Fears for future

Newton was hit on the head with an apple, which woke him up re gravitation. He was sure that what goes up always comes down.

Rutherford split the atom (went to the same school as me), Henry Ford found unlimited use for oil, and as a boy most ships and trains were coal burners. Clever farmers used top-dressing and sprays, making some New Zealanders very rich and right wing.

In the building insane race for wealth, our manufactures moved overseas to use slave-type wages to make more bucks for shareholders. More taxes were collected by government and were used to help people and fight wars, but recently a defeated National government gave tax cuts to the rich. Along with their ilk are the environmentally thick who deny global warming and the pollution of Earth’s atmosphere because it’s obvious that right-wing politics can’t handle the advancing environmental crisis.

Nor can ultra-left wing thinking. Mass education of unpalatable scientific facts and a huge blast of “Get real people,” and governments please note, we don’t need nuclear weapons to self-destruct.

In my 86 years the bushlands’ dawn chorus has almost gone, as has pure water in the streams and rivers we used to drink and swim in. Pine forests and cows pollute the waters of many lakes.

There probably isn’t one city anywhere where sewage and waste is properly being taken care of, as the rates needed by councils to do so would see ignorant populations rebel.

Coal-powered power stations, industry, and tens of thousands of jet engines, cars etc are causing major problems that need reality and major action worldwide.

The population of the world has more than doubled in my lifetime. Trump, Putin, and little old me and others will have faced judgment before the worst effects hit humanity. I hope! Left in the too-hard basket. I fear for future generations, even on our still saveable beautiful islands.

Don’t take my word for it. Just read the research and findings of qualified masses of international scientists and their unanimous conference findings, minus the discredited Trump camp followers.

Sadly mankind has the knowledge to solve housing, food and environmental, health, physical and mental problems, but is reading the wrong book.

SAM McHarg

Kerikeri