What right to develop.

I have recently seen a number of stories about environmentalist decrying the growth of developing countries and the use/ destruction of their own natural resources. There is a moral, social and responsibility conflict in play with many of these situations and it’s being played out in developing countries around the world, especially in countries desperate for social and economic reform like South America, Africa and India.

Developed countries like Australia have for the past 200 years or so had the opportunity to develop their economies and revolutionise our way of life without any meaningful restrictions on what we could do or how we did it. We built dams, we flooded valleys, we dug up coal and uranium we built power stations and we displaced countless people to build the wealth of this country, rightly or wrongly.

Many developing countries now find themselves in a position where they too have the opportunity to build a modern and prosperous society and bring social reform, health and benefits to millions of their citizens.  Those countries like ourselves who now enjoy the social and economic benefits of that development over the last 200 years must be careful not to place the guilt or responsibility for our failures on other countries who simply desire the same benefits we now enjoy.

The guilt and responsibility for our own failure to protect, value and preserve our own natural assets, people and culture should not be placed on the shoulders of other countries. Counties and people who not only deserve the same level of wealth, health benefits,  financial security and living standards that we now enjoy but are most in need of that social renewal and financial security, things that come with such development.

I don’t know what the answer is and I don’t know what the right balance is but we must find it together as a world. I am very reluctant to simply stand up and say NO you can’t do that when no one ever said or had the right to say no and stop us from doing exactly the same thing. Do we have the right to doom millions of people who had no say in where they were born to continuing poverty, security threats and third world living standards by stopping them from developing and using their own natural resources because of our own shame?

And I have not even started on the issue of the amount of financial aid we are then obliged to give such countries keeping them just hovering in poverty unable to develop, propped up by us because they are unable to develop their own resources- that’s a whole new topic.

Don't make a boob of yourself you stupid tit.

 

I must admit that I am a bit bewildered by the reaction from some with regard to the Koshie comments made about breastfeeding. In particular the over the top aggrieved reaction displayed by some women. It seems however to be the most common method of proving this argument. Howling down someone who has an opinion different from yours so that they can’t voice it doesn’t make your point of view right or the other wrong. As far as I knew we still lived in a country with the freedom to hold our own opinions but it would seem that with this issue some opinions are free for some but not for others.

 

I have no issue with breastfeeding in public at all but neither do I have issue with the opinion that Koshie expressed (however poorly worded it may have been) or his right to express it. How is it that it is demanded of Koshie that he respect the rights of women to breastfeed in public whenever and wherever they want but there is no allowance for Koshie to have his right to an opinion. An opinion I should point out that is not against breastfeeding in public but simply expressing an opinion that for some women it could be done more discreetly. He has not asked for a ban, for it to be regulated or restricted he simply commented that some people could show a little respect for others around them -my god what a crime showing others some respect. The reaction regarding this is not proportionate nor is it warranted, it is bullying. 

 

There have been many who have used the “essential” basic human need argument for breastfeeding in public as justification for their venom. Come on, people show restraint every day with “essential” human needs. There are many in our society who need injections for life sustaining drugs for things like diabetes, is their need any less? I don’t see people injecting themselves on the spot all over the city in public, they manage the issue, they show some respect for the environment and people around them knowing that some may find it uncomfortable or off putting.

                                                                         

Most of us over 40 survived without on demand feeding in the past. I don't remember a time when I was young that if I was not fed immediately when out in public I would die of starvation. Is this essential human need different now in some way? Are children now prone to starvation in this strange new world? There is another issue at play here in my opinion. This over reaction by some mothers is more a reflection of the selfish “my rights” society we live in today. My right, my opinion, me, me, me. Get a grip people there is no me it’s us.

 

But it seems when it comes to children and women's rights debate and reason go out the window. God forbid that we would consider others feelings, that time is long gone now. That thought belongs to a time when we actually cared about the people around when out in public. A time when a person on the bus would get up and offer a seat to another person or a time when holding a door open was not a sexist act but a common courtesy. To day it is all about self and a reflection of the selfish "I want it now and I have rights" world that we live in.

 

Today when a child screams a child instantly gets. Parents don't know how to say no anymore. Parents are simply conditioning themselves and their children for the on demand selfish society we have shaped for ourselves over the last 20 or 30 years where no one else matters it’s all about my rights not you or your feelings.

The gift of a gift given freely.

I could not help but be drawn into the story of Simon Gittany the guy accused of murdering his girlfriend Lisa Cecilia Harnum by making her fall from the balcony of their apartment in Sydney. It would seem that he was a controlling and manipulative individual from evidence given at his committal hearing in Sydney this week. Why do people want to control other people? It seems that he did everything to control her life possibly so that he could have her for himself? I don’t know.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/fiance-to-stand-trial-for-murder-over-balcony-death-20130118-2cy07.html

It made me think of an incident that happened to a friend this week. My friend had an interesting experience this week when a tiny visitor called in. When she got up in the morning and went outside to water the plants she found, hanging from the roof of the veranda a tiny brown micro bat.

It was fascinating the way people reacted to my friends Facebook posts and this tiny visitor. While common in the area they are seldom seen close up and the reaction to its presence was thought-provoking.

When she posted photos on face book the conversation was exciting as the comments started to flow. While my friend would never hurt it the first reaction from many was to make it a pet and catch it.

People are funny when it comes to wild things the first reaction for many of us is to control them, tame them make them our own. I guess this is so that we are able to enjoy them under a controlled situation. Maybe it is so that we are able to extend the enjoyment it brings us, so we are able to experience the event the next day or the day after that. Maybe it’s so that others can’t have them and we get to keep the experience to ourselves.

Over the day there was a flurry of text and photos and little updates. When she got home from work that afternoon she found the little bat still there sound asleep and another flurry of face book posts and texts appeared. Then later in the evening the final post to say that it had flown away and was gone.

It’s not often that we are given the gift to experience something special without looking for it, particularly something as exclusive and mysterious as a bat. For this little bat to make its home for a day in her house gave her a little insight into another living creature’s world not contrived not enforced but voluntarily, however inadvertently it came into her world.

Judging from the amount of Facebook traffic and the level of conversation generated and the number of photos the joy the event created was obvious and would be difficult to replicate under any other circumstances. It just goes to show that sometimes the simplest things can bring joy and you don’t necessity need to own them, possess them or control them to gain it.

Often people come into our lives just like the bat, unexpected. They are there for a while and we have the chance to enjoy them and gain a special insight into their lives and share something special sometimes even the people around us get to enjoy them. It may not last and we find one day it is gone but what it can add to your life is something that you can’t pay for, can’t be forced and sometimes can’t even be repeated. I am sure we have all tried to hold on to people when we shouldn’t at some point in our lives, we try and catch them and possess them I know I have and for that I say I am sorry.

It would seem that for Lisa and her family their time together has been cut short by someone who wanted to own and possess her instead of standing back and enjoying the gift.