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THE WORLD TODAY THROUGH
THE EYES OF JUSTINE!
The Mayan calendar seems
very specific about the end of the world being on
December 21st 2012. I however, am a little
less convinced. I think we may still have some time
left, and some time to make changes, at least until the
sun burns out. While there were countless defining eras
in human history, during the past couple hundred years
two in particular have occurred to me in the last couple
of days as especially important.
The first would be the
industrial revolution. This boom in industry translated
into economic and technological growth as well as an
increase in population. I believe that the promises we
see today are based in this era. People of this time
might be excused for their lack of environmental
sensitivity when just feeding their families proved
difficult. Today there is some movement toward living
greenly, and being environmentally conscious has become
trendy. With all the publicity global warming has been
receiving and all the environmental legislation that
seems to be taking place worldwide one might hope that
we were on the road to averting environmental
catastrophe.
Somehow, I’m not quite
convinced. I find it hard to believe that the world will
be able to wean itself off of its oil dependence within
the next few decades, and rising oil prices will lead to
higher cost of living. In my own country the Prime
Minister flouts expert opinions that our oil and gas
reserves have only twenty years left, in order to allay
public fears. Although I think the main challenges of
our near future will be environmental, I don’t think
that the picture is completely grim. The other
historically defining era that I think has greatly
influenced the present is the 60’s. During this time the
seeds of liberalness and acceptance were sewn. A country
like Spain that did not legalize divorce until the
1980’s now allows same sex marriage, as do several other
countries. The United States now has a black man as the
Democratic, presidential candidate and a woman on the
Republican ticket at the same time. The world as a whole
has become more accepting and open and I think that most
people would agree that these changes have been for the
better. All in all I think changing attitudes, and the
desire of the world population to see these changes
reflected in the world around them will make the
difference. People are getting smarter and more involved
in their own fate. More of the people of today believe
they have the ability to affect change, and belief is
half the battle. |
