Life in the Rear-view Mirror

The Backdrop

Although this is not a play, I am using this chapter to set the stage, if you will. It allows me to describe the vantage point, the perspective from which I view the things that have occurred during my lifetime. 

When I reached retirement age years ago, I came to look at my life as having three stages: youth age, middle age, and golden age. During my youth age I prepared myself for life. I dedicated middle age to my family, working myself to the bone, so that we could have all the middleclass conveniences and comforts. Having entered golden age I began to reflect on what I have seen and what I have done, and realized that rather than being the model citizen I thought I had been, I was just another brainwashed consumer leaving a big environmental footprint.

This last stage prepares me for death. I don't mean that in sombre or morose way, but in an enlightened way. Now, I finally have the time to ask myself, why am I here? Of course, nowadays, that question comes up a lot in self-conversation, but not always in the philosophical sense. Several times per day I ask myself, why am I here? And, by the time I remember, it's usually too late. However, the philosophical question comes up more frequently now than before, when it would have done more good.

Like the rest of my peers, I was too busy doing things that seemed important at the time. We followed the well-established path to material success, without questioning why, and without considering the consequences of our actions.

Looking back in the rear-view mirror, despite the fact that I had a very successful career and rewarding life, I can see how foolish I have been. I never saw myself as part of the problem, but I was in good company. Despite the fact that I consider myself an environmentalist, I did my own share of overconsumption. I suppose I could blame it on peer pressure, which is true to some extent, but the fact is that I didn't do as much about it as I should have, or could have. I was too busy to get more involved in helping to slow down the freight train.

Our collective inaction had other consequences. We now have a government that no longer functions democratically, and we have only ourselves to blame. We now have a biosphere with contaminated air, water, and soil, and we can blame ourselves for that too. After all, big business can push us to over consume, but the ultimate decision to buy is ours, and ours alone.

In retrospect, it's clear that our lives were being driven not by free will, but by fear of missing out, or falling behind the Jones's - a fear promoted by external forces that served the interests of the ruling class. Fear is a big motivator and the ruling class exploited it to the fullest. The common good and Mother Earth were the big losers.

The media, rather then ringing the bell to warn us of impending danger, became part of the problem. Somewhere between youth and middle age, it seems that they shifted focus. Instead of informing us, they colluded in conditioning us to be model consumers. It all happened so slowly, and so cleverly, that very few, other than the perpetrators, knew what was happening. Eventually, it became obvious to many, but not to the majority. The big losers were free will and Mother Earth.

Consumerism has many dimensions, of course; but one only needs to look at obesity in North America to see what thoughtless overconsumption, resulting from years of media conditioning, has done to our country. One only needs to look at our clogged highways, to know what overconsumption has done to our health, and the well being of the community. One only needs to look at the quantity of garbage collected each week, to know what mindless overconsumption has done to the environment. One only needs to climb a hill every now and then, to see the smog that surrounds our cities and to realize what unfettered overconsumption has done to the air we breathe. And yes, there is a difference when one climbs that hill during a working day or a holiday. One doesn't need a pollution index to know that the air we breathe is unhealthy.

So, why did we let it happen? Why didn't someone scream out and say stop: enough is enough? Of course, many voices spoke up, but they were drowned out by the prevailing wind. Few heard them; and of those that did, fewer still paid attention. Almost everyone was too busy keeping up with the Jones's. Rachel Carson was one of the first to speak out. I read Silent Spring when I was in university, but then I graduated, began my professional career, got married, and started a family. Although I remained an environmentalist at heart, more important matters dictated my priorities. At least that's the way it seemed then. Now I know better.

I observed many significant trends during my lifetime, but three have been so large that I consider them mega trends. The first is the relentless population growth; the second is the rapid and massive overconsumption of our natural resources; and the third is the steady deterioration of our political system, shifting from a functioning democracy to a plutocracy. They are the focus of my rear-view observations that will fill the pages to follow.

I hope you enjoy the book, but regardless of whether you like it or not, agree or disagree, please comment. Your vote is important because it tells me that my words have resonated with you. But, your comments are even more important because they tell me, and others, why. Please comment.