A Radical Thought (Day 19 - August 10, 2011)

I was going to start out this blog entry saying . . . I am hereby ass-less!  I'm huddled inside my tent safely out of the rain and wind, but nevertheless I'm freezing (. . . thus finding myself in the unfortunate state of being sans derrière).  However, upon reflection I realize that . . . my daughter would not like that since she is not a fan of anyone using the "A-word" . . . my mother would not like that since she would skip right over the humourous phrasing and start worrying about me being too cold . . . and I wouldn't be able to use that line again when it gets colder in September and October.  So, I decided not to say that in this blog.

Instead, I'll go with . . .

I'm all nice and cozy (wink, wink) sitting in my humble abode basking in the glory of nature swooning mischievously while refreshing the plants and trees.  As I sit here with my posterior fully intact (wink, wink), I am doing a little reflecting on the three media interviews I did today and pondering a radical thought. What is the thought?  I'll get to that after I explain how I came to it.

On the way to one of the interviews, I saw a couple of boys, brothers would be my guess, with a soccer ball.  They were obviously on their way to a soccer camp or game because they had on matching team shirts.  And as brothers are prone to do, they were fighting over the ball, each wanting to have a turn with it as they walked along.  Their mother, I presume, was with them and told them that they had to share or the ball would be taken away.  It's only fair.

For some reason my thoughts then turn to a novel I am reading at night in the tent (until it gets too dark) based upon British history.  Without going into a lot of detail, I find it quite fascinating how England evolved from being a state ruled by an absolute monarch to one being governed by a Parliament elected by all of the people.  Over a long period of time, the government passed through a number of stages, each stage having more people involved in the governing process . . . first the elite, then landowners, then men of certain means, then all men, and finally women, too.  At every stage the argument was always made that those who did not have a right to participate were not qualified or unable to bear the responsibility of governance.  But at each stage, the rights of the many won out over the desires of the few, and so like the soccer ball, control over a nation became shared (at least in theory) by all those affected.  It's only fair.

Then comes a recurring radical thought I've had for some time. (I say radical because, while rational, is far from the current status quo.)  Every person in the world has a right to partake in the resources flowing from the terrestrial sphere upon which we live (. . . I'm referring to Earth in case anyone didn't pick up the reference).  Interestingly, similar to the various stages of democracy's development in Britain, for the most part the resources are being controlled and consumed by a few . . . with a resulting detriment to many.  In fact, the richest 20% of people account for 76.6% of the world's consumption while the poorest 20% of people account for only 1.5% of the world's consumption. (Poverty Facts & Stats)  Why should it be any different than the brothers having to share the soccer ball or everyone having the right to vote?  Why shouldn't every person have a right to at least that portion of the resources on the planet that he or she requires to be sustained?  There can still be wealthy people and many with high standards of living,  just as long as everyone has enough to eat, water to drink, sanitation, a roof over their heads, and access to basic education and health care.   It's only fair . . . and just . . . and right . . .

Hey!! I'm That Poverty Guy . . . let's make a world of difference together.

Click Here to See WACHOOKANDU.