Damaged or Destroyed ?

Waleed Aly on The Project last night tried to nail the Environment Minister Greg Hunt with a "really big problem the government needed to something about ". If there is something environmentally wrong, according to the wannabes , its gotta be with our reef- something obvious colorful and precious makes a popular if misguided target  . The truth is , Some ( most?)  think not enough because the really substantial  problems are more subtle than that . More subtle than the color of coral and more long lasting than colloids in a salt solution --
The serious thing is they all got it wrong; everyone in that story is barking up the wrong tree as we say in this country .  
The public are too easily influenced by the superficial and polys often only follow. Waleed failed to make the case while Greg failed too to do anything but react - his science, technology and political response was all over the place .his advisors will be part of his problem
If we fail to find the target , as American foreign policy and Dick Smith testifies this week( on population - another superficial fear) , all the money in the world won't do what we all want it to do - that is to help fix the damage and the destruction . 

The consensus issue amongst us is that we are not looking after the world and its people .This focus is absolutely on target and good on The Project for seeking to deliver this great quest differently . We want so much to do so ( many at least ) ---that's really good.
 Its HOW the next generation do it that will make all the difference. But No , we are not doing it  .We haven't got a vision of HOW to do it .

If young are going to make any better impact than my generation ( who failed ) they are going to have to think smarter and reject some of the simple nonsense pushed by my generation .

Some common myths and mistaken ideas still common 

1. That if the problem is going to be fixed it will be have to be the government that does it . Governments can be crass and incompetent and just waste our taxes .
2. That big business is the bad bloke   
3. That its the other blokes problem . The coal industry , The dredgers , the powerful
   
   Young people have already shown us the way on choice in the supermarket -very positive  pay more for eggs , don't buy bottled water unless you are going to die from the local ( Planet ArK) 
4. That the environment is like us -needs cushions and grants . As if it like too many of us,  full of excuses and hard done by stories . The reality is that the environment shows great resilience ( half the stories on permanent destruction in the news are rubbish )and we can and should work with it.
    
5. We as , Carl Jung says ,  are the basket case , The problem is primarily with man . 

If you are a young person reading this

1. Don't make the same mistakes as your parents on this 
2. Don't be superficial 
3. Don't project the problem onto others- get involved somewhere near you 
4. Study the problems in detail.  Do your physiology, chemistry and physics, even if you redo it . 
5. Don't assume the problem is just technological -- this is still a very common mistake 
6. Assume there is a spiritual and emotional dimension ( see S .Neiman on religious and political ambitions)  - we struggle to deal with our damaged vision and ambitions as Carl Jung has said and Homer Simpson shows 

That said ,  all hands to you young people . The environment is a great place to work because it is so resilient .  This means that when we fail to protect the environment sometimes it helps itself. Its our sister not our mother , Working with people is harder work too, but you sort of have to - if we are going to make a dent  in the ongoing real and thoroughly unacceptable damage problems .The killing fields ---

Colloids will not kill the reef ( my work is with soil, water and plants) but panic will waste another opportunity to do something well and truly satisfying.---and it the right place and time .

I wish you well in your quest