Casaubon's Book

One of my favourite blogs is Casaubon's Book, written by Sharon Astyk, a simple-living mother of four and peak oil activist (among other things). Her posts are always informative and thought-provoking, and today is no exception. Her post Elegy in Fragments, briefly talks about the drought and warfare in Darfur, Africa. Recent evidence suggests that global warming is partly to blame for the drought and resultant warfare: she says

"Think about how mystifying it must be to see the water stop coming and the food run short and know that other people are making this happen. Where does your anger go, except to the person next to you?"

She then mentions an interview she read with a Bangladeshi man forced off his land by flooding, who said "I am told that all of this is because of electricity, but I promise you, I have never had even a single light bulb?".

Sharon finishes off her post by asking:

"We did this. We have to fix it. What will we do?"

Very often when discussions with my family and friends touch on subjects like this, their reaction is to shrug and say "It's so far away from here, what can I do?". I used to think that way too, what possible difference could taking a shorter shower have on someone a million miles away in Africa? But now my perception of the resources we have been blessed with has changed immensely; we all share this earth and "There but for the grace of God go I". It is up to me to be a good steward of the resources I have been blessed with and to pass on that sense of ownership and responsibility to my children. So, to answer Sharon's question, what will I do?

I will chose not to waste the resources I have;
I will chose to put my children's future ahead of my own immediate self-gratification;
I will continue to educate myself and my family on these issues;
I will endeavour to pass on my knowledge and (albeit limited) skills to my community.

What will you do?