h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Case for Despair - A49517120
Author: minorvogonpoet - U3099090

I wrote this for the latest Stretcher challenge. I don't think it really meets the requirements, but I felt I had to write it. This is what happens when I let out the monster that lurks in the back of my mind. Sorry

A counsel of despair? That's downright indefensible! But you have me convinced. I'm going to sit in a corner and weep now

Oh, hang on though. I feel I should share this with you: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16956300/the_prophet_of_climate_change_james_lovelock

James Lovelock seems to be quite looking forward to inevitable doom: "By 2100, Lovelock believes, the Earth's population will be culled from today's 6.6 billion to as few as 500 million, with most of the survivors living in the far latitudes -- Canada, Iceland, Scandinavia, the Arctic Basin."

Blimey!

Hiya mVp, here's a link for your "Antarctic ice bridge" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7983975.stm


GB

Thanks for the links Tibley, GB.

The New Scientist article I read mentioned that Lovelock was predicting dramatic population crash. I'll put a link to that article and the one about the ice bridge when I have a moment.

I just wanted to get some reactions to the content before I decided whether to make it a Stretcher entry.

You do know I can only speak for myself, not the other Judges, but I

Ms GB

I've been known to misinterpret/break the stretcher rules so I expect my opinion's unreliable. But for what it's worth, I think this fits the bill.

Another similar one that occurred to me, was accepting that nothing could be done to save the environment or our (grand)children, and deciding we might just as well have a massive blow out on the remaining resources: drive like demons in gas-guzzling motors, fly everywhere, turn the heating right up, eat and drink till we're fit to bust etc. But then, that seems quite popular in any case and some people might raise an eyebrow and say "Damn right! That's exactly what I'm doing."

I think a lot of people take the line 'I'll do as I like and s*d the environment.'

But the people who are driving the gas guzzlers and turning up the heating probably aren't the people who will suffer most. The first people to suffer will be inhabitants of places like Bangladesh and Kenya. Then the poor in places like the USA and southern Europe. You can be sure that the rich will be the last to feel the effects.

I have mixed feelings on this subject, as I usually feel that anything proposed at this point resembles putting a band-aid on a gaping wound.

I also tend to keep my mouth shut lest I scream, 'Where was everybody 50 years ago, besides laughing at the notion that humans could ruin the environment?'

'Silent Spring' was written in 1962.

People should have learned from the Dust Bowl.

They should have mourned the passenger pigeon.

Well.

The rather lovely place where I am living right now is in the middle of its usual spring nightmare.

The pollen is literally ankle-deep. You have to sweep it from the sidewalks.

On a sunny day, you have to use the wipers to clear the windscreen before driving. You can see where the cars have been in the parking lot.

My head is exploding with sinus pain, because I have allergies.

Why is this? Because the stupid people in Durham, NC, decided to plant only MALE trees. To avoid the messiness of fruit.

These lovesick trees are fighting back, trying to throw their genetic material into the next county. I don't blame them.

Has anyone seen M Night Shyamalan's 'The Happening'?

Does anyone remember Sara Teasdale?

http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/223.html

Despair? I dunno. Anger, more like it. Disgust.

Turning down the thermostat and buying a hybrid car is not going to cut it.

MVP, you may be right. It might be too late for the human race to become educable.

Dmitri. I agree that many of the measures suggested look like a band aid on a gaping wound. I wish there was something we could do about our present predicament but I don't know what it is.

I tend to go out into my garden and look at the plants and tell myself that, as long as there's something growing , there must be hope.

Ms GB

Yesterday I heard on the radio that the Germans were raising bees on the roofs of highrises.

This is good. The bees are being starved out by monoculture on farms.

Fifteen years ago, a curmudgeonly old lady in Western North Carolina called up my mother, and as usual started talking without identifying herself (she was fun that way).

'Have you got any bees in your yard? I've got *one bee*. This is outrageous.'

That lady was worth more than a cartload of PhDs.

Then I came home to a tv advert for Miracle Gro. Miracle Gro is part of the problem.

Will shut up now and stay on topic.

I used to know a man who raised bees in East London. Apparently city bees do better than bees in agricultural areas.

I suppose we need:

a recognition that the economy can't go on growing for ever;
work to provide renewable energy at a reasonable price;
the planning of towns so that houses aren't too far from shops and workplaces;
education on the place of humans in the environment.

I hope there's still time.

The disappearing bee problem is due to colony collapse disorder, I touched on it in my entry on Honey: A36869485 and the quote: <> cracks me up

GB

It does seem hopeless at times. I know that's why I voted Green last election, but we need to do so much more, and we have so little time.

Nicely expressed.

Thanks, Bea.

Despite the article, I think we have to go on hoping and working and campaigning.

Still, worse things happen at sea, eh..?



I think you've just ruined my evening, MVP. Which, as you were trying to defend despair as a reasonable course of action, probably means you've succeeded! Well done

The only thing that struck me was that there are a couple of things in there that won't age well (assuming it's worth worrying about the future of h2g2 )

"In the Antarctic, an ice bridge linking the Wilkins Ice Shelf to an island forming part of the Antarctic peninsular has just snapped"
-->
In April, 2009, an ice bridge linking the Wilkins Ice Shelf to an island forming part of the Antarctic peninsular snapped."

"The world’s politicians have responded to the recent recession by introducing measures designed to stimulate growth."
-->
In 2009, the world's politicians responded to the global recession by...

Thanks, Danny. I'm sorry to have ruined your evening.

I think the more people discuss these issues, the more likely it is that there will be effective action. Nobody really wants to give up on the human race.

I'll make the changes you suggested.

Presumably, these pieces have been marked for the Stretcher now and I can tweak mine if I like?

And for anyone who thinks I'm exaggerating, here's a link to an article in today's Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment

Tweak away

Ms GB

Thanks Ms GB!