Opinion: sometimes the world upsets me

“I have to forgive the world – it probably doesn’t even realize how often it upsets me.” Ashleigh Brilliant

I must be getting old.

More and more I am getting cranky about the world and some of the people in it. Talk about becoming a grumpy old man. It is not what I want at all; I’d rather be joyful, optimistic and forward looking, but events around me and things happening on a global scale are making me grumpy.

Take, for example, the newly elected Labor Government in Australia. One of the first things Prime Minister Kevin Rudd rushed out to do was to promise to sign the Kyoto Agreement on climate change. Sounds good, noble and worthwhile – until you step back and take a cold hard look at the reality.

It is my opinion that even if we stopped using every vehicle in Australia today, and closed down every factory and power plant in our country, on a global scale it would mean very little – so close to zero, zilch, zip that it wouldn’t matter at all. Meanwhile, counties like China, India, some European countries and the United States ignore the prospects of total disaster on a global scale and merrily go on filling the atmosphere with their rubbish.

We are all on this planet together and everyone has to play their part. Until the massive polluters of this world start making a major shift in their practices, I’m afraid the agreement is a toothless tiger, not worth the paper it is written on.

“We must save the world. After all, it is the only planet with chocolate.”

Floriade 2007, Canberra

Special Note: This is the first in a series of occasional essays entitled “Opinion.” The opinions expressed in these articles are my own humble opinions. You are invited to join in the debate either through the contact form or through the comments section. I reserve the right to moderate comments.