Tuesday, June 19, 2007

post for peace now!

i used to like summer. when i was younger. and thinner. i haven't liked summer for several years now due to a variety of reasons, not least of all that it is significantly hotter than i remember it being when i was younger and thinner. i worked with kids for many years and we dreaded the summer because there was no structure- not a good thing when you are responsible for someone else's kids. and- it's hot. let's face it- you can always layer but you can only be so naked. so, i was sitting on my porch among my living, breathing vegetables wondering if they too were sweating- and i kept thinking how much i didn't want my way of life to end. selfish for sure. but hey- i'm human.

here i was still able to sit on my porch and watch my neighbors across the street chat on their porch, and hear the neighbor next door coughing as he sat on his (a bit rear window i know but hey- it's my neighborhood). other places in the world people are able to tend their gardens and sit on their porches and enjoy their way of life too. and we all do it at the expense of others. i wouldn't mind being able to jump in the car and drive for no reason if doing so didn't harm the planet. i wouldn't mind going to the store and buying cool stuff if it didn't mean that another human had to suffer to make it. the world doesn't have to be this way. we don't have to torture and exploit each other. we don't have to try and force others to our way of life or use them as a means to our ends.

i am a fellow human being on this planet and i am ashamed of my fellow humans. ashamed because it could be me on the other end. we can have peace in the world. we can have it if we want it. we can be the peace we seek and we can spread it. if we have the will.

8 comments:

Larry said...

Very true if we only have the will, and I wonder how many really have the will, and how many have lost it through the politics of life and hate.

Peacechick Mary said...

It's true, Bet. It could be one of us or family members or just some innocent kid who is suffering.

WeezieLou said...

very eloquent, very true.

Larry said...

The Official George W. Bush
"Days Left In Office"
Countdown:

580 DAYS
5 Hrs 57 Min 43.9 Sec

Can we make it this long?

The Future Was Yesterday said...

i haven't liked summer for several years now due to a variety of reasons, not least of all that it is significantly hotter than i remember it being when i was younger and thinner.
I was complaining to Dad several years ago, during a hot spell, that I couldn't remember it ever being like this as a kid. He hauled out an old photo - of a thermometer - that showed the temp 12 degrees higher. Age IS a factor!:)

i wouldn't mind going to the store and buying cool stuff if it didn't mean that another human had to suffer to make it. the world doesn't have to be this way. we don't have to torture and exploit each other.
I understand what you're saying, but there is another side to this as well, I think. That other human being that makes what we buy, earns a living when we buy it, allowing them to sit by their garden on the porch as well.:)

sumo said...

Very thoughtful and true.

billie said...

tua- no- they don't get to sit by their garden as well- they get to work 14 hours a day in a sweat shop for pennies- exhausted and malnourished- while i sit by my garden and think of blog posts. some of them do earn a living but at what cost? and why but for a fluke of fate- is it them and not me? we have to care for each other instead of exploiting the fact that we have much and others barely survive. common human decency.

Chuck said...

Very well said- and thought out Betmo.