[转贴]Global Warming: A Unique Opportunity?

pal2002

Form a Australian Blog<br>
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For the first time in human history, the entire human race faces the same problem. Rich, poor, black, white, Christian or Muslim - all will be at risk in the coming decades. No amount of money, no geographic location, no level of education, no belief or politics will cushion any of us from the unavoidable power of the planet itself.<br>
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We are alone in the universe. There is nowhere else to go. No god will rescue us, no alien will appear to resolve our problems, no sudden scientific breakthrough will reverse the results of the past years of thoughtless expansion.<br>
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If we do not respond collectively to our shared problems, there will be no more chances. If we fall, we all fall together.<br>
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I do not doubt that the majority of the world’s people are willing to co-operate on shared responses to our shared problems. I also do not doubt that there are a few who would rather make a quick buck than sacrifice their privileges for the common good.<br>
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The coming struggle will be both for our continued ability to secure the necessities of life - and against those who would leave the rest of us to die while they attempt to bolster themselves against the inevitable. I suspect that many of these people will be attending the G20 Meeting in Melbourne next week.<br>
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As historian Lord Acton (1834-1902) wrote: “The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.” (He is also the person who wrote that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.)<br>
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I believe we are all at a crucial point in human history. The decisions made in the next few decades will decide human history for the next three or four centuries. The US Government appears to have decided in which direction it will go. The recent passing of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (which allows the president the arrest whomever he chooses without charges) and the overturning of the Posse Comitatus Act (the president is now free to deploy the military within America against US citizens) reveals their intentions.<br>
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Howard appears to be following a similar imperative. Unfortunately he has tied Australia to the USA. If they fall, we fall. Would the rich man continue to feed his lapdog if food was in short supply?<br>
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The invasion of Iraq was nothing more than a naked attempt to control the last of the oil at a time when oil, which drives just about everything we do, is in increasingly short supply. It would be foolish or delusional to imagine that governments everywhere are not aware of the possibility for their own demise and that they will not do all in their power to preserve their own privileges, including destroying our freedoms, our legal protections or our lives.<br>
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I do not know what is going to happen. No one does. I do know that we are going to be facing great challenges in the not to distant future. How we repond to these challenges will determine the future.<br>