On the morning of the Battle of Big Horn, Crazy Horse rose early to meet the dawn and paid homage to his creator. He then turned to his brave band of Indians and said ..
"Today is a great day to die....”
Is today, or any day for that matter, a great day to die?!
It is, if you believe enough in what your doing....
As the Rebels close in on Tripoli....an all too apparent realization washes over me.
They bid goodbye to their families and joined the mobs of men heading to ‘liberate’ Tripoli and dispose of the Gaddafi Regime. They were from all different backgrounds, tribes and professions, but they all shared one thing in common. They were there to lay down their lives for their belief in what they were doing.
They were prepared to die.
It has always fascinated me. Men, women and children who are prepared to die for what they believe in.
Those of us growing up in developed westernized nations may find it hard to relate to. We all live in relatively cushy worlds, rebellions, revolts and revolutions dont really exist. Laying down your life for David Cameron or dying for your belief in capitalism is just something that we are not really prepared to do.
Take religion out of this equation and you are left with men and women who are described by some as ‘Freedom Fighters’ and by others as ‘Terrorists’.
Similar words are thrown around, separatist, liberator, revolutionary, vigilante, militant, paramilitary, guerilla, rebel even patriot to name but a few. They all fascinate me because they all have something in common.
The willingness and commitment to die.
The aphorism is all too cliche, ‘One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter’.
So as the rebels march forward on Tripoli, the sons of Libya are risking their life for a post- Gaddafi life. A single sniper bullet could end their lives instantly, a tank shell could blow them to pieces any second, but they march on.
Death may scare them, but death is the ultimate sacrifice for ones freedom.
“They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freeeeedom!!!” - William Wallace.
I have made a list of current conflicts around the world that severely hinder travel on a domestic level around the world. There you will find, men women and children who are believe that today, may just well be, a great day to die.
(Note that I have not added to this list any religious based organization or groups who have been criminally inspired)
"wat u lookin at?" ..... was the response a little old lady got when she inquired about what the local youths on her street were up to.
In a separate incident on the other side of this city, an elderly man was smashed in the face and landed face first on the concrete, instantly sending him into a coma, then the afterlife, after he too, confronted the youth on his life-long neighbourhood street.
London cut loose.
Its loose ends were burning, wildly and dangerously, flapping about in the air like an electrical cord igniting and exploding. There were sparks, there were flames, there were deaths and there were stunned Londoners left wondering what just unfolded on their doorsteps.
I had the unfortunate experience of living close by to the madness that consumed parts of London last week
I was following the mayhem on twitter and watching out the window. It was the first place I instinctively turned to following the revolutions across the 'Arab Spring'.....but sadly, this was no revolution, this was no uprising, this was just disgusting, this was just mindless violence and a spontaneous crime spree.
Now the dust has settled, the windows being repaired, there remain many deep rooted questions that must be addressed.
Its a given that Politicians will slander each other, propose preposterous proposals and sing a tune of righteous and order. But behind the words, cracks remain. Scars that wont heal with a parliamentary inquiry, embers that wont extinguish with empty rhetoric.
London, madness arrived on your own doorstep last week.
The shutters came down and hoodies came up. Worlds collided.
Which begs the question, what kind of world do we live in when elderly ladies get mocked and elderly men get punched in the face on their own doorsteps?
London has stirred. It was ugly. But it was real, we weren't dreaming. It makes me think, that bigger things are on the way. Bigger riots, more feverish anger, greater force, deeper wounds, deeper divisions.
Life is not sustainable at the moment. If you read my last post below, I mentioned the fact that we will need 27 planet earths like this one to sustain the worlds growing population if we plan to survive without killing each other off.
I dont see us pulling 27 earths out of the magic bag anytime soon. I do unfortunately, see a lot of death and destruction on the horizon.
However morbid it sounds, however painful and disturbing it is to ponder on that thought, i think the slap of reality across the face we just experienced in london is a wake up call....
I watched a documentary last night called ‘Man on Earth’ it was simply about that, mans time on earth.
The droopy old dude who was narrating the whole saga wasn’t nearly as exciting as the revealing of Mother Earths resilient and adaptive nature. Mother Nature, Planet Earth, The World, Gaia, Pachamama, Home, ........ whatever you call it, she’s as gentle and humbling as she is tough and unforgiving.
I dunno why I inherently call the planet a She. Maybe it has something to do with a womens resilient spirit, her sensitive nature or simply because of the direct correlation with the ability to reproduce.
The theme olde Tony was reiterating throughout the documentary was simply that. Mother Earth, our Planet, reproduces. She adapts to conditions. She has been around for hundreds of thousands of years.
But the Earth is sensitive to external forces and reacts sharply, not always with such speed, but with a consistent and almost methodical, calculated reaction.
I think this is definitely why I call the planet a She.
Cue the topic ‘climate change’.
Yeah yeah, blah blah, its a two word phrase thrown around more than the the 90‘s classic, ‘ya mumma’.
But it is a fact. Climate change occurred 7000 years ago. The World adapted to the external forces it was forced to endure.
The entirety of Africa was once abundant with natural resources. Awash with such distinguished features such as lakes and rivers, covered from coast to coast with pristine rain forests. That all disappeared due to Mother Earths reaction to atmospheric conditions. Climate change.
Now the north of Africa is peeled back, the lush green fertile surface erased and now there exists nothing but sand, hot dry crusty sand.
From the Atlantic ocean to the Mediterranean sea, fucking hot sand.
Random fact. The Sahara is over 9 million square kilometers of desert. Say what?! Must suck being a camels toe. (Hot sand ;)
Climate change is occurring now. This minute, all around the World. The Planet is reacting and Mother Earth is buckling under the pressure.
Cracks are showing. Literally. Like the ones in the roads of downtown Christchurch, New Zealand.
There are three easily identifiable issues staring down the barrel at Mother Earth.
Population, overconsumption and inefficient resource use.
It is claimed that if humans don’t sort out these issues by 2050, just 40 years from now, then we will need 27 other planets just like this one, to be able to support ourselves. If that is, we continue to use and consume the Worlds natural and non natural resources at the rate we are going and reproduce the way we are reproducing.
Astonishing aye?! The kind of startling fact that makes you not want to bring up kids in this World, for their sake.
There is not doubt, with us ants (humans) affecting the atmospheric conditions of theWorld, the knock on affects every living organism that clings to Mother Earths skin. Ok thats not fair, cows also need to look at the amount of farts they beef out. This has a massive effect on the ozone layer.
Cows fart 4 times more than humans. If that is anywhere near how many my girlfriend can pop out on a good day, thats some serious gas.
So whats the answer?!
Probably not.
I ride a bike everywhere, but thats almost suicidal on a good day in London. Don’t buy Mcdonalds in places like Brazil where cattle are farmed on irreplaceable Amazonian soil. Conserve the precious amounts of finite fresh water we have....turn off unnecessary lights....the list goes on and who am I to blast these ideals down your throat?! Im certainly guilty of simple pleasures, although I did secretly tell myself I was a dirty rotten bastard when munching down a cheeseburger on the streets of Rio de Janeiro.
What I think every human being occupying space on the surface of this Earth can do to affect climate change is quite simple.
Be conscious. Be conscious of how your actions in your everyday life affect others, not just those in immediate vicinity, but those in far away lands also.
Sounds like some sermon delivered to you by new age Buddha Backpacker Boy here, but its not. Nor am I preaching to the choir, singing REMs ‘its the end of the world as we know it...”
Im just welcoming you to our world like Roy Orbison would. This is reality. The world around us is changing.
Our planet is hanging on a thread. Its a delicate world out there. Your world can be turned upside down at any moment.
Better book that ticket to Timbuktu then.....
If you haven’t yet seen this dazzling documentary, filmed over the course of 10 years, shot aerially over 75 different countries, then lock it in. The entire thing is free on youtube, as the famous Yann Arthus - Bertrand did not want to make any royalties or cash from this labour of love.
Is today, or any day for that matter, a great day to die?!
