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Global Warning - Jan 9, 2006 - Printable Version
- HELL, I'LL DO IT*
by Robin Buckallew
Have you ever sat in your living room, watching the news and fuming? Things seem to be going wrong. There are wars and rumors of wars. There is corruption and graft everywhere. Natural disasters threaten lives. The schools are failing, and crime is rampant. On top of that is the environmental news - polluted water, polluted air, polluted soil, species threatened with extinction, and global warming. Not one bit of good news on the nightly news. You sit there, sunk deep into your chair, glowering at the TV, thinking "Somebody should do something". Somebody needs to get out there and fix things so they work better. Somebody needs to run for office. Somebody needs to make a law. Somebody needs to make a difference. How often, when these thoughts go through your head, do you sit up straight and tall, and say to yourself, "Hell, I'LL do it."? For many of us, our activism could much more truly be termed passivism. We fume, we fret, we stew, we scowl. We cry and bitch and seek solace in the mindless mutterings of the TV, or in the fermented bosom of our bottled buddy. We wait for someone to take the initiative - our government, our church, our neighbor. But nobody moves. They also just sit and fume and fuss. So, nothing changes. Nothing gets "fixed". Nothing gets better. Now, I want you to join with me in a giant shout. I want you to shout out, loud and proud, "HELL, I'LL DO IT!!!" Get up off your duff, dust the crumbs off your lap, click off your TV, and give me a great big, rousing roar: "HELL, I'LL DO IT!!!" After all, if we don't do it, who will?
If you want to live in a better world, it is your responsibility to make it better. Look around - there are millions of things you can do personally to improve the world in a small way. Worried about rising energy prices and global warming? Try rearranging your schedule so that you can drive fewer miles. Arrange a car pool. Check out the local bus schedule, if you live in a city large enough to have a bus. Pay attention to the places you go - some of them may actually be close enough to walk. Perhaps a bicycle would be a feasible answer for slightly longer distances, and might even help you lose those 10 pounds you put on over the holidays. And there are ways closer to home that you can save energy. How often do you think about your heating and air conditioning? How often do you turn it off and open your windows? Is it possible to turn your heat to 65, and put on an extra sweater? Make a list of all the ways you use energy. Chances are, most of them could be altered slightly to preserve energy, and to save you money to boot. If you're interested in changing, but just too apathetic to start, sit up and say it again: "HELL, I'LL DO IT!!!"
What about food? Do you waste food, making more than you need, and scraping your plate into the garbage disposal? A garbage disposal was truly an unfortunate invention. Not only does it consume electricity and water, commodities that are in short supply, but it has caused us to be much more blasé about waste. Out of sight, out of mind. When I was growing up, we used to throw our peelings and our leavings on the garden, where it provided a natural fertilizer for the new vegetation that would take its place. Many people now are beginning to compost, and there are many new products and techniques that make it easier and more practical, with greatly reduced odors from the old days of nasty smelling "garbage". Of course, some people live in apartments, where gardens are not an option, and a compost pile would be truly unappreciated by neighbors who are within arms reach. Perhaps the answer lies in a step some communities have taken - a community garden in an empty lot. The entire neighborhood pitches in, shares in the garden, shares in the work, and of course, shares in the products that are grown. Not to mention, sharing in the good feeling of being out working in a garden, and the community spirit that comes from doing something as a neighborhood. If you've been thinking about starting a garden this year, but find yourself sitting there just sort of blinking occasionally whenever it occurs to you, sit up once again and say "HELL, I'LL DO IT!!!"
For my part, I used to get frustrated by my seeming inability to make a difference. For years, I was making the needed changes, I was reducing my consumption, speaking up wherever possible, joining the organizations in their fight against environmental degradation - everything short of running for office. Nothing seemed to make a difference. My neighbors didn't join me. No matter how loud I shouted "HELL, I'LL DO IT!!!", they just turned away without any comment. (At least they didn't have me committed). Even my regular column seems to get little response. Tired of banging my head against a wall, I contemplated giving up the fight, joining the apathetic majority, and just staying comfortable and quiet. Instead, I thought about the oyster and the grain of sand. An oyster gets a grain of sand inside its shell. Just a tiny irritant, but that's all it takes. In an effort to rid itself of this annoyance, the oyster begins to cover the sand with a soft, shiny white substance. In time, the grain of sand has turned into a pearl. Something beautiful has come out of what began as just an irritant. Now, I think of myself as doing something very important - I am planting grains of sand in all your shells. I continue planting these irritating grains, in hopes that over time, you, my readers, will turn them into pearls. I know that the work I am doing is important. I know in time you will join me, if only to get rid of the irritants that I continue planting. I know that one day, you will stand up and shout, "HELL, I'LL DO IT!!!" Then, the pearl will be fully formed and beautiful.
Many people find themselves feeling overwhelmed at the vast amount of work that needs to be done to make the necessary changes in the world around us. We let these feelings overwhelm us, and we find ourselves sinking into the slough of despond. We end up not doing anything at all just because so much needs to be done. Year after year, decade after decade, apathy grows, and along with it, the list of things needing to be done gets longer and longer. We continue to whine and whimper, feeling the burden getting bigger. We wonder why nobody does anything. Now, we need to wonder why we never do anything. The excuses flow out - excuses come easily. As Jeff Goldblum put it in the movie The Big Chill, "I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They're more important than sex." We rationalize day and night about why we can't make a difference. Our one vote makes no difference, so why vote? It makes no real difference in the overall waste of the world if we reduce our waste, so why bother? If our neighbors aren't going to do it, why should we? We can't change the world by ourselves, after all. Meanwhile, our neighbors sit there in their comfortable worlds and make the exact same excuses, the exact same rationalizations. Perhaps if they saw us starting, they'd join in. Perhaps if they heard us yelling, "HELL, I'LL DO IT!!!", they'd come by to see what all the noise was about. Maybe they'd begin to yell with us. Then, there'd be two voices shouting "HELL, I'LL DO IT!!!" If the neighbors call the police, that's all right. Recruit them. The police are already working to change things, they can be valuable allies. So, shout it from the rooftops, write it across the sky. Join me in one giant, earsplitting rebel yell: "HELL, I'LL DO IT!!!" After all, if we don't do it, who will?
*Thanks to Vice President Richard Cheney for the inspiration for today's article, and for the quote that made up its title. Dick, you're welcome to join us, too.
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