environments.

recently one of my very dear friends informed me of her inspiration to create an independent zine, focused on the local scenes in and around the okanagan area of british columbia. having just relocated there to pursue an education in all things audio, she quickly recognized an absence of the local youth and/or counter-culture publications that one finds in a metropolis, which aim to connect, inform and showcase artists, musicians, writers, film makers and progressive thinkers, young and old. she also asked if i wouldn't mind her cherry-picking from my posts, which of course, i wouldn't. so if you happen to be reading this as you sip coffee on a park bench in kelowna, then she clearly has succeeded, and i can consider myself a published writer (...a man can dream). in addition to unfettered access to my blog, she wondered if i might type an article focused on the environment, hence the title. but this is a request to which my reply may not meet an acceptably "green" frame of reference. she knows this, and i don't plan to disappoint.


while i am all for sustainable energy, clean production and recycling, and generally better preservation of earth, a slight difference in interpretation of the word environmentalism, tends to set my perspective worlds apart from the modern planet-saver. the difference, for those of you unfamiliar with my previous online rants, is that while most of my peers strive to save our planet, i choose to acknowledge the very long term futility in this endeavour, hoping instead that our strange species continues to evolve and explore beyond our natal, terra firma. but to do so, we will need to reach a working understanding of the environments that allow us a continued existence; a harmony of all possible knowledge within the probable (and necessary) constructs of biological, chemical, physical, and possible dimensions in existence. suffice to say, this may take us awhile, and it's unlikely to ever happen if our current way of living is left to run its course. this ecosystem we rely on does not take "accidents" like oil spills that are allowed to bleed for sixty days, lightly. in fact, every horrendous act committed by civilized humans, has been an attack on the very ground that offers us sanctuary. don't be fooled though, earth has a way of shrugging that dirt off its shoulder. it also has a hell of a lot bigger things to worry about, roaming through a vast chaotic vacuum, hanging in the delicate balance of an orbit that depends on the stability and particular mass of our beloved star, in a galaxy whirling through an ever expansive, almost impossible spanning of space. to use more of jay-z's colourful lyricism, earth's got ninety-nine problems, but we ain't one. (hit me!)


but should the earth again become volatile, and possibly uninhabitable, we would most definitely have a problem. and so, we need to focus on and explore the wonderful elements that create environments which sustain life, and there is currently no other evidence of these miraculous circumstances, nowhere else we would better learn from. there is also nowhere else with resources we can obtain and utilize, and there is a limited amount of those on our humble home. obviously we need to be smart about this, and awareness is imperative to our situation. immediate changes need to made, changes to both our energy and fuel sources, as well as consumption. petroleum products have long since outlived their necessity, and the continued use of these detrimental resources, while proven alternatives such as solar, wind and wave remain grossly overlooked and brushed aside by an insane majority, illustrates how commonplace our unwillingness to demand the absolute best quality of life for ourselves and future generations, has become. we placidly accept bogus ideas like, "this is how life works," or "it's god's will," without stopping for a moment to think for ourselves and realize that all of this is truly what each of us makes it. from the individual's own day-to-day lifetime, to the entire history of our conscious and civilized species, nearly everything we consider integral and vital to our existence has been a direct result of human's overwhelmingly creative imagination. but the core to our desire of creation has been replaced by the lust for consumption, and a longing for complacent comfort, rendering our willpower ignored and essentially left for dead.


every generation of the modern era has faced a reoccurring dilemma in making healthy, sustainable choices, and for the most part they've consistently failed to do so. it's each of our individual responsibilities to raise progressive, sustainable efforts that benefit both the present and future, while honoring the past with the consideration it deserves. for those who toss this forward type of thinking away, and worry only of the material world that's been created to occupy our lifelong thirst for information, let me put it to you like this: there's far more to gain from an assuredly promising future, than there is if no one's around to appreciate the value of it. the time has come to expect more out of the possibilities before us all, and to demand such from ourselves and everyone else, while not letting sympathetic addictions (bleeding hearts), greedy ignorance (corporate america), or even mass delusions (religious fanatics) guide our minds' awareness and perception. we do not need prophets, leaders, celebrities, idols and heroes, we need to do this ourselves and together. otherwise, any possible great-great-great descendants of ours are going to be debating and mulling over very similar problems to those we face today, the only difference being that they'll have less time to fix them. i sincerely hope that things progress for the better, as much as i hope to see this in print... on recycled paper, of course.