Sometimes I have the feeling I want to say something, but I don't exactly know what it is I want to say. It is something in my head that is working in the back of my mind. Maybe my subconscience is working something out, or maybe there just really isn't anything. It usually starts when I read something in the news, or see something on the streets, that I just can't figure out. Things like terrorism, racism, rape, child pornography, etc. Sometimes I see children of perhaps 11/12 years old walking through the city at midnight. Things like these make me wonder what has become of the world, and are just in complete defiance with the values how I was raised.
Today it was set off by how our government is currently handling the Geert Wilders anti-koran movie thing. I am raised with the idea/knowledge that we live in a free country, that we can say whatever we want. And that, whatever we say or do, violence is never an option. It is this that is basically the foundation of how we live today, and how we are different from (historical) totallitarian regimes. I personally think this is one of the most important things in my life, and something that should absolutely not be taken for granted. It is something that all Dutch citizens, and for that matter, all citizens of free countries, should cherish. But today, our own goverment is warning about speaking one's mind. Unbelievable. When I think about it I am really stunned, shocked even. While there are, of course, considerations to be made about not hurting anyone's feelings, this is one's personal responsibility. And our government, which itself is a product of freedom of speech and democracy, should absolutely never ever tell anyone what to say and what not to say. Isn't that going back to the times of power of the church or Hitler? Aren't we glad we don't live in North-Korea? People died to secure our freedom; our freedom of speech and democracy. How can someone forget about that? Isn't this the whole meaning of remembrance day?
It are these and other things that are happening now that completely defy everything I was ever raised to believe in, everything I thought had a solid position in my life, and our society. Somehow this frustrates me. I don't know why. What can I do about it? It feels like I'm looking for an answer to a question that may not be answerable. But still, my mind tries, because that's all I ever do, looking for answers and trying to solve problems. Sometimes I long for the days when life was simple, when all I did was play with my friends on the street. Not knowing what happened in the world, and therefore not worrying about it. Then again, do I have to worry about it now? I do not really want to, but maybe I should. Because if no one does, a large part of the foundation and values of this country might become forgotten.
Who is playing now?
All the talk about climate change just pisses me off. It doesn't matter where you look, there's talk about climate change everywhere. The news, the Internet, commercials, school. And why? I'm not entirely certain, but I think people are afraid not to talk about climate change, it makes them feel guilty or something. I am for sure though, that 90% of the people talking about it, don't actually know anything (scientific) about it. Its just going with the hype, I guess. And I hate that, because because of that, money is wrongly spent. It is, so to say, politicaly correct to talk about and spend money on climate change.
While I certainly believe there is a change of climate going on, I'm not really certain about the relativity of the human influence. Frankly, I don't really care; Its happening, whether or not we try to do anything or not. Do you think countries in development care about CO2 emissions? Or would they care more about raising their living standards to a satisfactory level? They don't care, they just want electricity and warm housing. And they want it the cheapest way. What I am trying to say is that the cheapest should always win, thats the whole idea about a free market. So what do western governments do to sell us 'green' energy? They subsidise it so its market-technically a better alternative. Great! Spending tax payers money on technology that is clearly inferior (else they would have been cheaper). Now of course they do this under the pretext that it is actually cheaper on the 'long term'. Now, the 'long term' is an interesting argument, because a 'long term' also caries new technological innovations, and there are quite a few to be expected in the field of energy production.
Given this, wouldn't it be wiser to spend the billions of dollars/euros now spent on the reduction of CO2 emission, of which it isn't even clear whether it helps or not, or on 1) the development of new energy production technology that are actually cheaper then oil and gas and 2) the protection against the consequences of climate change, such as the increasing sea levels? I sure think so. Unfortunatly though, while not really thought through being 'green' is currently 'hip' and politcally correct. Not talking about it and spending money loses you votes or sales from not informed green addicted junkies. Good game, people.
Let me tune in to another uninformed climate change debate now.