Alive and Kicking

Are you part of my g-generation? Does this post title bring Judd Nelson thrusting his cheesy punk-kid caricature gloved fist into the air in post Molly-kiss euphoria? Does my first sentence remind you of listening to The Who when they were new, or are you older than that or younger? Do you know the difference between goth and emo and between emo and punk, or do you know your kids know or do you have know idea what I am talking about?

Generations matter in this discussion about sustainability because our only hope for saving human life as we know it is the Millenials and they need our help.

More on generations later -- this post is really about how we are still destroying the world.

Do you think me shrill, overly dramatic, and reactionary when I use phrases like "our only hope for saving human life as we know it" and "still destroying the world?" Am I exaggerating how dire is our threat? If you have read this blog and think we aren't on the edge of being too late to save life-remotely-as-we-know-it, then I'm not doing my job.

If the bulk of Americans and/or some bulk of other developed and developing nations don't change how we do everything in the next 25 years, you won't recognize the Hell your great grandchildren will live in. I'm afraid most people people can't or won't imagine how bad it will be -- I've ranted on this before, but here are a few things you might imagine:

-- There will be bloody conflict. Wars where people die gruesomely at each others hands -- over scarce water all over the globe and probably right here inside the U.S.

-- The only animals on the planet will be in zoos except those considered a menace or vermin -- like opossum, groundhogs, squirrels, racoons, rats and deer around Frederick, coyotes and prairie dogs out west, etc. Elephants, gorillas, wolves, bears, whales, sharks, giraffes, and who knows what else will be done for except as living ghosts under tourist stares. Kids coming into awareness will know they don't even have the possibility of seeing the natural wonders we've destroyed, and I bet they get pretty mad about it.

-- Huge global regions will become wastelands; billions of people -- people who love each other and don't want to die or harm anyone else -- will die or live in suffering worse than any we have seen, and even worse than what we don't bother to see until it's too late,

-- The "normal" American life documented more or less by TV sitcoms will no longer exist -- there will be rich people in walled cities who live almost entirely within closed HVAC systems and poor people who struggle with life in a dirty hopeless world.

Sustainability isn't an interesting topic, it's the one chance we have to save ourselves from destroying human civilization and most of what is beautiful on this planet.

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I've been absent from this blog for what seems like a long time because I have been struggling to focus in on what impact I really want Sustainable Frederick to have. I think my focus may be back.

If you have read some of my blog, would you do me a favor? Please post in the comments below or e-mail me with a few thoughts. I am looking for your thoughts on any and all of the following: what you like about the posts, have you considered recommending it to others, are my posts relevant and credible to you, do you disagree with anything I have posted, have you done any re-thinking about how you do things in your daily life and have you made any changes in reality or in your plans, what would you like to see me address more, has anything from this blog 'turned you off' or left you feeling angry at me, have you felt angry at anyone including yourself?

I really don't need a lot -- 20 words or so from 10 people will help me a ton. If you e-mail me, use marc.e.scott@gmail.com and let me know if I can place your comment on the blog. Also, don't be held up because you don't think you write well or can't get exactly what you want to write down or whatever -- whatever you write will help.

Thanks.