Posted on November 3, 2009 - by Rasham

To Earth, With Love

I invited a close friend to witness these images and after a hasty glance she announced fervently, “I don’t want to see that!”

“Who does?” I responded candidly. I can foretell that these images will recline into the cavernous bounty of rejected truths, but while they remain at the forefront of my intellect about these photos I will do what it is that I do: write.

Death by Plastic Waste

I was oddly piqued when these images first decorated my screen: I have before seen the bodies of birds bearing internal plastics on the beaches of the bay in Berkeley, a phenomenon which prompted me to write my very first article, plastic ”. It bothered me to have been blindly bombarded with the demise of humanity in such a morbid manner as having to clean the decaying carcasses from the rocks in the sand. At first there were tears which were then dried by the stench of death: then came a moment of pondering followed by startling realization: we are impacting the earth in very obvious, very disturbing, and undeniable ways.

The difference between the Berkeley birds and the ones on the Midway Atoll in the North Pacific is the fact that the former aviary graveyard is being discovered on uninhabited lands. Humans have not settled here, nor have there ever been any attempts of harnessing the land for modern industrial/agricultural exploitation. This land is deemed ’sanctuary’, a sanctuary that has sadly become the final resting place for the offspring of thousands of Albatross flyers.

The mother birds leave the island grounds in search for meals for their offspring: the search for food is not fruitful save the finding of floating plastics which appear edible to the creatures. What is a baby bird belly to do with a bucket-load of plastic trash? The bottle cap of a soda pop is hardly digestible: with a treasure chest of industry’s finest plastic moldings nestled within their deteriorating physique, the birds succumb to death, a popular though misrepresented theme in today’s society.

I’m Sorry, Mother Nature

It’s quite beautiful actually: as time progresses and our stoic attitude persist the universe never fails to provide an increasing amount of evidence in support of change. Washed up marine life, storms increasing in violence and intensity, climactic variance, dying forests and fields, toxic rain waters, stale reefs, species extinction, and of course, diseased, sickened, obese, malnourished, under-stimulated, over-stimulated, vengeful, enraged, angry and mentally ill human beings who personally have taken it upon themselves to judge the value of life, slaughtering, abusing, neglecting and raping all the life forms of the world.

In waking dreams I imagine Mother Nature standing in a forest of battery acid half stepped in a puddle of diesel fuel with a look of confusion adorning her worried face and her arms in the air as she protests to humanity: “What more do you need? What more proof could I possibly give?”

Certainly NOT Featured On Tonight’s News

The man-made plastic island that exists in the ocean is rarely publicized, nor is the death by trash of nature’s most innocent offspring, as our primary media providers fails to communicate certain facts of the world. Instead what is advertised is static uncertainty, where underground information and discovery are ignored, complicated, over-shadowed, jumbled within the structure of middle-class normalcy. If a truth (like death by plastic, the deplorable condition of American animal farms and kill houses, the fate of an injured racehorse) does find a spotlight moment the f actuality of it is quickly denounced by the kings of control: that diabetes is incurable, that there is no such thing as global warming, that high fructose corn syrup is safe because it comes from corn are but a few examples of the false motivations of propaganda intended to propel mankind further into a state of ignorance and isolation from truth.

We are coerced into sustaining the misery and harm of our modern world despite that our habits and ways contribute to emerging trends of loss and degradation, and are generally repulsive to the courageous investigator and vomit-inducing to his staff of photographers.

Modern society is interested in sponsoring a life of extravagant waste, where every facet of existence is intended to produce wealth and riches at the expense of the environment and all her systems and cycles. Our culture is a culture of death, where every consumer choice has a value of suffering, be it that the ecosystem is damaged, an animal’s life was taken, or our own health and well being is compromised.

Our motives are inspired by the age-old western traditions of greed, lust, and desire, qualities which have successfully brought mankind into the new-era, but are still bottled and sold even though they now serve the opposite purpose: to destroy and harm our own species as well as the species of the earth and earth herself.

Do we like living in such a manner? No! We are a culture of sick people, living with chronic pains and disappointments, miseries and the unpredictability of a selfish world.

Then Why Continue The Culture of Death?

Characteristically we are all obsessed with pleasure causing elements and experiences, and vehemently opposed to painful/discomforting awareness. When we find something pleasurable we seek to hold it forever, to make it ours, to have as much of it as possible, to never let it go. Oppositely, when we are in pain we seek to fix it, to push it away, to block it out, usually by way of pharmaceutical drugs, intoxication, lies, and escape. We may have been taught the value of experience, the importance of acceptance, and the art of time, but we hardly put them into practice during the clutter and chaos of a day in the life of the average us.  

These ill behaviors further detach us from our true nature: though we have plenty opportunities for happiness presented by our unquenchable thirst for ‘things that make us feel good’, we often live our lives reaching, grabbing, pursuing the idea of such things that may or may not make us happy or satisfied. In doing so, we miss the experience entirely on account of being consumed by mindful proliferation; our thoughts are focused upon ourselves and our need for things that would make us happier: we are a ‘if I only had this, I would be this’ society of people, suffering because we feel less whole, less complete, less satiated on account of our spiraling greed and lust. ‘If I had those Nikes’, or ‘if I were married’, or ‘if I could afford this trip or had that job, or that degree, or this slice of pie’: we attach power to powerless things, allowing them to engross our attention until we absolutely have it, and then we move on to the next thing.

It’s Not You; it’s the Mold

The person who fits this mold is nearly everyone in the western world; these are the aims of a consumerist society, to raise a person from childhood to constantly feel in need of newer, nicer, bigger and better things.

That we run from pain, avoid it and suppress it another skill we’ve learned within our network of American neighbors. We have an acquired aversion to anything unpleasant or distasteful, anything that may cause fear or hesitation. This is a dangerous practice; not only have we become reliant upon producers of ‘fix-it’ drugs to ease our physical and mental pains (pains are our body’s way of expressing imbalance), but we also choose everyday to ignore the ugly truths which have emerged aggressively in our society today, thanks to the efforts of non-profit organizations and independent journalists and NPR broadcasts. We have access to solutions, but we’d rather not because it hurts us to believe in the factuality of our own dirty footprint upon the earth. “Ignorance truly is bliss”, says the man as he takes a bite from a grocery store steak.

We forget that everything in this world is impermanent, including our very lives, and that the only thing constant is change. We forget to stop and see our part in the relationships we form with the world. We forget to experience the experience, to allow our subsequent emotions to rise and retreat, to no longer sustain denial regarding our ways: instead we insist on living on the edge, fast-paced and self tortured by the acidity of our western process of thought.   

Follow the Leader

We are living in a matrix of artificiality and when something or someone stands firm and voices honest opinion free from hidden agenda and corporate promotion we are trained to follow our leaders, in our case those who own media portals, those who invest our monies, those who educate our children, those who give us good deals and bargain options, those who give us tax breaks and minimum wage increases, and I mustn’t forget to add due credit to all the Hollywood superstars with influential power.

Is it such an anarchist point of view to proclaim that our leaders are wrong? Is it such an anarchist perspective to prefer the information of underground mediums and the education of peace-seeking advocates in comparison to television broadcasts and public literature?

Welcome to Disney-Earth

The answer to all our problems is always the simplest alternative, yet perhaps because of its simplicity, or because of its lack of institutional accreditation we decline to participate in the cure.

And what do I know: maybe the path to enlightenment is marked by the death of Mother Earth and the birth of a plastic Disney-Earth where we pet mechanical farm animals and eat vegetables grown in laborities. We take walks in industrial parkways and skip metal fragments on petroleum ponds. We rejoice at the sight of the sun which is usually clouded in fogs from emissions, and we smile when memories of waterfalls and rainbows surface in our minds. Survival of the fittest has been redefined in this world to include only those beings which can withstand toxic exposure long enough to reproduce another generation: I think humans have the ability to adapt, although years of disease and pharmaceutical abuse would have us deformed and unnatural, like robots without heads we would continue to employ the factories of our kings all for a taste of ethanol-elixir#10856.

Test subjects we are now for the futuristic endeavors of our kings. New vaccines, new drugs, new foods, and new technology: these are all instruments of scientific experimentation: the weak die and the resilient bear the immunity, the antidote, the gene to be biologically carried into the new millennium, the new frontier. The rich will carry their wealth while the world crumbles around them, and they will carry the producers of that wealth along with them, the working class drones of present day society. All Hail Disney-Earth!

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Revolution!

We need a resistance! If planet earth does not disown us first then we must deny them that power: we have a constitutional right to bear arms against our government, but lets not get hasty: resistance happens with the dollar, and the dollar that scars the world is the dollar spent to own something, anything bearing a corporate logo, chemically or artificially enhanced, made in another country or simply at the cost of suffering or life.

Of course at this state in our development people would first require a spiritual intervention, followed by an extended period of detox from all things unnatural and a subsequent lifelong program of recovery and rehabilitation. 

For some this is already in effect, for others it will soon come, but for most, Mother Nature has not yet provided a rock bottom: I dread the day that this event comes to pass, as I both fear and anticipate with childlike excitement that it will be the end of an era, the beginning of new times, though in which direction earth and all her creatures are destined to float in the vastness of space is entirely up to forces beyond the control of even the most brilliantly powerful king and all his psychic minions.

For now, go vegan. Buy fresh, buy local, buy organic. Don’t drink, don’t smoke…am I striking a nerve? Don’t wear clothing with fur trim, or of brand name. Don’t drive. Compost. Recycle your clothes. Donate your fast-food money. Don’t eat fast-food. Don’t bank with large corporations. Don’t invest in large financial institutions. Don’t take drugs. Don’t take pharmaceutical drugs. Exercise your body. Exercise your mind. Turn off your television. Tune out mainstream music. Take off your headphones and listen.. Engage one another. Say hello. Take free classes. Take advantage of community affairs. If you hate your job, quit. If you love your job, ask yourself why. Ask yourself why. Ask your superiors why. Question all labels. Question all advertisements. Question those who say there isn’t a need to question. Search for truth. Don’t become complacent. Don’t become lazy. Don’t accept average. Nothing should ever be good enough. Volunteer. Be the love you wish to receive. Spend time outdoors. Avoid using artificial light. Avoid Starbucks. Sleep. Rest. Activate. Explode Creativity!!!

Through education we can unplug from the society of death and plug into life and vibrancy, serenity and peace. It may not be the whole world standing hand in hand, but every person, every consumer has the power to make a difference, and it starts by first recognizing the value of your own life, and the value of the life of those innocent baby birds.