This is going to be a long one. Not all on this day, but over the next year or so we will be discussing similar issues related in some way to the term "legacy."
Out for a quick run/walk this afternoon, we passed a grade school just as it was letting out for the day. Funny, but all I could notice was the line of about 50 cars, many of them parked in the street, many with parents reading in them, all with engines running, waiting for the child for whom they are responsible to emerge from the school, run toward them and get in for the quick block and a half ride home. Happy day. Time to go home.
I am not what others would call an environmentalist. I am a rationalist. This isn't about carbon. This isn't about oil. This isn't about waste. This is about thought. No matter what the talking heads say, we are a cause of environmental change. We only have a set amount of natural resources from which to draw to power our vehicles and homes and business and espresso machines. The question is: What is the legacy we are leaving for future generations?
As we waste our natural resources keeping the car running to keep it warm while still having the window down, do we think about the availability of these resources for the child we are picking up? My guess is that we do not.
Being emotionally balanced makes me remember that we are a primal species, no matter what we think. So, it really doesn't make sense for us to be totally selfless. That is not reasonable. However, can we agree that it might just be better for all concerned if you just turn off the cars for the 10 minutes it will take to get your kid out of the school? Maybe then, your kid will have the luxury of having a car to drive to pick up his or her kid when they get out of school 25 years from now.
Maybe, if that seems unreasonable, why don't I just ask this: Can we just turn off the cars for the 10 minutes it will take to get your kid out of the school? Maybe then I won't have to run by 75 cars and suck in 75 cars worth of exhaust while I am passing by.
As I said, we may talk about the legacy of what we leave to our children, but it is always, at its core, simply about me.
You? I thought it was all about me. Waaaiit....I get it... No matter who "you" are, it's still all about "me"!
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that you are, in this respect, an environmentalist, and this is about oil. If supplies of oil were infinite, and burning them had no environmental consequences, what would be wrong with running the engines?
ReplyDeleteExcept that it would damage your environment.
To our anonymous friend: Cute. I have always loved the "if" game. Oil is not infinite. Burning oil has consequences, environmentally, culturally, financially and emotionally to those tied to it. As is often the case, you fail to see the forest through the trees. Think.
ReplyDeleteActually, you both miss the point of this entry. My focus is on children. Future generations. My question is, simply, are we doing everything we can to give future generations a better (or at least the same) country and world than was given us? My answer is no. That's the legacy I am discussing and the challenge for all of us.
ReplyDelete