The Sidewalk Ends

Oh, environmental activists! You can see doom coming. You know that every Christmas you guys get the PR bashing of a lifetime. It’s natural, too.

Every morning on December 25th hundreds of millions of families in white industrialized countries and elsewhere in poorer countries open presents with the backdrop of a fresh evergreen tree in their living room. The entire family in their robes and pajamas, in their sweat pants and long sleeved shirts know the tree will be discarded soon after today; that today, Christmas day, is the trees cumulative day of glory, and that if the family doesn’t want a floor of brown pine needles to deal with they had better make sure the tree gets discarded. A natural bashing towards environmentalists have been brewing now for some time.

Every man at Christmas and his family will think in their heads, “This is why I will never support environmentalism. I want my Christmas tree. Those environmentalists first chase after oil tankers in little boats which was crazy enough; now they disagree with me, my family, simply having a tree in my livingroom, on the holiest day of days.” It doesn’t matter if its completely obvious that no environmentalist would ever make the mistake of being against Christmas. The environmentalist ( aka loyalist, aka a practicing participant or hopeful politician caught in the one road maze which is politics and which pigeon english calls “knowing shit”) suffers a nationwide public relations beating every Christmas. I believe you’d have this subconcious thought developing more in smaller towns or smaller cities of working folk and working class where the real grassroots are developed.

So the environmentalist gets the Christmas time public relations bashing. None of the other human rights groups get it so bad.

Environmentalists are worried. If it wasnt so bad getting a holiday PR bashing they have to face a future of never ending gigantic waves coming from everywhere, abnormal weather patterns, the end of oil, air borne diseases destroying chunks of the population, a definite fight over water that will see terrible death (but probably not exploitation : think wells), no oxygen and no animals. Environmentalists subconciously want to warn their peers about a future with lots of people without a lot of resources. Maybe.

Environmentalists also subconciously are experiencing some fear. Maybe. I bet about half of the environmentalists are fearing, half are warning. One is an inevitable lead to the other. 50% will fear then warn, 50% will warn then fear, and 100% will continue that repeated process for a long time, maybe forever. It will be a terrible damage on the soul or it will be leave the person with only a smile.

Environmentalists! Don’t feel ill about the planet okay? I know you know your advocacy will prevent a few souls from not being prepared. You will save a few lives because those people will think about their future and will work twenty fold to catch up on the years that they weren’t paying attention.

You are worrying about the future, but you shouldn’t worry for yourselves! In many global apocalyptic situations you will be able to survive just fine. You always wanted to work on the farm because it allowed you time to think and love. You would have much longer days, which means more thoughts made and more days loved.

The environmental activist in this case should rationally start to damage the Earth quicker so he could experience his future sooner, but he wants to include ‘protection of the Earth’ into his life list if not for any reason more than proving to his grand kids that, ” Yes, see, I did try to save the world, I did care for it.” Most of the grand kids will despise their grandparents if the grandparents cant produce some activist participation documentation (the truth that some old flyers were shoved into their hands won’t have to be the historical explanation).

The environmentalists don’t have to worry about the future. There friends are going to be surprised, shocked, or they may be capable all along. Nevertheless the activist will be ready.