Climate Change

Shopping by screen  
A prediction from the 1920's to the 1960's that became a reality in the 1990's. 

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 There is a lot being shared about Climate Change and I think we can all be assured that it is happening and we all will have to deal with it in one way or another. Having it pushed in your face all of the time can feel a little dis-empowering because it is a force of Nature that not very many of us have much control over. Yet, saying this, there remains the question of what kind of control do we have over Nature and the truth is, collectively, we have huge control. Every time we buy into the Status Quo, we are buying into climate neglect. As Mother Theresa says, begin by changing the closest thing to you. Small home grown actions are influential. In the business world it’s called eating an Elephant one bite at a time; but the difficulty with this is that by the time the whole Elephant is eaten, it’s gone off and a new life has begun that is eating into the Elephant's rotting corpse for the 'eater' has become the new life, I'll call bacteria, and this is what is making you sick. This is what is happening in the world today. The old way of doing business has gone off and the new life that is emerging is polluting our thoughts and its environment is making us sick. While advances in medicine has placed antibiotic's high on the list of essential must have's, there remains the need to discover a medicine for the consumer sickness of traditional Elephant eating called material gain. What I mean by material gain is that every time we buy into a new housing development, a new car, air-conditioned rooms, electronic goods, cupboards full of plastic, a lawn without trees and a freezer full of meat, we are buying into traditional ways of living that Climate Change is now challenging. There is no way, that on your own, you are going to have an impact on Climate Change other than it all begins with one voice, for all it takes is one voice in your household to make a change. The truth is Climate Change is happening and we are all going to have to wear it. Unfortunately, it’s going to cost money to keep the traditions of yesterday going. In order to reduce the costs of tomorrow, both in environmental terms and the change in your pocket, making changes today means talking tiny, tiny steps towards learning about the changes of tomorrow, now before its too late and the panic of the masses set in. While it’s so nice to think about how we are all one and love will win the war the truth is most people reading about climate change will wait until it impacts upon them. A lot of those people will demand the government should do something about it. Some of those people will be the ones who are complaining about what the government is trying to do about it, today. Ignorance, when it comes to climate change, while it may be bliss today, will not be bliss tomorrow. Putting off tomorrow what can be learned today is good advice. I love procrastination but it doesn't change the fact that what I don't do now, I will have to do tomorrow. There needs to be a balance and not everything can be changed and not everything has to remain the same.  In this, the information age, the very thing that we need to change is the very thing that most of us earn a living from. This conflict can be difficult to think about and so most people chose to just go with the flow. I guess when a Tsunami happens we will truly be going with the flow, but this we definitely cannot control so it truly is not worth thinking about until it happens and hopefully it won't.  What can be changed is how much change you have in your pocket through adopting climate change initiatives of those who are in the position to influence others. Choosing relationships, over the love affair you have with the television or computer, by switching off their use of electricity in favour of getting to know the people you are living with is a positive climate change strategy that will take a while to adjust to. Not all of us live with people and there are many organisations crying out for volunteer help, but how can you help when working full time, are in need of help yourself or don't know how to get out of bed? And the learning curve goes on and upward. While spiritual enlightenment is vital for the healthy wellbeing of any individual, staying away from the processed food sections of the supermarket and expanding on your knowledge of fresh food cooking, using seasonal plants, less meat and better fish choices is another way of staying actively engaged in climate change thinking.  Extinction is real and the death of the nature we depend upon is getting bigger and bigger every single day. Recently, the medical profession discovered that the way to repair a broken mind is to begin again. Taking the individual back to grass roots and learning to walk again using baby steps has become a biological fact, now applauded by neuro specialists all over the world. The adoption of plasticity of the brain is moving social circles away from thinking of human life as being like a machine. We are not machines and we are very much part of Nature. We are upsetting the balance of nature and we have chosen carbon death over oxygenated life on this planet. The future is way too big for one person to handle, never mind comprehend, but it is not too late change our ways in the now of today. Baby steps is the answer and it all begins in the brain. Making a conscious choice to accept that climate change is sitting in your back yard and eating holes into your pockets is a beginning. Count your change today and ask yourself the question "how much are you willing to pay for some one else’s control over your life" for only you can change what you have in your pockets for a better future.  Climate change is an economic reality that is quckly becoming an economic crisis. The Climate Change choices, arising from what you are spending your hard earned cash on, are yours. As a consumer YOU influence the market. You might not think you do, but supply and demand of the competitive market place depends on the choices you and your friends are making all of the time. Ask any Face book Marketer why Face book is worth so much to the business domain and they might not tell you but the Shareholders will smile.  Making choices in favour of climate change is like taking the smiles off the faces of a few shareholders, but in the process you will be sewing up them holes in your own pockets, so more cash remains inside.    © Chris Tyne, 2012.