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August 5, 2008

Is anyone else as puzzled as I am?

Daily we hear about how serious the environmental problems threatening our future are and that we have to take decisive action to avert disaster.

Yet all we seem to do is talk about implementing schemes of questionable value that "may" start in my lifetime.

And even when these schemes do come into effect, they can’t make fuel prices go up or affect State's rights or irrigator’s water entitlements, or do anything that may impact on anyone’s job, occupation, way of life, lifestyle or God-given right to use plastic shopping bags!

Am I missing something?...

"But we'll lose our jobs!"

protested the Slaver's Union representative for the umpteenth time. The king sighed heavily, rubbing his enormous hands across his weary eyes. Taking a deep breath, he leant forward in his throne and said, in his most patient tone, "I'll explain it one more time."

"If we stop the slave trade then rather than run away or fight us, the surrounding kingdoms would become our friends. If we had good relations with our neighbours we could form alliances and wouldn't need such a strong army or see our young men killed and maimed in battle. Think of the social and economic benefits there alone! New trading opportunities would open up, bringing wealth to the kingdom. We'd be exposed to new technologies, ideas, concepts, beliefs and ways of thinking. And all we have to do is give others the same rights and respect that we demand ourselves."

"But our fathers were slavers, their fathers were slavers as were their fathers fathers before them. Not only are you depriving us of our livelihood but you're ignoring hundreds of years of tradition and challenging our very way of life. Besides, it's always worked so well in the past, why change now?"

The king opened his mouth to dismiss the delegation but thought better of it. He didn't want a power struggle. "Let me tell you a story" he said.

"Everyone knows the arguments my father had with the charcoal cutters. Remember it was after the royal sorcerer invented a way of using a water wheel to drive the mills and machinery of the time. And it did the job so well that it made charcoal cutting redundant. The Charcoal Cutter's Union wasn't prepared to let that happen. After all, these people had families to support. They organised rallies and formed pickets to stop the water wheel from being built, the riots and civil unrest were horrendous! In the end my father had to send in the troops to protect the people working on the project! However, once it was completed, everyone, even the charcoal cutters, agreed that the water wheel worked much better than the old way of doing things. So my father decreed that instead of chopping down the trees the charcoal cutters were to plant them. And look what happened. Within a few years we had more timber than the kingdom knew what to do with. We began exporting and soon had a thriving timber industry we hadn't had before. We also developed a flourishing trade in fine furniture that we'd never had before - both of which brought in far more revenue than the charcoal industry ever did. Soon, the deer, turkey, boar, mushrooms and wild foods came back to the replanted forests and now we don't have to worry about rationing during the harsh winters. And because the trees are back the soil no longer washes down from the bare hills when it rains to silt up our rivers and inundate our crops. No longer do the children cry or get sick from the smoky haze from burning charcoal that hung heavy over the castle on still, cold days. Now the air is clean and all the birds are back. So rather than just blindly doing what they’d always done, the charcoal cutters thought creatively and took a different approach. And by managing the woodlots and becoming foresters, timber workers and cabinetmakers, they went from being the poorest members of the community to being rich and well regarded merchants. All of which generates jobs and brings valuable revenue to the people of our kingdom. Every man, women and child in my domain has had a better quality of life since we stopped chopping down the forests for charcoal."

"That's all very well but charcoal cutting isn't the same as being a slaver. My members won't stand for..."

"Look", said the king losing his patience and cutting him off. "Just go back and put what I've said to your members. We'll meet again in a week".

Half muttered objections filled the hall as the dejected representatives straggled out. As the massive oak doors swung shut with a dull creak, the Great Hall was, for a moment, silent. The king sighed heavily, rubbing his enormous hands across his weary eyes. "Who's next" he asked his chief vizier. "An angry delegation from the Torturers Association your Majesty."

The king looked skywards, "Father, whatever possessed you to abolish the colosseum and free the lions?"

Stay healthy until next time!

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