TORONTO: Being an informed person can really drive the limits on what an individual can handle in this day and age. From an Ocean fisheries collapse coming, deforestation of rainforests around the world, global warming, and an increase of the world's population to name a few. The world has a list of cruelty being put upon it from one species – the human. When a person experiences that trigger to step outside of the box so to speak they realize how much they really don't know and it can be a big shock. The shock is that you have to learn all over again on what makes this world tick. From the restaurants, farms, clothing, and entertainment there underlies some great horrible secrets that at least 90% of the world's population is unaware about. The way society has evolved is more of a “Blanket Effect” over everyone's eyes by a handful of people being in control of the school system, media, banks, pharmaceuticals, food, and the making of a corporate world. This control has tipped us to the point of a “Recipe For Disaster”. Most scientist of the world focus all of their attention on one direction and/or problem. When a person can take all of this information and compile it together they really can see the much larger picture. For an example, a program has been made that stated if we continue commercial fishing in our current unsustainable manner the ocean's fisheries will collapse by 2048. Now I took this deadline and compiled other information I researched like – dead zones, ocean acidification, coral reef decline, plastic, and the overfishing. Taking all of these other angles you can really get a feel that this 2048 was clearly wrong since it only uses the practice of one angle – fishing. When you combine the other angles I mentioned, it becomes much more scarier since you realize that the collapse of the ocean could be more around 10 to 20yrs from now if we continue these practices. With our current information that is widely available to the public and our scientist stating we have to start cutting the quotas to be more sustainable – the sole decisions are made for political reasons. The politics today is more about making money for their country by kissing the butt of corporations and not the best interest of the people they serve and/or the environment that surrounds them. When clearly the scientist put out the information to help with a decision on making the quotas. One example is the blue fin tuna as you watch the vote go 50% or more higher than the recommended numbers by the scientist – you know the vote was not in the best interest of the species. The ocean is approximately 80% of the surface of the planet and acts as a natural filter absorbing CO2 that microscopic plankton converts to oxygen. As we watch the decline of the ocean that creates at least 50% or more of the oxygen we breathe and also watch the forest being clear-cut which gives us the other 50% or less oxygen – we can see another part of the recipe for disaster. When we combine the actions happening all over the world from the ocean to the land we are clearly seeing a diversified action of cruelty and destruction. It seems almost all of the practices today from factory farming to slaughters all over the world are highly cruel, most have chemicals involved, and the over abundance of animals is all unnatural and cause many ailments on the environment, humans, and nonhumans worldwide. A radical change is very much needed to make the human species more connected to its surroundings that is natural and not destructive for decades and/or centuries to come. We seem to be the only species that does not blend into its ecosystem and with no care to sustainability at the least to protect the species. As we destroy the ocean that is clearly 90% unknown still, deforest beautiful old growth forest, pollute the air, saturate the land and water with thousands of chemicals, and slaughter and cage animals unnaturally – we will soon learn by our actions when the last pillar that supports this highly complex ecosystem will fall causing a catastrophic crash of life on this planet. It makes a person who is informed wonder – are we from this planet? ** Bob Timmons is an animal rights activist and artist based in Toronto. He is heading to Taiji to be a Cove Guardian with Sea Shepherd in January. BM
