After a busy day heading around Sydney visiting different suppliers of dog sport equipment and potential sites for our Sydney Dog Sports and Training Centre I headed with a few friends to another filming of the ABC's thought provoking Q and A programme.
It always seems to be a left leaning audience and panel, well it is the ABC after all... However tonight took a rather interesting course, Begining with the flood levy and its political implications then Julia Gillard's poor perfomances as an actor but what really got my goat about discussion was when it became bogged down with the debate (or non-debate) about a liberal email asking for donations to fight the flood levy. Really what is there to talk about??? after all Tony Abbot stands for lowering taxes not raising them so of course he would seek funding from the public as with all campaigns. No doubt Labor did it when they were fighting the other tax introduction...the GST.
Finally debate turned to the inevitable topic of 'either god or man made climate change' is behind the recent disastrous weather, I suppose now I should have piped up and said how can it be either since humans have inhabited this continent of drought and flood for over 40,000 years and left clear indicators of its unpredictability.... noticeably a lack of large fixed place settlements, little to no farming, a moving population which followed food sources and most importantly a low population of under 300,000.
So when a school girl piped up and effectively said that we must act now and end reliance on coal and furthered her comments when Gerard Henderson countered with its importance to the economy and that it wasn't quite so simple as that, with the very immature quip that he would be dead when the damage is done. This is a youthful retort that has always been around and we have all heard it before and may have used it ourselves.
One thing the young girl is too young to understand is the importance of the now and the reality that we humans must deal with. Whilst I totally believe the climate is changing, as It always is (the human genetic path shows us that due to constant climate changes we have evolved the differences that brought about our racial distinctions) it is something we just need to deal with and not risk our lives trying to reduce our economic abilities to provide for ourselves..... after all I doubt that young girl ensures the Air conditioner has stayed off during these 40'C days and takes cold showers in winter.
It is easy to point the finger at someone else and say 'you should fix the problem you have power and money', but it always comes back to 'what are you doing about this problem you are talking about?'.
As for Julia Gillard and her wooden appearnce and condecending manners....well i was shocked tonight to be told she has only been PM for 6 months or so.....shit! they way she drones on it feels like 6 years.