Edison and Sinclare clearly understood the nature of people who, today, deny global warming and chant "drill baby drill."
In 1916, Edison stated, "We should make use of the forces of nature and should obtain all our power in this way. Sunshine is a form of energy, wind and sea currents are manifestations of this energy. Do we make use of them? Oh no! We burn forests and coal, like tenants burning down our front door for heating. We live like wild settlers."
In the early 1900's Upton Sinclare wrote, “It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it.”
Obviously, careless people have existed since the beginning of time. It is a marvel that the species has survived, or is survival a fleeting fancy and the reality a harsher truth. Could it be that we are slowly burning our front door for heat and living like wild settlers still? Are we so fraught with the worship of power, prestige, and wealth that we live with wild abandonment, pushing the cost of our greed and recklessness onto future generations? Could our ever-growing lust for abundance, even at the expense, globally, of others of our species, be slowly deteriorating the gene pool? Are there enough voices of reason in this human wilderness to prevent extinction?
Sinclare was optimistic that America could change. His optimism inspired his book, "The Jungle." Realizing how slow the process is and how much his book did cause change in the early days of the meat "industry," could give one hope. However, today many of those conditions he illuminated have resurged. That resurgence has occurred because modern advertising anesthetizes the public and multiple layers of middlemen have been wedged between suppliers and consumers.
Many of today's issues hide behind the size and complexity of corporate relationships and inbreeding coupled with a media dependent upon advertiser's support. Sinclare's view, regarding how difficult it is for individuals to do what is morally and ethically right when their salaries depend upon denying a problems existence, remains as true a detriment to today's society as it ever was. Thus, some people deny the science of global warming and others profit from poisoning the land, air and water, in the name of productivity and profit.
Edison's foreshadowing observation is reality in Haiti today. Nearly void of trees, due to poor agricultural regulations, a corrupt government, and because the common fuel is charcoal, Haiti suffers. Its lush forests are now gone, cleared for fuel and industrial farming by monolithic citrus operations. Re-forestation is a faltering startup project and, because treeless soil cannot stop water runoff, the riverbeds are dry and multitudes starve, thirst and suffer devastation from weather events. Some even claim that the weight lost along with the trees changed the load on subterranean plates and may have contributed to the massive earthquake January 12, 2010.
Modern Edisons and Sinclares rile against an American government, festooned in corporate donors, relying on a contaminated Electoral College System of elections, and federal agencies infiltrated by wealthy business representatives with a solitary interest in their own wealth, with service to their country an afterthought. Too often, our responsible stewards of earth and resources, even learned scientists, are trivialized as "environmentalists" in an attempt to demonize their concerns.
When political candidates ignore the reality that fossil fuel kills in its capture and use; support agriculture modalities that are inhumane, soil depleting and toxic to the air, land and water; then, many agree, their underlying motivations must be scrutinized. Does power, prestige or wealth motivate their indefensible positions?
Today's voters, charged with finding candidates with honorable motivations, do not have an easy task. Super PACS, with unlimited financial resources, and a distracted media conspire against them. However, voters must work to elect honorable representatives.
It is wise to remember that before 1950 Haiti produced and consumed more than 80% of its food. As of 2008, Haiti imported more than half of its food while the farmers suffered due to government agriculture policies that allowed monolithic corporations to reign over operations and export product leaving poverty and deforestation in its wake. American corporations, and some candidates, are promoting the elimination of government oversight that has traditionally protected the health and well-being of American citizens.
Today, voters must vote as if their life depends on this 2012 election outcome, because it does.
