The Emperors New Clothes
I just had to post about this – is the new emperor (elect) wearing the same suit of clothes? The following paragraph is an excerpt from a email newsletter from the OCA, an American Organic Consumers Association –
Over the past month, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has been alerting our nationwide network about Obama’s proposed appointment of Monsanto ally and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to the position of Secretary of Agriculture. Far from representing the “Change” which Obama has promised, Vilsack has a disappointing record of promoting controversial genetically engineered foods, biopharm crops, and animal cloning, as well as cheerleading for unsustainable biofuels derived from corn and soybeans. In addition Vilsack has come under fire for aiding and abetting chemical and energy-intensive industrial agriculture, including Iowa’s infamous Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).
Sign OCA’s Petition to the US Senate Now!
Is is a case of the same old story? A lot of people are holding a lot of hope for Obama’s new term in office. Personally I tend to be a little cynical about political parties and most politicians, I have stopped expecting great things from politicians quite some time ago.
I expect that many of the people involved in politics may have high hopes and ideals when they startes in politics, then comes compromise, concessions, a little give here, a little take there.
Personally I believe in each of us taking responsibility, not leaving it up to the politicians, I don’t mean to let them off the hook and do their jobs for them, neither do I mean that we should accept shoddiness from them. I think we should lead from the bottom up, we should let them know what we expect of them by doing what we feel should be done, not waiting for the powers that be to make it happen.
Let me give one example of what I mean – if we believe that the government should encourage and enable us to use renewable energy on a domestic level and sell the excess to the grid then we should not wait until they give us grants or enact legislation to make this happen easily, we can start by installing our own systems and doing the best that we can in our own homes. Eventually the government will catch up with us and make it easier for others to follow suit.
Why should we take the hard road?
Why not wait until it is made easier?
Be the change you want to see in the world…
