by Carl Teichrib
Forcing Change
Knowing that this report cannot cover every issue, it is my hope that it will provide a general guide to areas of concern for 2010 and beyond. In other words, use this document as a launching pad to dig deeper into the trends and challenges.
This report is subdivided into three main sections: Global Issues, Asian Geo-Strategy, and Economics.
Global Issues
Climate Change
– Expect an increase in public skepticism as the pseudo-science that backs up “global warming” continues to come apart at the seams. “Climate-gate,” that inconvenient incident in late 2009 that demonstrated the outright manipulation of science to match a political goal, played a major role in reversing the public’s perception of “global warming.” This year will see more people questioning the science, politics, and economics that undergird the global climate change agenda.
– Expect an increase in rhetoric from the Climate Change lobby industry, especially as we near the November deadline for the next high-level Climate Change meeting.
– Watch as catastrophic natural events are subtly (and not-so-subtly) blamed on “climate change.” The recent Haiti earthquake is a case in point: Actor and activist Danny Glover publically linked “climate change” to the Haitian quake. Not going so far as Glover, a recent Forbes online article found a way to tidily blend the quake and “global warming” (“Lessons From Haiti,” 21, January 2010).
“The number of people killed and affected in the Haitian disaster is enormous, and in proportions rarely seen. However, with increasing urbanization and population pressure, combined with consequences of global warming, the sheer numbers of people at risk of devastation and destitution due to natural disasters are likely to increase.”
Sadly, massive natural disasters permeate history, many with far higher death figures than Haiti. If you take the time to trace the death totals of historical famines, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods and tsunamis, landslides and hurricanes, it becomes immediately apparent that history is replete with examples extending back to the outer limits of mankind’s story. This in no way downplays the Haitian disaster – the suffering in Haiti is colossal. It does demonstrate, however, that a certain political and quasi eco-spiritual spin now immediately accompanies natural disasters. This thinking stems from the deep ecology movement and from Eastern spiritual beliefs. In the words of the Dalai Lama,
“Until now, you see, Mother Earth has somehow tolerated sloppy house habits. But now human use, population, and technology have reached that certain stage where Mother Earth no longer accepts our presence with silence. In many ways she is now telling us, ‘My children are behaving badly.’ She is warning us that there are limits to our actions…” (as published in UNEP, Only One Earth, p.61). Click here to continue reading.
