Climate Change Masquerade

When I was still in college my schedule was filled with languages, writing and anthropology classes (I was even a TA 🤓). Anyway, one of my classes was taught by a Geologist/ Geographer and he was the first person in my circles whom I had heard scoff at “Global Warming.”

He explained that earth has gone through many Ice Ages and that we are currently still moving out of the last, so obviously temperatures are rising.

I was recently thinking about dinosaurs, as is typical for a Mom of three boys…, and noted that there were dinosaurs EVERYWHERE. We know that the planet had a very different, much warmer climate. Reading stories and myths to my children, I’ve come to hear many “Great Flood” stories from around the world. More research had me looking at huge impact craters all over the earth that would have changed the climate over night. A huge fire ball hit Northern America and melt vast amounts of ice that flooded entire regions. Other rocks landed in places that cause volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and other natural disasters.

Climate change is nothing new, nor is it something dangerous in itself -as we are experiencing it now. What is dangerous is what is hiding behind the vague term.

Just to repeat, the problem is not that the planet is warming by a degree or two. The issue is that we are poisoning our land, food and water supply; that we are logging trees that store carbon, filter our air, give oxygen and protect land and top soil from erosion; that we are abusing animals and people for the sake of profit. The issue isn’t Climate Change – it is manufacturers of fossil fuels, toxic dyes and paints, synthetic fibres, pesticides & herbicides, the use of toxic chemicals in cleaning & body care products. It is seeing land, nature and people only as a means to make money. It is systems that push individuals through a one size fits all path instead of valuing differences or even providing them with practical life skills. It is setting one ideal for success as the (unsustainable) norm, that in reality does not bring much fulfilment.

Many people are becoming disenchanted with this model of life. They are looking to get away from low quality, toxin laden lives and are instead becoming self-sufficient. There is a new attitude about what quality of life means and that it has nothing to do with sitting in an office, with your children in a school that is under serving them. I think it is pretty safe to say that they have gotten fed up with the real issues behind the name “Climate Change.”

But what can “normal” people do? For starters you change your purchasing decisions. Starting with skin and body care products, change them out for non-toxic options, then choose to buy only natural fibre clothing/ shoes, then bike/ rollerblade/ carpool to work – the idea is to stop giving money to people who are getting rich off of poisoning us.

There is a big push in my permaculture classes to reduce consumption. I think they have missed the mark. There are cumbersome worksheets and calculations to figure out your carbon footprint. I honestly don’t know who needs those. I think we need to change what we consume – when you eat nutrient dense food that wasn’t grown on a depleted lot sprayed with toxins, you stay full for longer. Feeling hungry is your body screaming for nourishment. I think our consumption changes naturally when we enjoy a higher quality of products – and sadly, these higher quality goods have lost out to manipulative advertising campaigns for decades now, but I think that this underground movement is starting to change that.

Covid, with all of its ugliness, was also a great opportunity for exploring working from home. Rents are cheaper in the suburbs, you have more space, there is no commute, no transport costs, more time with family, more money available for wages as corporate buildings weren’t needed, no additional wardrobe costs for “work attire”. After that experience, many people are pushing to have their contracts changed to allow for home office days – including my husband.

The main take away that I am wanting to share is that “Climate Change” is just a clever way to mask the true crimes at hand and to protect the guilty. I think it was a cunning name chosen to get scientists involved in pointless discussion about minuscule temperature differences and debate about whether it is significant or not, while completely ignoring the destruction of wildlife, human health and moral, and the whole planet at large.

We are fed up with all the Big Stuff. Big Pharma, Big Farms, Big Business, Big Real Estate Moguls, Lobbying – legal bribery, Slimy Politicians. Climate Change is happening, but the more important change is the social one.