Urge for Change: An Observation.

Australia to Tibet; 18 months and 20,000 kilometres by bicycle spanning millions of people across a range of cultures and landscapes. From sensitive coastal waterways to arid desert environments, from dense tropical jungles to the highest peaks in the world stretching across the vast Tibetan Plateau – perhaps a quarter of the world by bicycle.

If you could see the amount of vehicles on the road, the epidemic spread of pollution and human waste, the damming of vital life giving rivers, the deteriorating quality of coastal marine environments, the abuse of fertile lands, the destruction of forests for palm oil plantations and the growing consumption (especially in places like China) that fuels all of this; you may begin to experience how destructive this continual pattern of consumption is and how little we understand (or appreciate) the dynamics of the natural systems that support us. It is all linked to our own neurosis!

There’s hardly any place left that hasn’t been touched by man.  If you could see what I’ve seen, to see first hand the scale at which we are detrimentally changing our natural environment, you may begin to understand what is at stake. It underpins everything that we value on this planet, including our very existence. These fragile ecosystems we change and manipulate at a whim are not apart from us, but are us. We are part of these ecosystems as much as the oxygen we breath is part of the air that surrounds us. These systems are all inexplicitly connected in ways that are hard to imagine, let alone understand. The earth doesn’t belong to us, we are merely custodians, and we are failing miserably. Suffocating in our own impotence, like a slack fish out of water.

Australia is one of the most sensitive ecosystems on the planet. The changes are already occurring at home. The life blood of Central Australia, the Murray River no longer flows to the sea, warmer oceans and changes in the delicate pH balance are slowly killing the Great Barrier Reef, we are prostituting the fragile soils of the outback as they turn into a virtual desert. Make no mistake, these repercussions affect us in every possible way; from the health of the planet’s oceans to the ability to feed ourselves. It’s a direct result of our current level of thinking which continues to lead us down a path none of us would dare to imagine possible. It will become … the end of living and the beginning of survival. (Words of Chief Seattle 1852). I hate to sound alarmist, but it’s no alarm (that’s been going off for decades). This is the fire raging inside the building.

What else is clear is that this upcoming election is a turning point for Australia. ‘Kevin 07′ turned out to be the coke can that opened with a POP!, fizzed and splatted then soon went flat. The change we all expected never came. Instead, what really became clear over the last few months in Australian politics was how vested interests are pulling the strings behind both major parties. The puppet is hanging limp, it’s master waiting in the wings.

Fear will always win over truth every time. It was fear that ousted Rudd (fear that miners would lose their jobs with the super profits tax), fear that led to Howard winning prior (after the children overboard fiasco). It’s the dilution of workers’ rights, the confusion over the Emissions Trading Scheme.  It’s the failure of the education ‘revolution’. (A revolution is exactly what is needed - a real revolution of our own intellectual ripening!). The major political parties don’t care for you or your working family … don’t look so surprised! It is mere rhetoric, looking after their own self interests and will continue as long as you stay employed, can afford the mortgage/rent and continue to pay taxes to maintain the status quo. Vis a vis, we are not free. Yet we still dream that the change we know and, more importantly, feel is needed will come in time. Where is our hero? Who will save us from ourselves?

It comes as no surprise that it’s not getting any better. In fact I believe it’s getting worse. We are become something akin to the American political system that we so despise. Despite what we’re being spoon fed to make us feel better, the truth is that at no other point in history has our species been in such a precarious position. The decisions we make now will echo through future generations. These ripples in the metaphorical pond need to start with us.

‘Never doubt that a group of small dedicated citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.’  Margaret Mead.

The only political party with any integrity left is neither red nor blue, but Green. Dismiss it as some may, but the real change that is needed lies with neither major political party, but with a complete alternative. A fresh alternative, a socially responsible alternative that puts people first, unconstrained by vested interests and large corporate donations, prepared to take difficult decisions for long term gain, uses hope as a political tool rather than fear, prepared to look past the next election campaign, prepared to build a truly sustainable future; to steer the ship into the wind and ride the coming storm … or at least we can kickstart the process of change. Don’t be scared!

Feel disillusioned? Use your voice, use your vote, make a change. On the 21^st August, I ask that you think about the change that we all feel is desperately needed. Do not fear. Think about it, do your homework - I implore you, make the connections!

On August 21^st, vote Green!

‘Terror has become the despotism of liberty against tyranny’ Robespierre Jacobin, Leader, the French Revolution