World on Fire

 

It takes a revolution to make a solution;
Too much confusion so much frustration, eh!

I don't wanna live in the park 
Can't trust no shadows after dark 
So, my friend, I wish that you could see,
Like a bird in the tree, the prisoners must be free
Never make a politician grant you a favour;
They will always want to control you forever....

-Bob Marley 

Times are a'changin'! Whether you're paying attention or not, you will be rocked by these shifting currents one way or another. From the mess industrial capitalism has made of our planet, we seem to be at some critical turning point. Once lush and plentiful rainforests are rapidly disappearing & the few remaining are now endangered; the seas and lands are being ravaged 'til life is sucked out of them; and to me the most troubling, a quarter of all mammals face extinction - 90% of the largest ocean fish are gone (species are going extinct at rates equaled only five times in the history of life, according to many leading scientists). These man-made events are converging on natural phenomena such as earthquakes (they are occuring more frequently with last year's  Chilean earthquake so powerful that it shifted the Earth's axis & shortened our days) and the increasing solar activity which is expected to peak this year into 2012 (potentially causing widespread disruption to aircraft navigation and emergency location systems that rely heavily on satellite navigation data). When you add the wide disparity between the haves & the have-nots and the crumbling of social/physical infrastructures the world over, what you have is the making of something that can scarcely be imagined or predicted, though many pretend to know.

The historic uprising in Egypt is only the tip of something much bigger, I believe. Demands for political and economic justice are bound to proliferate & the reaction of the powerful "haves"to these events will be quite interesting to witness. Like Tracy Chapman sang in her prescient song, "Talking About a Revolution":

Don't you know

They're talkin' about a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Don't you know
They're talkin' about a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
While they're standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the enemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion
Poor people gonna rise up
And get their share
Poor people gonna rise up
And take what's theirs
Don't you know
You better run, run, run...
Oh I said you better
Run, run, run...
Finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin' bout a revolution

I think we all should be unsettled by what's happening. As intelligent and decent as most folks are, I believe we can turn this thing around & make this world a brighter place for our children--but we have to do so right now.

OneLove

:::MME:::