01-23-2006, 03:44 PM
[size 1]As a fisherman for 33 years and a spearfisherman for 20, a hunter for 30 - man's impact on the aquatic environment has always been in my face. I think the causes are many, but most have one thing in common: apathy
If you ask me what his biggest shortcoming is in life, it's his tremendous shortsightedness and drive for self-satisfaction, not because he's doomed with those traits, but because apathy allows him self-indulgence at the expense of all else.
We hear all walks of man trumpet about "for the sake of our children!"
Yet he seldom thinks about children much past his own lifetime ... as if once he has passed on, it's not his problem anymore.I think this is a great opportunity for me to rant, so here goes. Bare in mind these are my personal opinions derived from personal observations from a good few countries I have been to, and my own ridiculous justifications I have used in the past in order to make life easier for myself.
1]Just by most people thinking "kids", they are already dooming earth's resources. Within every man is the deep-seated need of survival of his seed, so he breeds. Problem is how much more population can the earth handle? What's the point of children, if there is no more beauty, discovery and open space with the freedom to enjoy it? My wife and I have chosen to be childless.
2]If everybody keeps keeping their "bag limit", don't they realize that there are many who don't and therefore concensus, informed projection and theory are useless. I throw mine back as I know many do, in the hopes of compensating for those morons who think they need more than they could eat in a day just to show off their "catch". I don't even spearfish anymore.
3]Every creature in the water is part of a delicate ecosystem. People destroy coral or rape reefs of moluscs, and wonder why the fishing quality has gone astray. People continue to "cull" sharks in the thousands every year, but fail to realize that this in tern allows the over population of larger school fish who keep other smaller fish from over breeding etc.
4]How ##$%**!! hard is it to pick up your @#*&%!! trash (espescially those @##**!! little power bait bottles) and take it with you after you're done fishing in a spot??!! I was shocked to go to Utah a little while ago and find the lake shores in the condition they were. I used to brag to my wife how proud they were out there of their heritage and finding junk outdoors was harder to find than $10 bills on trees. What the heck happened? New York is bad (Lake Superior should sell Jigs and Lures for Junk, because I have caught more of it than fish there), but with the dense population you would expect it ... what's Utah's excuse? You can't imagine my embarassment when I took my wife to Jordanelle, Deer Creek and the Lower Provo only to find it littered with trash!
5]In Africa, vast tracks of coastline reefs have been denuded of both coral and moluscs for sale to tourists and to feed families. Now that resource is almost gone and the population is crying. What a joke! The huge populations living around many of the rivers have overfished them, poluted them and overgrazed areas to allow the rain to wash billions of tons of top soil into them every year. Those rivers haven't just changed as far as marine life goes, but agriculture and grazing have even changed their geography in as little as five years!!
My solution:
Saying we need to educate peolple isn't enough. It's vital, but not enough. Pouring monatary resources into helping clean up and recouperate is important, but not enough.
There two major ingredients missing from this: common sense and apathy - being accountable for your actions.
How do we enforce this? Not just laws. There aren't enough officials to enforce the smallest laws we have right now.
It's up to each and every individual to make sure he does his duty. Answer for himself and ridicule his fellow man (instead of pandering to ignorance and human "imperfection"). Then it becomes a community effort.
A communtiy where irresponsibility isn't tolerated not because it's unlawful, but because people are sick of having to have to swallow everybody else's @#$%!! because as individuals, many don't bother. A person being chastized or shunned by a community faces two choices: leave or change. If he leaves, he will soon run out of places to indulge his selfishness.
Seriously. I am so sick of people blaming government and authorities for their failures and not wanting to accept responsibilty for their own transgression and selfish actions. If half the earth decided to sit up, pay attention, face the facts -even when it didn't suit them - and take action AS NDIVIDUALS - families would change for the better, thus communities, local governments and globaly.
My philosophy is "Apathy is the first and most powerful weapon against patriotism, common sense, decency, knowledge, compassion and survival itself."
Even after being councilled by my grandfather for many years (he was a smart guy. Honourary member of eight African tribes, spoke twelve languages fluently and was the Commissioner for Native Affairs of the Transkei in the 50's), I never quite got what he meant when he would say "the world will only change for the better when evry person holds himself accountable not by persuasion, but by choice ... by the need to help his fellow humans and animals by a conscientious choice and disciplining himself to stay within that guideline".
It was a slow process of understanding, but I think I finally get it.
Rant accomplished.
-ABT- [/size]
[signature]
If you ask me what his biggest shortcoming is in life, it's his tremendous shortsightedness and drive for self-satisfaction, not because he's doomed with those traits, but because apathy allows him self-indulgence at the expense of all else.
We hear all walks of man trumpet about "for the sake of our children!"
Yet he seldom thinks about children much past his own lifetime ... as if once he has passed on, it's not his problem anymore.I think this is a great opportunity for me to rant, so here goes. Bare in mind these are my personal opinions derived from personal observations from a good few countries I have been to, and my own ridiculous justifications I have used in the past in order to make life easier for myself.
1]Just by most people thinking "kids", they are already dooming earth's resources. Within every man is the deep-seated need of survival of his seed, so he breeds. Problem is how much more population can the earth handle? What's the point of children, if there is no more beauty, discovery and open space with the freedom to enjoy it? My wife and I have chosen to be childless.
2]If everybody keeps keeping their "bag limit", don't they realize that there are many who don't and therefore concensus, informed projection and theory are useless. I throw mine back as I know many do, in the hopes of compensating for those morons who think they need more than they could eat in a day just to show off their "catch". I don't even spearfish anymore.
3]Every creature in the water is part of a delicate ecosystem. People destroy coral or rape reefs of moluscs, and wonder why the fishing quality has gone astray. People continue to "cull" sharks in the thousands every year, but fail to realize that this in tern allows the over population of larger school fish who keep other smaller fish from over breeding etc.
4]How ##$%**!! hard is it to pick up your @#*&%!! trash (espescially those @##**!! little power bait bottles) and take it with you after you're done fishing in a spot??!! I was shocked to go to Utah a little while ago and find the lake shores in the condition they were. I used to brag to my wife how proud they were out there of their heritage and finding junk outdoors was harder to find than $10 bills on trees. What the heck happened? New York is bad (Lake Superior should sell Jigs and Lures for Junk, because I have caught more of it than fish there), but with the dense population you would expect it ... what's Utah's excuse? You can't imagine my embarassment when I took my wife to Jordanelle, Deer Creek and the Lower Provo only to find it littered with trash!
5]In Africa, vast tracks of coastline reefs have been denuded of both coral and moluscs for sale to tourists and to feed families. Now that resource is almost gone and the population is crying. What a joke! The huge populations living around many of the rivers have overfished them, poluted them and overgrazed areas to allow the rain to wash billions of tons of top soil into them every year. Those rivers haven't just changed as far as marine life goes, but agriculture and grazing have even changed their geography in as little as five years!!
My solution:
Saying we need to educate peolple isn't enough. It's vital, but not enough. Pouring monatary resources into helping clean up and recouperate is important, but not enough.
There two major ingredients missing from this: common sense and apathy - being accountable for your actions.
How do we enforce this? Not just laws. There aren't enough officials to enforce the smallest laws we have right now.
It's up to each and every individual to make sure he does his duty. Answer for himself and ridicule his fellow man (instead of pandering to ignorance and human "imperfection"). Then it becomes a community effort.
A communtiy where irresponsibility isn't tolerated not because it's unlawful, but because people are sick of having to have to swallow everybody else's @#$%!! because as individuals, many don't bother. A person being chastized or shunned by a community faces two choices: leave or change. If he leaves, he will soon run out of places to indulge his selfishness.
Seriously. I am so sick of people blaming government and authorities for their failures and not wanting to accept responsibilty for their own transgression and selfish actions. If half the earth decided to sit up, pay attention, face the facts -even when it didn't suit them - and take action AS NDIVIDUALS - families would change for the better, thus communities, local governments and globaly.
My philosophy is "Apathy is the first and most powerful weapon against patriotism, common sense, decency, knowledge, compassion and survival itself."
Even after being councilled by my grandfather for many years (he was a smart guy. Honourary member of eight African tribes, spoke twelve languages fluently and was the Commissioner for Native Affairs of the Transkei in the 50's), I never quite got what he meant when he would say "the world will only change for the better when evry person holds himself accountable not by persuasion, but by choice ... by the need to help his fellow humans and animals by a conscientious choice and disciplining himself to stay within that guideline".
It was a slow process of understanding, but I think I finally get it.
Rant accomplished.
-ABT- [/size]
[signature]