A Muse Yourself

Life begins at forty I have heard, but I could be mistaken. Maybe it was "life begins at fired". Both these occurred within about three weeks of each other so my actual delivery date is ambiguous. As far as work is concerned, I can't say I'm really "missing" it. I graduated with a romantic desire to work in some new green technology. My enthusiasm collided with a faltering economy and I ended up working for a Dutch software company writing code to simulate oil field production. OK, I did it for the money. Somewhere between graduating and the job that would kill my passion, someone told me that true responsibility lied in a steady paycheck, health insurance (see Flu as a pre-existing condition), and giving up my bicycle as transportation for a car. I became a proper consuming, polluting, and productive member of society. This is what happens when you do not follow your muse.
First, what exactly is your muse? What they don't tell you is that there are more than one. There are, in fact, nine muses according to the Greeks or Romans. Your choices range from Calliope (epic poetry) to Melpomene (tragedy) and variations in-between possibly involving dancing or playing the flute. I believe we could create more modern versions of these muses such as: Blogonia (politics), Yogaerpe (holistic health), or Ployspamnia (web development). We may even create hybrid muses for specific interests, such as: Thaliablogonia (political humor). One kind of muse you will not find is one centered around social stability or the pursuit of money which brings me back to my last employment.
My boss decided to task me with scheduling lunch hour lectures. My co-workers grew to hate me as my task turned into cajoling them into standing in front of the entire company and talking instead of eating. The upshot was we could talk about anything we wanted with special butt kissing points awarded to anyone who could make our miserable job look exciting. My own lecture was on the compelling topic of "peak oil". For those who are unaware of what this means, it's when the easy oil is taped out and the remaining oil fields become economically unfeasible to develop (think tar sands). The term develop is actually a misnomer. oil is not developed but removed from the ground and replaced with seawater, but developed sounds more creative and innovative. The United States hit peak oil back in the mid seventies. That's why we import so much now. Anyhow, my lecture, complete with graphs and figures, comes to an end and all I see are stunned co-workers and supervisors. "So what you are saying Charley is we are in a dying business?" I hate to give happy go lucky geeks bad news but I thought it might be important. To the main boss this was almost treason. Lectures were meant to raise moral, rally the troops, and to develop a sense of guilt and servitude toward the company. Whatever reason my boss had for terminating my contract doesn't really matter. The point is that I am free. I can only blame myself if I get into another working situation that drains the hemoglobin from my vitals. I might do better becoming a carbon neutral street performer or following the muse of Ecobuskina .

Conservatives Still Deny Global Warming

I could be paddling a rowboat down Market Street in San Francisco after the poles have melted, and there will still be conservative fanatics who deny that humans are responsible for Global Warming or that it is even real.



Why this stubborn refusal to acknowledge the most respected scientists on the planet in favor of studies funded by lobbyists and political organizations with obvious ties to corporate interests? I see four possible reasons:

1. They believe it, but don't care: These people are so attached to the wealth created by their surreptitious business holdings that they are incapable of concern for their less fortunate peers, other species, or future generations of humans. This would be very disturbing, because it would mean that a huge portion of our population is actually evil.

2. They are simply to afraid to face the truth: Like ostriches who hide their heads in the sand when there is danger present, their fear doesn't allow them to admit their impending doom.

3. They are racked with guilt: Perhaps they just cannot face the guilt associated with their participation in the destruction of thousands of species of plants and animals; the possible extermination of the human race (or at least our civilization); and the destruction of an ecosystem which is the legacy of every person alive as well as those not yet born.

4. They are just ignorant: This is not very likely, but maybe they simply lack the intellect required to process the information available and come to the obvious conclusion that most intelligent people came to, back in the early seventies.

Such foolishness reminds me of the catholic church's pathetic attempts at stifling any theories that threatened their geocentric model of the universe. Whatever the reason for this self induced ignorance, we must try to educate them of the truth however difficult that may seem. The next time you hear some uneducated hick exclaim, "Global Warming? What global warming? This was the coldest winter I can remember, so how can the planet be warming up?" or, "These are just natural fluctuations in the Earth's climate." Please speak up and explain to them that only religious fanatics who cling to the notion of creationism and a flat Earth still doubt the unfortunate reality of global warming.



I liken our current situation to that faced by the inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) before western explorers arrived to find them eating each other just to stay alive. The island was rich in resources, but its superstitious inhabitants squandered those resources trying to outdo each other by carving and erecting enormous stone monoliths which were meant to bring luck to their individual clans. Had they used those resources to build ships instead of statues, their culture may have survived and even flourished. Earth is also a remote island with finite resources. Our skyscrapers are our monoliths, our nations are our clans. If we don't stop our petty clan squabbles and get busy building space ships and space colonies, we may lose the opportunity altogether. Humanity may revert to an agrarian society only to be wiped out eventually when the Sun or a nearby star goes supernova; we are struck by an asteroid; or some other global catastrophe wipes us out. We cannot continue to allow the greedy, ignorant, and/or incompetent to exploit and squander the Earth's resources, which are the legacy of all life on Earth.