Dr Peter White's Blog

Thoughts and comments from Dr Peter White -- political, philosophical, spiritual, musical and more

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Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

I am retired from the Uni. of Queensland, and have numerous interests inside and outside of the uni. I play classical, bluegrass, country and folk guitar (hows that for a mix?) I am a member of the Australian Labor Party and am currently branch secretary of the Mt Coot-tha branch. I'm also involved in developing virtual reality builds and websites. Never bored!

Friday, July 27, 2018

We could do what we can

About 30 or so years ago I attended an ashram in Sydney.  One of the teachers there related this  story.

Once there was this sparrow, who heard that the sky was about to fall in.  So he lay on his back, with his little feet in the air.  A larger bird flew over and said "What can you do, you're so small."  And the sparrow said "I  do what I can". 

That story has stuck with me for a long time now.  We are at so many crossroads in the world today: climate change coupled with fires, floods, extreme weather storms; the politics of  ugliness everywhere; rampant greed by the rich, ably assisted by conservative politicians; a growing but ageing population, and Trump.  😛

But through all  this,  I see glimmers of hope springing  up.  There are the NGOs who  are leading the charge on climate change, pushing wobbly governments into stepping up  to do  something.  I see grass roots organisations challenging the strong and sometimes winning.  Everyone from "greenies" to farmers are getting in on the act because they see that we can no longer do what we have done and expect to survive. 

There are numerous  small, grass roots organisations emerging everywhere to challenge the status quo and often winning a fight.  The Internet, despite all the invective heaped on it recently  due to the unscrupulous  use some people make of it, is still a lifesaver.  A great example of this are the many petitionary sites that get people to firstly become aware of an issue that the mass media has ignored, and then ask them to sign, and then ask to  become more involved, either with  time and/or money.

These are not big biz people; they are everyday folk who are expressing a concern.

They are like the sparrow.  They do what they can. 

That's how positive change happens. 

I'm delighted to be among them. 

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