Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Living Conveniently

It wasn't all that long ago that I wrote about having had the great opportunity to see David Suzuki speak about his life. It's amazing how easy it is to fall back into one's old ways of living and thinking. Thankfully, I had another opportunity to shake my complacency. Tonight I saw An Inconvenient Truth.

Al Gore's lament for the state and future of the planet is easily dismissed (or at least weakened) by the perception amongst some that it is purely an exercise in political gamesmanship. I feel that such an approach doesn't give the film it's due. That, and the likelihood of Al running against his former running-mate's wife for the Democratic nomination seems about as good as getting George W. to fully endorse the film. It's a shame that Al's history (and potential future) stands in the way of people experiencing this film.

Sure, he falls victim to some over-simplification but he also manages to pretty starkly outline where we stand, where we've come from and what the possible outcomes of our continued life of convenience may be. It reminded me of the blissful ignorance that I have let envelop me from time to time. It reminded me how thankful I am to be currently making my way in the world at a career that (hopefully) has a greater likelihood of helping than hindering the state of the world and those on it. Most importantly it reminded me to be aware and not to default to taking the easy way.

As a start, see the movie or gather information in some other way. Consider some of the efforts that are recommended on the film's website. Join David Suzuki's Nature Challenge. Do something. Just don't do as we've always done: be outraged, then promptly forget about it (as I have done with Harper backing out of Kyoto and so many other things). What's the quote? "If we keep doing what we've always done, we'll keep getting what we've always got." That's not good enough. For us, and whoever comes next.

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