What Happened to Earth Day?

I don't acknowledge Earth Day any more. I have become a little jaded about the whole concept. Back in the 70's, I was a little hippie chickie with granny glasses and flowers in my hair and I cared about EVERYTHING!!!! Earth Day was a huge deal to me at that time. It was a chance for the citizens of the Earth to come together on something we ALL have in common...life on planet Earth.

Margaret Mead said it:
"EARTH DAY is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, yet preserves all geographical integrities, spans mountains and oceans and time belts, and yet brings people all over the world into one resonating accord, is devoted to the preservation of the harmony in nature and yet draws upon the triumphs of technology, the measurement of time, and instantaneous communication through space.

EARTH DAY draws on astronomical phenomena in a new way – which is also the most ancient way – using the vernal Equinox, the time when the Sun crosses the equator making night and day of equal length in all parts of the Earth. To this point in the annual calendar, EARTH DAY attaches no local or divisive set of symbols, no statement of the truth or superiority of one way of life over another. But the selection of the Equinox makes planetary observance of a shared event possible, and a flag which shows the Earth as seen from space appropriate."

That is the Earth Day I celebrated. What happened? Last week I heard an ad for an Earth Day Celebration at a water/amusement park in the local area, inviting everyone to come to the park to celebrate Mother Earth. Yes, let's drive our cars, make more trash, waste water and pay our money in celebration of Mother Earth. I just don't get it.

Don't you think Mother Earth would be better served if that amusement park hadn't covered her face with asphalt. Maybe if they had left the trees and plants? What if all the wildlife that lost their habitat had been left unmolested? That sounds like a celebration of our Mother to me.

Doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of having Earth Day if you have to drive your carbon footprint to get the the celebration???? Shouldn't Earth Day be about staying home and taking stock of all the blessings that our planet bestows on us every day, not just on one day in April?

I guess, as with every other holiday we have in this country, somebody has found a way to make money from Earth Day, so the true meaning has pretty much flown out the window for most Americans. If you would like to read about what the original intent and purpose of Earth Day really was, you can visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day .

More cool Earth stuff:
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/ NASA site for pictures of Mother Earth
http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/efs/ Astronauts Views of the Home Planet
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-earth.html Photo gallery NASA
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/ Astounding pictures from the Hubble Telescope WOW!!!

"Where the hell am I and why am I in this handbasket?"

I am sick and tired of corporate America and their relentless pursuit of the "Almighty Dollar" at the expense of just about everything that I care about. There is something so insidious lurking on our horizon that I shudder to think about the state of this world in 50 years. We are being baited into focusing our attention on the war in Iraq, the political scene, high crime rates and the deplorable state of the health of so many people, not to mention the economic downturn that is inevitably in our very near future.

We are being frightened into submission by the news media that so gleefully reports every shocking and tragic incident they can parade out in front of the American people every evening at 6 and 11. I am disgusted with the garbage that is on television and I am talking about the advertising, not the programming, which is another category all by itself. What we should really fear is quietly spreading like a viral video on the Internet and it would be my guess that 90% of our population is completely oblivious to what is happening.

It is my firm belief that the world that my granddaughter, who is almost 6, will live to see is going to be that bleak, devastated wasteland that is so often portrayed in apocalyptic visions of science fiction writers. That is a very scary world to think our children and grandchildren will inherit and it breaks my heart to think that in my lifetime the destruction was happening and nothing was done to stop it. Now I am not sure that there is any way to reverse the damage that has been done.


There are so many things that just make me furious that I need to stop typing here before I blow a gasket. I am going to go out today and see if there is anything I can do that won't destroy the planet in 50 years.
Later.