I know that I am now more confused than ever about everything. Maybe I read too much, writes Rob Rattenbury. Photo / File
COMMENT:
I have always believed we are never too old to learn something new.
I have been reading a bit about climate change, diet changes, the effect of manufacturing on the environment, farming, steel, plastics, fossil fuels, anti-vaxxers, antibiotics and other stuff on Google and Wikipedia, the Britannia Encyclopaedias of today.
It seems that, if all is to be believed, taken seriously, implemented or acted upon, the world and life as we know it is not going to exist much longer.
Within 100 years we could apparently be living a primitive existence again, well those of us who are still around after the anti-vaxxers have had their way and the old diseases we thought we had rid humankind of start popping up again. Measles, for example.
Wait until smallpox, typhoid, cholera, polio, TB, diphtheria and other diseases return in force after being banished for 70 odd years.
Antibiotics are not what they used to be because of overuse and a resultant drop in natural resistance to disease for many people.
Medical science, being what it is, should come up with alternative treatments in time but how will these new remedies be tested if all the rabbits and rats are no longer allowed in research laboratories?
I am not sure what we will eat, as meat will be outlawed as it is apparently cruel and definitely wrong to eat the flesh of other sentient beings or anything with a face - as well as some vegetables, because apparently research has now shown that they may have feelings too.
There will obviously be no need for the food production expertise of farmers, orchardists and crop growers. That will be interesting.
Not sure what we will be wearing as we will be assaulting and bullying sheep by shearing them, not allowed to take fur and leather from dead beasts as we will be disrespecting their deaths, not allowed to manufacture cloth because of the use required of water.
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Do you know it takes 1000 gallons of water to make one pair of denim jeans?
Footwear could be an issue. Leather will be outlawed, as will plastic and probably wood. It could be cold in winter with no clothes or shoes.
We may have to live in caves as we cannot use wood for construction or, I guess, for heating as trees should never be cut down because of their role in photosynthesis.
Cement may be out as well because of the chemicals involved and the need to mine for the ingredients. Not sure about stones and sand, that may still be permissible.
I suppose there will be plenty of old buildings to live in as the world population will likely drop dramatically after disease, famine and war have done their jobs.
No more plastic or steel manufacturing because of the use of coal and oil in the processing.
Travel will be impossible except by using dugout dead tree trunks for canoes, cycling until the rubber tyres wear out, or shanks pony.
Cars, whether electric or oil-powered, will not be a long-term option any longer because of the materials required to make and power them: steel, plastic, chemicals and minerals.
Recycling could help for a while, I suppose. Good roads will not last long as bitumen needs tar.
I am not sure if we will even be allowed to use fire because of the possible carbon footprint of smoke.
Politically there will be no need for governments or states as people will be allowed to roam as they wish, moving from area to area, following the seasons and impinging on the hospitality of earlier occupants.
This should not be a huge issue for those island nations still above water, but could be a bit annoying if you live on a continent.
War will be outlawed, with the United Nations acting as the worldwide broker of peace.
There will be no need for prisons or law enforcement agencies in the new world order as differences of opinion and criminal offending will be addressed by restorative justice
committees where the person wronged and the perpetrator will forgive each other and reach a new understanding about their respective faults, moving on as responsible and, hopefully, enlightened community members.
Big business and corporate structures will not control governments or communities. That could actually be a good idea.
This is only the start if one is to believe all the research and opinion being offered by every expert with an agenda.
Have we really reached the point where mankind could return to its primitive state of 10,000 years ago?
These good, and obviously sincere, people could be completely wrong, half right or on the button.
Who knows, I don't. I know that I am now more confused than ever about everything.
Maybe I read too much.
