Would You Kill Your Mother?

Iran won't give up its right to use nuclear technology. I don't blame them. What gives the United States the right to dictate who is allowed to use a technology that can benefit developing nations? Money and power doesn't make one human better than another. If technology can be used in a humane way, and for a just cause, then it should be used. The United States acts like a big bully, trying to scare away all those who it feels threatened by. The United States is controlled by money and greed. If the oil companies, and all their wealth were of no importance to the government, and if our government woke up and realized what they're doing to the world, we'd already be living in a pollution free country. Hybrid cars are becoming a reality not because technology allows it, but because they are advertised as giving people "tax credits". Politicians can use this to their advantage. Oh, it also helps that the hybrid cars still require, *ahem* gas, so it's not as if the hybrids are taking money away from the oil companies. Electric cars, and cars that run on alternative fuels are already possible.

Global warming is going to force politicians to face reality. The only problem is it will be too late when they decide to do something about it. One third of Florida will be under water 50 - 60 years from now. London will be under water by the year 2100, only 94 years from now. These are facts. Because of global warming hurricanes are going to become more and more powerful. Already, the past 10 years has seen progressively worse hurricanes, setting historical records every year. Forest fires are the worst they've ever been. As the climate changes, storms like these will become so commonplace that much of our time and energy will be put into preventing, or protecting ourselves from these storms and natural disasters. But when will we realize what's causing all this? When will we realize its us? Al Gore's new movie An Inconvenient Truth, is an excellent eye opener and explains in plain English what's going on, and what the future holds. I watched it a few weeks ago with my parents and I highly recommend it.

Everyday that I drive into Boston, I think about alternative forms of energy. We need to figure out how to use what nature provides instead of modifying nature for our own use. This ties into food, believe it or not. The more "refined" our food is the less healthy it is for our bodies. We, as humans, can survive and live a very healthy life eating nothing but what nature provides us. Sure, we might need to use water and fire to steam vegetables or cook rice and beans, but its still natural. It's still directly from nature, using only natural things in the process of cooking. It's been scientifically proven that the more refined a food the less healthy it is for our body. And we already know that planet Earth is a living, breathing, biological creature, so why wouldn't those same scientific studies apply? We were born on Earth, which biologically makes it our mother. The Earth provides us with shelter and food, yet we suck up oil, refine it, and then burn it as gas in cars and factories. We're killing our mother Earth and we aren't even giving it a second thought.

So why am I driving a truck that gets 14 miles a gallon? Well, now that I've been educated enough to realize what's happening you can be sure that I'm going do something about it, as soon as possible. Which makes me wonder: Do I really need to own houses (which require a truck to haul stuff around)? Do I really need to travel as much as I do? (I could move to Boston, and ride my bike into work). Or I could wait a few years and get one of these, or something similar.