My wife made a good point the other day. We – and by that she means her and I – only need the current world conditions to hold steady for another 50 years. She was being optimistic, of course. Because we really only need it to hold steady for another 30 years at the most.
She was right in principle though. And the thought made me feel a little better.
A couple of years ago, frustrated with the bizarre dogma of Texas republicans and perplexed at the chronic state of denial concerning conservation, we decided that, because we didn’t have children, it really wasn’t a big issue as long as we could breathe the air and enjoy reasonable liberty up until the end of our dwindling lives.
You ever get that feeling… when things are going crazy around you… that you just need to back away and extricate yourself from the madness? I suspect it’s this emotion that prompts crazy mountain men to drop out of society and begin enjoying a rodent-based diet.
The truth is, even if you admit your own foibles, you never truly believe you’re as nuts as those around you. You know some people are stranger than others, but when you look at the collective… sometimes… you get scared – or tired of the chaos – and just want end your involvement. You realize you’re just never going to cure the craziness. Then, if you’re realistic with yourself, you ponder the possibility that you just might not “get it”. For some, this makes them want to understand it all. And that is admirable. But for others… sometimes… you just don’t WANT to “get it”.
It’s that way for me when it comes to the financial greed of corporate America, global political conflict, lack of social responsibility, and the NFL. I see the valiant efforts of anti-whaling activists trying to save a beautiful endangered species, only to be rammed by the Asian whaler they are protesting. I see self-serving belligerence of countries trying to scuttle a new "Kyoto-type" accord. I see the fear mongering of corporations influencing citizens to forego their own health interests in order to protect their profits and I, ultimately, tire from the confusion, wondering why anyone embraces the futility of resistance.
There’s no need to fight a “good fight” anymore. We're just going to hunker down and wait for our time to be done. We, who have no progeny, have no skin in the game past a certain time window. After that, it’s out of our hands. Perhaps it always has been. But you folks with kids, who drive Hummers to the coffee shop and think global warming is a liberal plot to undermine business... this is on you. Good luck with it.
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