I was reading Psychology Today at the bookstore last night and it turns out I am like most folks - I underestimate the threats that creep up on us.
I have written many blogs on Breast Cancer as recently as, oh let's see, the day before yesterday. Part of the reason is I have had many that I love affected by the disease so it has touched me personally. According to psychiatrists, however, we as humans are not as responsive to risks that don't produce immediate negative consequences. Heart disease is a bigger killer, but I have not once uttered a word about it in conversation or on this blog. Heart disease is the result of things that taken one by one don't seem too bad, a french fry here, a cigarette there, a donut, but if you add it all up over years those little things can kill you.
Kimberly Thompson, a professor of risk analysis at Harvard, explains that "things that build up slowly are very hard for us to see." It's like the proverbial frog in boiling water -- turn it up fast, frog jumps out; increase it slowly, it boils to its death. We tend to focus on the short term, she noted, even if we are aware of the long term risk.
I am going to resolve to do both, and I think all Citizen Hunters should as well. So when we think about the environment for instance, it is important for us to worry about how the rising cost of gas affects out wallets, how our addiction to oil sends money to nations who hate us, has health consequences today, is destroying our beautiful earth before our eyes, but it's also good to worry about what we might be leaving not just to our children but to our grandchildren and theirs.
We are stewards of this earth and we are meant to protect Her not just for today or tomorrow, but for longer than we can wrap our mind around. Future Citizen Hunters will certainly be glad and grateful if we challenge ourselves to think outside of our base nature and worry not just about the here and now, but beyond.
Comments (6)
Absolutely great job on Cavuto today. You. Go. Girl.
:-) Eliz
Posted by: Elizabeth on January 11, 2008 13:36
Funny, isn't it, that our politicians talk about "family values," and "mortgaging the future of our kids" when it comes to debt? Yet when the topic is stewardship of the planet that makes life possible; that provides each of us infinite possibilities to create our own heaven on earth; we get dismissed as "environmental whackos."
As you say, it's so easy to get wrapped up in the here and now that we so easily lose sight of the big picture when it comes to the environment. Money comes and goes; we learn to prevent and treat diseases; yet it's all for naught if we don't protect the planet first.
Posted by: Marc on January 12, 2008 03:30
I just caught a glimpse of you on Fox. I am aware of Michigan's 7.4% unemployment rate. Are you aware of Detroit's 21.7% high school graduation rate. I think there is a connection. In fact I believe high unemployment rates will continue until graduation rates dramatically rise.
Posted by: Steve on January 12, 2008 18:59
hi, Flavia --
I just saw you on Fox's "Cashin' In" and am a little confused as to your position on economic stimulation.
One the one hand, you castigated the current "drunken sailor" (two references) spending that "keeps us from having a balanced budget" (even tho @ deficit of 1.2% GDP it IS essentially balanced), but then in between you called for the government to hurry up and "do something" to stimulate the economy.
To follow both your prescriptions is not quite possible, since we can't both cut spending and increase spending at the same time.
So I was wondering if maybe I misunderstood part of your presentation.
Posted by: buddy larsen on January 12, 2008 23:02
Oops, i should've mentioned that I did understand what you meant when you mentioned having some relatives who "think we are headed toward recession" but I couldn't help but wonder if a little more study of the subject wouldn't smooth out your otherwise delightful tv commentary a bit.
Posted by: buddy larsen on January 12, 2008 23:08
"Heart disease is the result of things that taken one by one don't seem too bad, a french fry here, a cigarette there, a donut, but if you add it all up over years those little things can kill you."
Indeed, a major culprit in doughnuts and French fries is "partially hydrogenated oil" (transaturated fat), which should be banned because it essentially scars your arteries, and the scars can break off and get stuck, causing strokes and heart attacks. Refer to the Center for Science in the Public Interest for more information. Even foods that claim on their labels they have zero grams of trans fat actually MIGHT have up to 0.5g of trans fat due to the food industry lobby -- so read those ingredient lists VERY CAREFULLY and don't buy anything that says "partially hydrogenated oil". ("Fully" hydrogenated oil is apparently ok). A bipartisan effort to prohibit partially hydrogenated oil from the food industry would be a great thing for this country. Indeed this is happening in Denmark and the United Kingdom: McDonald's fries is those countries are cooked in non-hydrogenated oils. Why is McDonald's dragging their feet in the United States? We need legislation.
Regarding "oil policy": We actually don't have an addiction to OIL per se, we have an addiction to ENERGY. Maybe the future will follow George W. Bush's proposal to use switchgrass as an ethanol source (which produces 5.4 times as much energy as put in to create it, according to a recently concluded 5-year USDA study), or perhaps this country needs to build nuclear power plants. Surprisingly, one of the founders of Greenpeace, Dr. Patrick Moore, advocates this latter route, in opposition to his old organization; his reasoning is compelling. Dr. James Lovelock, the originator of the "Gaia theory" of the earth (which treats the earth as an organism), also has become a nuclear power proponent.
Posted by: PokerFace on January 18, 2008 16:26