Pity The Poor Editor
I am deeply disappointed by Paul Dechene’s column, “Top 6 Futile Gestures To Deal With Global Warming” (Aug. 8-21). Why feed the ignorance of climate change deniers? Is Dechene’s point that everyone should do absolutely nothing and just act like everything is fine, and keep partying and destroying what’s left of our beautiful planet? Why doesn’t Mr. Dechene come up with more tangible solutions?
This column shows how little about Saskatchewan and the rich food bounty of the Prairies Mr. Dechene knows. He also forgot to mention that the guilty are ourselves. We elected Harper into government three times. We are more guilty than he is.
This list is really sad and pathetic. The first point — that’s it’s useless to drive cars less because at this point we’d be better off learning to ride dolphins “like goddamn Aquaman” — is thoroughly absurd. I feel very sorry for editor Stephen Whitworth for asking this person to compile anything about the environment for the newspaper.
Is there anything so wrong with optimism? We need to look at the faces of the next generation and ask, what are we leaving behind for them? With the image of a polar bear that starved to death, thoughts of hopelessness can take over. Charlie Chaplin said despair is a narcotic and dulls the senses to indifference. The world, and every single thing in it, does not need more people to fall into indifference. We can make a real difference if we all act together and believe wholeheartedly in this cause.
When people stop treating their cars as an appendage to our bodies, stop flouting material wealth as though it keeps us physically alive and start caring about things out of our own tiny little worlds, we will all be better off and start to see results. A healthier world is possible and can be achieved today.
Yasmin Wooldridge, Edenwold
EDITOR’S NOTE: Thank you for the sympathy, Yasmin. It’s true, Paul Dechene makes things very difficult for me. He’s so mean! /Stephen Whitworth
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