Earth Day Japan

   Earth-day Japan 2011.
Every year on year’s day, I usually take part in rallies and write several posts about the issue and the need for change. However, this year, I am somewhat physically and mentally drained, even tiered. After the March 11 disaster that struck Japan and the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima dai-ichi nuclear power plant, I have not much hope or energy left for another earth-day. In stead the melody of the Doors iconic song “This is the end my friend” is going through my head repeatedly.I tried to keep my mind sane and clear by planting some tomato, eggplants and many other vegies. 

Still, It did not help.
I was in my early twenties when Tschernobil happened, I lived right in the centre of Europe then. First we were going through the milk ban due to radiation, then the mushroom ban and so forth, latter we were witnessing children being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, this less then a year after the accident. Though in the same year of the Tschernobyl nucleare disaster another disaster followed On 1st of November 1986 an explosion occurred in the Sandos Chemical factory in Switzerland, which ended up killing all life in one of the world largest rivers, namely the Rhine, which flows from Switzerland through Germany, France and the Netherlands where its waters enter the Northern Sea. The Sandos accident destroyed over four decades of hard work with great expenses attached, in order to clean up the Rhine river from pollution and the devastation left behind after WWII. Those two accidents strengthened my dedication to protect the environment and life on earth. The polluters are responsible to clean up their pollution and to compensate the victims as well. At least in theory they should be hold accountable. Nevertheless, they rarely do pay up and even less end up being hold accountable. Moreover, when they do pay, it is merely a minuscule fraction of the real damage caused to the environment and society. Part of the blame does lay with the consumers and citizen them self that support those industries since they do benefit from them by means of jobs, cheep energy and cheep consumer goods. Until some thing goes terribly wrong such as at the Fukushima Nuclear plant here in Japan or the BP oil spill in the Golf of Mexico.
Will we ever learn? I am afraid not, most people have a rather short memory and are easily bribed and this with surprisingly very little. Why bother any longer? Humanity does not even deserve to prevail especially not when we look at how we behave in Libya or even in the U.S.! However, there is such a thing as care, empathy, love, compassion and selflessness that some of us human still posses for our children, families, friends, neighbors. And some few even care for plants and insects and this planet, that is why we need to stick around for a little longer to help life on earth to prevail for it is well worth it.
In the so-called dark ages, the environment was mostly revered and respected, even though life was rather harsh at times at least for most. Then again living with  Radiation poisoning is not any better either. In 1461 for instance some businessmen that committed fraud where bricked alive into a wall in East Prussia, wile in the thirteens century a couple of merchants that polluted the local river in Southern Germany where stoned to death and their families were disowned and forced into exile. Nowadays we are civilised, letting those that commit fraud receive a bonus and those that pollute our waters, our air, our soils and our sea with crude oil, radioactive substances or even toxic chemicals, receive public money to clean up their mess. We let them increase their profits and wealth; still not holding them accountable for leaving countless people and wild live to endure to a slow and painful death. It leaves us to wonder whether we have evolved into civilized and intelligent beings or merely ended up being brain washed, remaining uneducated, irresponsible and maybe even criminal or insane. Would we be able to bring a person that lived some two thousand years ago into our polluted and mad world, that person would call us mad and uncivilized, even careless. He would want to go back to his time in a split of a second. We need to change course as a society for the sake of our descendants and their own ability to be able and allowed to live on this planet.