The war on the environment got a huge boost last week with the swearing in of Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro. When not bashing gays and indigenous people, Bolsonaro talks about his plans for lifting protections in the Amazon Rainforest.
As I write this it's an early Sunday morning in January. I hear the birds chirping outside. I know that most Americans today will either be in church listening to lectures on tithing or at home, chugging beer and watching the NFL wildcard playoffs. Far away in the Middle East American drones are humming around, spreading the word of Jesus with their Sidewinder missiles. Back here at home, Jerry Falwell Jr. is rubbing Trump's head with anointing oil, and everything seems pretty normal. So, why am I sitting here, so upset about an ultra-right politician wanting to destroy the rainforest?
Climate Change Galore
I'm upset because the rainforest is our planet's lungs. With all the global warming going on we need the rainforest more than ever.
Catch-22
Most Americans are so undereducated that they probably have never heard of Catch-22, but I read the book and saw the movie with my dad. It's a freakin' weird book. So, gather around my young friends, take off your red hats, and sit and listen. You see, the underlying cause of most of our environmental and social problems is the exploding world population. But no one likes to talk about it because natalism is so deeply embedded in our humanity. For too many centuries it was all we could do to get a baby through his or her first year of life, and now we're being told there's too many people? When you talk about overpopulation the political Left screams "genocide" and that whites are tying to wipe out people of color. The Right shouts "pro-life" and says that God knows how many people the Earth can hold. Most of the big U.S. environmental organizations have either ended or watered down their population programs. God forbid, in this era of political correctness, if anyone's feelings get hurt.
And to make matter's worse, the exploding world population has a growing taste for beef, which is a nasty and resource-intensive industry. Just the agriculture that is needed to feed the world's cattle is enormous, and farmers are pushing deeper into wilderness areas to plant more crops. This, I believe, is the real threat to the rainforest. Plus, you have to add all the methane that the cattle industry produces, the pasture lands required, and dealing with the waste as reasons why the industry is horrible. All of us could do a great service to the environment by greatly reducing red meat intake to zero or once a week.
So, getting back to the Catch-22, which is a paradox that no one can escape. See, the human population is exploding and so is the demand for meat and crops. All the human activity is releasing massive tons of carbon into the atmosphere, which is disrupting our climate. Forests can absorb some of the carbon, but we are destroying them for more farms and pastures. In the mean time, the millions of new people are desperate for jobs so the economic growth engine is favored over environmental protection.
Ultra-Right Conservatism
The election of Bolsonaro in Brazil is the final straw for me. I'm done with conservatism. While the conservative ideals of family, God, and country appear admirable, the reality is that conservatism is poisoned by human greed. And despite its support by evangelical Christians, modern conservatism is the exact opposite of the example and teachings of Jesus.
I don't know why the world is shifting towards these right-wing extremist leaders, but I'm guessing it's a desire for order. Russia and Turkey are led by right-wing regimes that are near dictatorships, and we are now seeing the same trend in the Americas. Again, there is a Catch-22 because the chaos created by environmental ruin and massive human growth makes the masses elect leaders who promise order, old values, and stability. But their policies only exacerbate the world's problems and create more chaos.
I've always said that the swing to the Right is a response to the excesses of the Left, so I'd like to send a message to the Left: the next time you get in power, cool it, and try a little moderation. We can still muddle through our problems, but we need to somehow all do it together.
The Lesson of My Rambling Rant
The moral of my story today is to eat less meat, have smaller families, send money to rainforest protection groups, and get involved politically. Again, be careful when your side wins because these extreme political shifts are counterproductive in the long run. Let's save our Planet, and let's somehow do it by listening to the other side and not giving allegiance to any ideology.
