Back in ‘95/ ’96 I was on the front line of a protest trying to step a road from being built that would effectively tear in half the largest piece of intact temperate rainforest in Australasia; the Tasmanian Tarkine. While we were in the forests, we faced constant threats of violence, sometimes developing into more than just threats.
On the streets, we faced regular jeering, contempt, and
outright hostility. Individuals surely had their own reasons for their
reactions; some no doubt relied on resource extraction for their livelihoods.
For the most part though people were angry that we were making a fuss. They’d
bought into the misconception that we had nothing better to do than collect
welfare and upset the status quo. The former couldn’t be further from the
truth; many times I forgo work to be involved; I personally had plenty better
to do.
They were angry because they’d also bought into the misconception
that if logging old growth forests were bad; someone, the government or
otherwise, would stop it from happening. If they weren’t stopping it; it must
be OK, so we should get the hell out of the way and let them get on with their
jobs. Of course we knew then, as we know now, the government is largely run by
the very multinational corporations profiting from resource extraction (often
at the taxpayers expense through subsidies; at one point the Australian
government was selling our old growth forests to Jan as woodchips for 9 cents a
ton. You read that correctly, NINE CENTS A TON), so they were, and still
aren’t, in any position to step in whether they wanted to or not. Anyway, my
point here is not to delve into a discussion on whether logging old growth forests
is OK; ; its not, and if you believe it is, then good luck explaining to your
grandkids one day that there aren’t any more big trees because you had to cut
them all down for toilet paper…
No, my point here is, if you think there’s some governing
body (government or otherwise) that’s overseeing the show here making sure
everything is OK, I’ve got some bad news for you. There isn’t.
Now, I’m sure you’ve already figured this out for the most part given the current economic situation, but have you thought it out fully? Are you waiting on a cash injection (i.e. bailout) to secure you’re job; are you waiting for the market to come back to flip that house you got caught with?
If the answer is yes, my advice; quit waiting and start acting.
If you waited a year for them to tell you we’re in a
recession before taking action, you’re behind the eight ball already. Don’t
wait to be told we’re heading into a depression, by then it will be too late.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What do I need to do to protect myself and my family if I lose my job tomorrow?
- What can I do to cover my arse if my 401k drops another 25%; what are my options for moving it into something safer?
- What skills do I have to fall back on if the sky really does come down?
- What skills could I learn in a relatively short time to cover myself in a worse case scenario?
- What
skills are needed in my community?
My suggestion, go through this process now; the longer you
wait the more painful it will be. What will you have lost? Nothing, you will
have fortified yourself; possibly gained a new skill set, and hopefully, if
making time to invest in yourself has extracted you from in front of the TV
set, you’ll have removed the single most dangerous weapon being used against
you from your life. Seriously, you don’t need it; throw it away. No, don’t give
it to someone; they don’t need it either, unless they promise you they’ll only
watch DVD’s on it…
Ps
OK, maybe don’t throw it away; our landfill doesn’t need it
either. Locate someone in your area who can recycle it.
Pps
Remember, there are only three types of people in this world.
1/ Those that make things happen.
2/ Those that see a situation developing and act accordingly.
3/ Those that find themselves wondering “What happened?”
I don’t recommend being in the third camp...
Comments