We are drowning in news reports that remind me of the words of Robert Burns:
Man’s inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!
Every time you open a newspaper, listen to the radio, (watch television – if you have one) or read articles online, there are tales of bombings & massacres, in Gaza, or the plight of refugees in Syria….. I could go on and on.
Living in Northern Ireland, we are governed by The Northern Ireland Assembly but we still have a Cabinet member of the Westminster Government to keep an eye on us. This means that we have voting rites for both the local and Westminster elections.
In my thirty seven years living here, nobody I ever voted for in local elections, made it to Stormont and in Westminster elections we vote for Northern Ireland representatives and not the main parties, so again my vote does not count for much.
The Government responsible for my taxes, reductions in pension, rising food and fuel prices, the very folk preaching at me to ‘reduce, reduce, reduce’ and ‘save, save, save’, are people I did not vote for and are responsible for selling armaments to many of the countries using them to massacre men , women and children.
The Ebola virus, which has killed more than 670 people in West Africa, is now a “threat” to the UK, according to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.
We are constantly preached at about our carbon footprint, we are to reduce it to halt global warming, the cause of land slides, ice melts at the north and south poles, and world wide unpredictable changing weather patterns.
So what can I, as a widow living alone, do to save the world?
Yes,
- I prepare and cook all my own food. The only fast food for me comes in the form of an apple or a banana.
- Electricity provides light, is used for cooking, using the microwave, fridge/freezer and the washing machine. It also activated the oil heating boiler, the water for my shower, my phone and internet connection.
- Central heating comes from oil, and an open fire gives comfort and a feeling of not being alone on long dreary dark winter evenings. The fuel for the fire comes from woodchip blocks.
- I do have a car – fourteen years old now – with a laughable mileage of sixty seven thousand, seven hundred and odd miles on the clock! It is my life saver, a necessity rather than a luxury. Regular three hour journeys to Dublin, are not alone a bonus for my health & heart, but good for the engine of the car.
I do not have
- air conditioning.
- possess, a dishwasher, tumble dryer or television.
- I switch off lights when leaving a room.
So I will ask again…… What can I do?
Does laughing cause global warming? Do you think I should give it up?
It seems to me you are doing all of the right things. My car is 12 years old and has 26,000 miles on it.
Gigi, I did take the ferry to Scotland several times when Elly was over there at university. I also drove to Durham in the north eat of England and several trips to the west coast of Ireland as well as the regular visits to Dublin.
What can you do?
Stay warm. More people are going to die from excessive cold than as a result of global warming. That’s just natural, whether global warming is true or not. Cold kills. Increasing the price of energy doesn’t limit that.
Things are bad, but don’t believe everything you hear, see, or read from politicians or the media, especially when they use conditional words like could, might, should, may, etc. Be sceptical
Be happy! 😉
Mike, staying warm is my priority, I have been warned by my doctors not to get cold.
I do realise that journalists, social media users & politicians are fond of words like ‘could, might, should & may’, and normally let their words go through a proverbial sieve.
I am mostly happy in my skin and fond of laughter, I refuse to let the world get me down.
Staying warm is a priority for us, too. Our hardwood trees and (big) branches brought down by last winter’s storms will help get us through this winter.
I need to dwell less on the today’s political and diplomatic follies… We leave Sunday and will be away from a lot of it until October.
Mike, the modern way of rolling news does not help. constant repetition of the same item really frustrates me. No wonder young people have such short attention spans.
Have a wonderful trip, I look forward to the photos.
As gigihawaii says, you’re already doing the right things. Do what you do best: challenge us to think, to question ourselves.
Helen, the question this morning was actually to challenge ideas. It must have worked, because WordPress informed me there was a spike in my stats – not that I ever bother with stats. Blogging, for me is a pass-time and not a business.
The news is generally bad news. That sells media better than good news. Good or bad nudes (depending on POV) might also sell, but there is censorship on that.
Your car certainly can’t complain of overwork!
As for saving the world, that is the responsibility of the new generation!
Col, you made me smile! When the politicians stop gadding about the world for meetings surrounded with plane full of advisers, when most of the work could be conducted by conference meetings.
Bishop Sheen used to say, If we all lit just one candle, what a bright world this would be. Although our efforts seem small on the national stage, I know great things have been accomplished by many people doing small things. Recall the Nazi takeover of Sweden and subsequent order for all the Jews to wear yellow armbands. Next day everyone turned out with a yellow armband. Or Gandhi and the edict, live simply so others may simply live.
Baby steps, that’s what it takes, baby steps.
Dianne, baby steps are my normal way of helping those around me.
Indeed, our votes count for very little. We baby boomers are blamed for regressive political policies, but most of them we never voted for in the first place – the politicians just did what they felt like doing.
Jenny and I do our best to lessen the effects of climate change too. No air con, no tumble dryer, no giant fridge-freezer, no wide-screen TV. There’s a dishwasher but we never use it. And our cars are 15 and 13 years old, with equally laughable mileages.
Nick, we baby boomers arrived into our world of rationing that lasted for several years. Carbon guzzling ‘toys’ were science fiction, so we are more able to cope with measures to deal with a lighter carbon footprint.
Excellent post GM. I came into a world of rationing too and do my wee bit in a land of monster trucks and hulking SUVs.
I am sweltering in a part of Canada that never has seen weather like the heat we’re having. 40+ with the humidity factored in.
But all I can do is my own wee bit and carry on with my conservation efforts and watch the politicians (who are controlled, as we know, by the corporations who own them) do another dance of “mights” and “shoulds” while watching them claw back my measly wee pension because I had the audacity to declare untraceable income on my tax return last year.
XO
WWW
40+ is tough for the fair skinned Irish folk. I struggled as we edged towards the 30s last week. Politicians seem to think that being elected gives them carte blanche to do as they please and never mind the voters!
You’re doing the right things. I keep voting and writing letters too. I wonder if it helps. My car is 11 years old and has 58,000.
Celia, I cannot solve the ‘big’ problems of the world, so I try to help the people around me.
Find more toyboys to cheer up. They are the ones most affected. Us old fogies have little to look forward to anyway.
Ramana, Nothing to look forward to. What about your date, surely it has not fallen through again?
You must be psychic. It is on for tomorrow, ie Wednesday!
Enjoy!
You have done all you can. Enjoy your day!
blessings ~ maxi
Maxi, I am just home. I avoided two downpours while out, and I’m sitting here watching the rain dancing to the sound of sky drums, read thunder!