We borrow it from our Children

From the BBC, a politician that ours could well advised to learn from.

"It's a common grumble that politicians' lifestyles are far removed from those of their electorate. Not so in Uruguay. Meet the president - who lives on a ramshackle farm and gives away most of his pay.

Laundry is strung outside the house. The water comes from a well in a yard, overgrown with weeds. Only two police officers and Manuela, a three-legged dog, keep watch outside.

This is the residence of the president of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, whose lifestyle clearly differs sharply from that of most other world leaders.

President Mujica has shunned the luxurious house that the Uruguayan state provides for its leaders and opted to stay at his wife's farmhouse, off a dirt road outside the capital, Montevideo.

The president and his wife work the land themselves, growing flowers.

Ten days ago, the lower house of Uruguay's parliament passed a law legalizing marijuana, reflecting a growing sentiment in Latin America that the current prohibition on drugs should change. 

"But what are we thinking? Do we want the model of development and consumption of the rich countries? I ask you now: what would happen to this planet if Indians would have the same proportion of cars per household than Germans? How much oxygen would we have left?

"Does this planet have enough resources so seven or eight billion can have the same level of consumption and waste that today is seen in rich societies? It is this level of hyper-consumption that is harming our planet."

Mujica accuses most world leaders of having a "blind obsession to achieve growth with consumption, as if the contrary would mean the end of the world"."

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Whether or not climate change is caused by man, or is just a normal cycle is irrelevant. Either way, I do believe that we contribute to it. The real problem is man's overpopulation, which feeds the utter disrespect by the majority, to our environment and the world's ecology in general. The days of safaris and the unchecked hunting of Africa's game has depleted and brought them close to extinction. Those that are left are being slaughtered for food and folk medicine by the hungry and greedy respectively. The dried hair from rhino horns bringing $1,400/oz in Viet Nam.

The rain forests are being cut down. The old growth forests here in Oregon with the exception of a few protected acres have been cut and re-planted as tree farms. These forests are not the same , if and when they are replanted. Countless thousands of species do not survive in the interim and what results is a forest that is a ghost of it's former self.

The cities are expanding and all those roofs and pavements collect toxic water. This water unfiltered by the earth, then runs unchecked through the storm drains daily, by the billions of gallons and drains directly into and pollutes the oceans.

Wherever man has reached a certain critical population, he has tended to do so at great cost to the earth's, and his children's future. The days of being fruitful and multiplying are past. The earth has only so much room, and while maybe not as fragile as any one particular species that may go extinct on any given day because of man, all of the earth's biota is interconnected and interdependent.

The twenty acres I once lived on far (I thought) from the city, in Florida, are now surrounded by developments and the small two lane country road has become a six lane highway.

The problem cannot be solved simply by carbon credits, electric cars wind generators and such. The problem is that there are too many of us. I do not know what the solution is. But, if we haven't reached a critical mass yet, we soon will, and I do believe that our growth rate is unsustainable.

OK. Rant over. Now I can go back to putting the second coat of paint on my farmhouse. Actually, the second it has had in it's entire life of at least 100 years.

We do not inherit the world from our Ancestors----We borrow it from our Children. (Kenyan Proverb)

Too many people too little room.

Whether or not climate change is caused by man, or is just a normal cycle is 

irrelevant. Either way, I do believe that we contribute to it. 

The real problem is man's overpopulation and greed, which feeds the utter disrespect of the 

majority to our environment and the world's ecology in general. 

The days of 

safaris and the unchecked hunting of Africa's game has depleted and brought 

them close to extinction. Those that are left are being slaughtered for food 

and folk medicine by the hungry and greedy.

The rain forests are being cut down, also by the hungry and greedy. 

The old growth forests here in Oregon 

with the exception of a few protected acres have been cut and re-planted as 

tree farms. These forests are not the same , if and when they are replanted. 

Countless thousands of species do not survive in the interim and what 

results is a forest that is a ghost of it's former self.

The cities are expanding and all those roofs and pavements collect toxic 

water. This water unfiltered by the earth, then runs unchecked through the 

storm drains daily, by the billions of gallons and drains directly into and 

pollutes the oceans. The ocean is being literally fished out of not only the 

large predator species, but the sardines and smelt at the bottom of the food chain.

And so on......

Wherever man has reached a certain critical population, he has tended to do 

so at great cost to the earth's, and his children's future. The days of 

being fruitful and multiplying are past. The earth has only so much room, 

and while maybe not as fragile as any one particular species that may go 

extinct on any given day because of man, all of the earth's biota is 

interconnected and interdependent.

The twenty acres I once lived on far (I thought) from the city, in Florida, 

are now surrounded by developments and the small two lane country road has 

become a six lane highway. 

If you are over 30 years old, look around and remember what it was like 20 years ago. 

What is left of the forested hills here in the Willamette valley are being 

cleared to plant grape vines. This was land traditionally unfarmable, and 

was a refuge for the local wildlife and native plants. These acres are 

stripped and fenced to keep any animals out. In our local economy here, it 

is permitted to do this, but not to build a house up in the woods in addition to the old farmhouse. 

Something if done properly, would have very little impact on the local biota. (a personal gripe)

The problem cannot be solved simply by carbon credits, electric cars wind 

generators and such. The problem is that there are too many of us. I do not 

know what the solution is. But, if we haven't reached a critical mass yet, 

we soon will, and I do believe that our growth rate is unsustainable.

Can we feed everyone tomorrow? The biosphere is collapsing, and soon our diet 

will have little variation as we turn to a minimum of large scale bio engineered foodstuffs.

But we will probably still have plenty of wine. 

After all, this is not our problem, it's our children's. Or is it?