concept of globalization as it is presently being packaged and marketed to us for our consumption. The Walmartization of the planet just doesn't do much for me. Loss of sovereignty in the name of greater corporate profits? Hmmm. So what good has come out of the super corporations so far? My air is dirtier, my water more contaminated, more toxins everywhere....more allergies, more cancer, weaker immune systems. But hey, I do have my cars, and my computer, and all my conveniences - I don't have to go and scoop water from the (formerly unpolluted) river anymore. Then there's the matter of global warming. Well, other than these little things (that threaten life as we know it) corporate power has been very good to me. But, with just a little contemplation on the matter, I must answer, thanks, but no thanks. This vision of the power brokers is not one I care to share. I know they feel it is in all of our best interests, even if it kills me (and many others). Certainly we can create something a little more people friendly.
This gap that seems to be widening between those that have stuff, and those that do not, makes me uncomfortable. It seems so human to want to accumulate things, which is just fine, until it threatens all of us. So the answer is that some should have even more, while others should have a lot less? I really have to question the fairness of that idea. I know, I know, it's in the best interest of all of us ultimately to have this global elite owning everything, once everything including the water we drink has been commoditized. Oh yes, and they should have all the power as well to determine what our world will look like and make all those difficult decisions for us (like who gets what) that we shouldn't worry our little heads about anyways....
This need we have for things- isn't it mostly a result of marketing?...all these things we need to make us feel whole, and to fill the gaps that have been left by the loss of our communities, our time with our families, our beautiful planet and our health. I would be prepared to give up some of my stuff, if I could have more of these important things in my life.
We really have to start coming up with something to compete with the corporate globalization vision because it is like a runaway train. I think some people are having difficulty seeing what other options they have so don't know how to get off the train. Some people say it's too late to get off, that this is where we are going, like it or not. I believe we can still have a quiet revolution where we can show that there are options and that given some time and energy, we can create sustainable communities which can grow. Behind corporations are men and women that love and have families. Some of these (often influential) people may see the benefit of a greater vision- one that may serve them and their future generations better. I believe we have a responsibility to develop this vision and begin to manifest it.
I've include a link to David Orchard on the sidebar as I've been impressed with his book "The Fight For Canada" which gives a wonderful history of Canada that wasn't taught in schools. I certainly don't remember being taught that Louis Riel was a hero who may be one of the individuals responsible for Canada being an independent country today. Orchard also sees options other than selling out to large multinational interests. He is politically active and also an organic farmer. He inspired me to join the Liberal Party of Canada and do what I can to support Stephane Dion.
It's amazing to see people such as David Orchard, Naomi Klein, Mel Hurtig , Maude Barlow and so many others who are taking a stand against deep integration with the U.S. and globalization. These are the people who are pointing towards a future that is people centred, rather than profit centred. In contrast to globalization and "deep integration" the political ideals they hold can allow for the type of sustainable development that I and many others envision. Perhaps there is still time in Canada to make the changes necessary and continue the fight for a nation that can hold human values above greed and our lower self serving nature.
This gap that seems to be widening between those that have stuff, and those that do not, makes me uncomfortable. It seems so human to want to accumulate things, which is just fine, until it threatens all of us. So the answer is that some should have even more, while others should have a lot less? I really have to question the fairness of that idea. I know, I know, it's in the best interest of all of us ultimately to have this global elite owning everything, once everything including the water we drink has been commoditized. Oh yes, and they should have all the power as well to determine what our world will look like and make all those difficult decisions for us (like who gets what) that we shouldn't worry our little heads about anyways....
This need we have for things- isn't it mostly a result of marketing?...all these things we need to make us feel whole, and to fill the gaps that have been left by the loss of our communities, our time with our families, our beautiful planet and our health. I would be prepared to give up some of my stuff, if I could have more of these important things in my life.
We really have to start coming up with something to compete with the corporate globalization vision because it is like a runaway train. I think some people are having difficulty seeing what other options they have so don't know how to get off the train. Some people say it's too late to get off, that this is where we are going, like it or not. I believe we can still have a quiet revolution where we can show that there are options and that given some time and energy, we can create sustainable communities which can grow. Behind corporations are men and women that love and have families. Some of these (often influential) people may see the benefit of a greater vision- one that may serve them and their future generations better. I believe we have a responsibility to develop this vision and begin to manifest it.
I've include a link to David Orchard on the sidebar as I've been impressed with his book "The Fight For Canada" which gives a wonderful history of Canada that wasn't taught in schools. I certainly don't remember being taught that Louis Riel was a hero who may be one of the individuals responsible for Canada being an independent country today. Orchard also sees options other than selling out to large multinational interests. He is politically active and also an organic farmer. He inspired me to join the Liberal Party of Canada and do what I can to support Stephane Dion.
It's amazing to see people such as David Orchard, Naomi Klein, Mel Hurtig , Maude Barlow and so many others who are taking a stand against deep integration with the U.S. and globalization. These are the people who are pointing towards a future that is people centred, rather than profit centred. In contrast to globalization and "deep integration" the political ideals they hold can allow for the type of sustainable development that I and many others envision. Perhaps there is still time in Canada to make the changes necessary and continue the fight for a nation that can hold human values above greed and our lower self serving nature.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Economics 101
There are a number of economists and others who are expressing their views, as does Michael Shedlock, that the United States economy can not go on for ever the way it has been going. Michael believes that one of two things is about to create a serious recession: either there will be a credit crunch initiated by banks, or consumers are going to stop spending. Either of these, or a combination of the two will cause serious economic fallout. While there is a great deal of attention on the housing bubble, and it is, no doubt important, it is the credit bubble which looms as an even greater threat. It is a bubble, he says, that is showing cracks. Click here to link to Michael Shedlock's blog.
Another great site is : theinternationalforecaster.com
where every couple of weeks Bob Chapman discusses his economic forecasts and shares his (usually disparaging) views re. the power elite.
I'm sharing this because creating a sustainable community will not occur in a vacuum. There are economic and political realities that must be taken into consideration. One thing is certain: We are greater contributors to society when we have our own house in order. Shedlock, for example, recommends that we build savings in the amount of 1 year of normal expenses (mortgage payments, utility bills, food, automobile, and gas expenses, etc) He feels that even if we think we have secure jobs, that we might want to re-examine this assumption.
Given that this economic upheaval is inevitable, and probably overdue, how do we weather this storm? I hope to look at some ideas in the coming months, while not losing site of the goal of sustainable community development for our region. Perhaps these two, seemingly separate goals (preparing for and managing an economic upheaval and developing sustainable community) can, in fact, be worked upon together quite well. It's much more likely that we will be successful if we get going sooner rather than later.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Fellow Kawarthians....
Hello friends
My name is Marc. I'm a resident of Lindsay Ontario. Just over 3 years ago, I moved here from Brooklin Ontario. Prior to that, I lived in Toronto (Scarborough, East York and Toronto to be exact). When I've looked at these communities, I've always had a strong feeling that says..."this can't go on like this"... I see that it is unsustainable. Don't get me wrong - I'm not anti growth. It's clear to me though, as it is to many, many others, that we can not continue to grow the way we have. We are too wasteful, too indoctinated in the ways of being good little consumers, and, in short, we are destroying not only the habitat of every other animal on the planet (except for the raccoon of course) but also that of what is perhaps the most wondrous animal of all - us! (okay, we're just behind tigers and dolphins).
I look at this area that I now live in: the, so called, "city of Kawartha Lakes" - Not sure what kind of drugs they were on when they decided to call this region a city, but they were obviously very strong. This region seems like it could be so beautiful, largely due to the fact that it has an unbelievable number of lakes and waterways. I believe these waters have much to tell us about how we've been managing this region. Take the Scugog River for example, which runs from Lake Scugog in Port Perry to Sturgeon Lake. This river has become a cesspool of contaminants. There is the aptly named "Sinister Creek" which empties into Scugog River and which is contaminated with PCBs from the former Union Carbide site. (Don't worry folks, the new owners of the site, Dow Chemical, assure us that PCB's are not a human health hazard, but merely an environmental hazard). I've spoken with a commercial fisherman (woman actually) who warned me to avoid the fish from Scugog as the fish meat is unnaturally soft in her opinion - stick with the deep cold lakes she told me.
When I was first looking for a home in this region, I put an offer in on a hobby farm on Telecom Rd. near Pontypool, only to discover that just up the street, was the site of the old town dump. You'd never know it to look at the site as it is now covered with trees and appears quite lovely. I only discovered this fact as I have a friend in Pontypool that informed me of this old toxic site. This old town dump was of course from a time when there were essentially no controls on who put what in it. God knows what is in there. The surface water went from the landfill and came right across the back of the property I was interested in. With a little more investigation, I discovered that contamination is being tracked at underground sites and is moving toward Pigeon Lake. Needless to say, I withdrew my offer.
We all know that there are people who have lived in the Kawartha Lakes region for years and could tell us horror stories about what toxins were leaked here, what chemicals were conveniently buried there, and we know that these type of events have occurred over and over again, essentially everywhere that man habitates. The waterways could tell some real life crime stories if they could only speak. I don't think I've seen a single person swimming in the Scugog River since I moved here over 3 years ago. But people will drink it. Hmmm. I've canoed the Scugog many times now, and the canoe usually comes out with a nice scummy ring around it. I don't know what that foam is - I see it everywhere in the river- but I really doubt it was there a hundred years ago. I guess it's easy for some people to just see the beauty of our waters in this region, but I can't help to also see what we've done...and that is substantial. I know for example that there are houses that have drains that go directly into the Scugog without any treatment whatsoever. Those people that dump their oil, solvents, medications, etc down the drain, may not realize (don't care?) that it may be going directly into their river they get their drinking water from.
So our beautiful waters in this "city" of Kawartha Lakes have many stories that I'm sure need to be told. And here comes the exciting part...we are the ones that have to come up with the remedies for all the damage that has been done, and continues to be done to perhaps our greatest single natural resource - water.
But this is about more than water. Our water is a great indicator of the health of the region and we should pay attention to what it can tell us. The scope of our challenges require us to take a multi-faceted approach. We are the generation that needs to look at these challenges and find a perspective that will allow us to move forward again. The old ways and their fear-based perspective that have gotten us into this mess are clearly dysfunctional. We must discover or uncover functional ways to co-operate with nature and let go of our old fears that have driven us toward self destruction.
Are we too late to recover from our binge, our night on the town at the expense of nature, and ultimately ourselves? Despite our nasty hangover, surely there is something we can do. Humankind has genius available to it, and we must nurture this genius, and apply it to our problems, find the solutions, and work like hell to reverse these destructive trends. Friends, we have managed to put ourselves on the endangered species list. I don't think it's too late but we must pursue recovery in a sincere and willing manner. We must be willing to look at ourselves honestly, and be prepared to change in every way - not overnight, mind you, but one step at a time.
Our road to recovery begins with our admission that the way we are now living is not working for us but against us. We must read the signs that are now all around us that we have screwed with mother nature and she is pissed. We won't get out of this unscathed, but if we begin now, there is hope. That's what we've got and we should go with it.
My hope is that we can use this blog (ain't technology wonderful) to discuss these issues and find ways that we can work co-operatively toward solutions in our community. We can address some of the grave threats that are today facing us and examine how we might best deal with them. Finally, I hope that we can find the will to begin putting these plans into action and strengthening our community. I guess I see this blog as a sort of town hall and a call to action.
See you in the streets.
Marc
My name is Marc. I'm a resident of Lindsay Ontario. Just over 3 years ago, I moved here from Brooklin Ontario. Prior to that, I lived in Toronto (Scarborough, East York and Toronto to be exact). When I've looked at these communities, I've always had a strong feeling that says..."this can't go on like this"... I see that it is unsustainable. Don't get me wrong - I'm not anti growth. It's clear to me though, as it is to many, many others, that we can not continue to grow the way we have. We are too wasteful, too indoctinated in the ways of being good little consumers, and, in short, we are destroying not only the habitat of every other animal on the planet (except for the raccoon of course) but also that of what is perhaps the most wondrous animal of all - us! (okay, we're just behind tigers and dolphins).
I look at this area that I now live in: the, so called, "city of Kawartha Lakes" - Not sure what kind of drugs they were on when they decided to call this region a city, but they were obviously very strong. This region seems like it could be so beautiful, largely due to the fact that it has an unbelievable number of lakes and waterways. I believe these waters have much to tell us about how we've been managing this region. Take the Scugog River for example, which runs from Lake Scugog in Port Perry to Sturgeon Lake. This river has become a cesspool of contaminants. There is the aptly named "Sinister Creek" which empties into Scugog River and which is contaminated with PCBs from the former Union Carbide site. (Don't worry folks, the new owners of the site, Dow Chemical, assure us that PCB's are not a human health hazard, but merely an environmental hazard). I've spoken with a commercial fisherman (woman actually) who warned me to avoid the fish from Scugog as the fish meat is unnaturally soft in her opinion - stick with the deep cold lakes she told me.
When I was first looking for a home in this region, I put an offer in on a hobby farm on Telecom Rd. near Pontypool, only to discover that just up the street, was the site of the old town dump. You'd never know it to look at the site as it is now covered with trees and appears quite lovely. I only discovered this fact as I have a friend in Pontypool that informed me of this old toxic site. This old town dump was of course from a time when there were essentially no controls on who put what in it. God knows what is in there. The surface water went from the landfill and came right across the back of the property I was interested in. With a little more investigation, I discovered that contamination is being tracked at underground sites and is moving toward Pigeon Lake. Needless to say, I withdrew my offer.
We all know that there are people who have lived in the Kawartha Lakes region for years and could tell us horror stories about what toxins were leaked here, what chemicals were conveniently buried there, and we know that these type of events have occurred over and over again, essentially everywhere that man habitates. The waterways could tell some real life crime stories if they could only speak. I don't think I've seen a single person swimming in the Scugog River since I moved here over 3 years ago. But people will drink it. Hmmm. I've canoed the Scugog many times now, and the canoe usually comes out with a nice scummy ring around it. I don't know what that foam is - I see it everywhere in the river- but I really doubt it was there a hundred years ago. I guess it's easy for some people to just see the beauty of our waters in this region, but I can't help to also see what we've done...and that is substantial. I know for example that there are houses that have drains that go directly into the Scugog without any treatment whatsoever. Those people that dump their oil, solvents, medications, etc down the drain, may not realize (don't care?) that it may be going directly into their river they get their drinking water from.
So our beautiful waters in this "city" of Kawartha Lakes have many stories that I'm sure need to be told. And here comes the exciting part...we are the ones that have to come up with the remedies for all the damage that has been done, and continues to be done to perhaps our greatest single natural resource - water.
But this is about more than water. Our water is a great indicator of the health of the region and we should pay attention to what it can tell us. The scope of our challenges require us to take a multi-faceted approach. We are the generation that needs to look at these challenges and find a perspective that will allow us to move forward again. The old ways and their fear-based perspective that have gotten us into this mess are clearly dysfunctional. We must discover or uncover functional ways to co-operate with nature and let go of our old fears that have driven us toward self destruction.
Are we too late to recover from our binge, our night on the town at the expense of nature, and ultimately ourselves? Despite our nasty hangover, surely there is something we can do. Humankind has genius available to it, and we must nurture this genius, and apply it to our problems, find the solutions, and work like hell to reverse these destructive trends. Friends, we have managed to put ourselves on the endangered species list. I don't think it's too late but we must pursue recovery in a sincere and willing manner. We must be willing to look at ourselves honestly, and be prepared to change in every way - not overnight, mind you, but one step at a time.
Our road to recovery begins with our admission that the way we are now living is not working for us but against us. We must read the signs that are now all around us that we have screwed with mother nature and she is pissed. We won't get out of this unscathed, but if we begin now, there is hope. That's what we've got and we should go with it.
My hope is that we can use this blog (ain't technology wonderful) to discuss these issues and find ways that we can work co-operatively toward solutions in our community. We can address some of the grave threats that are today facing us and examine how we might best deal with them. Finally, I hope that we can find the will to begin putting these plans into action and strengthening our community. I guess I see this blog as a sort of town hall and a call to action.
See you in the streets.
Marc
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