EDMUND BURKE'S ETERNAL TRUISM

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

That quote is precious to me.

And sometimes very hard to live by. But make no mistake, it is the cornerstone of progress... of humanity.

Edmund Burke was an 18th century, Irish-born political philosopher. His eloquence carried a poetry long lost to political leaders and writers. The beauty in his words reflect the beauty of his sentiment.

It seems we have lost much with all our progress.

Nevertheless, say it how you will, the burden of guilt does rest heavily with those who do nothing when so much clearly needs to be done. We are all very practiced at being kind to ourselves. To spoiling ourselves a little here; indulging a little there.

Okay.

But what of the vast numbers on the planet who have so little and continue to be battered by the tides of the super economies, super war machines, super polluters, super self-interests?

And what of the planet itself? If we don't care enough -- or lack the courage -- to act, then we will get exactly what we deserve. Or, worse still, our children will.

This isn't fear mongering. No no. Put away that tired old complaint. The best minds on the planet -- those without an agenda to peddle -- will tell you we might be burning a fuse as short as 50 years. Either environment calamity (well underway) or nuclear disaster (intentional or accidental) could do us in.

There is no way to put a tight deadline to it, but we could very well be talking decades.

Do a little research. I have. You'll see that this is all very possible.

And it is not enough to simply decry the perpetrators: the politicians, the corporate elites, the media owners, the PR institutions. We have to act. We have to use our numbers. Numbers will almost always win the day. But the clock is ticking. Louder and louder.

So what are you going to do? Do you know where to begin? You should. You can operate a computer and move about the Internet. So you can at least start by making your voice heard.

Then you might decide to turn off your computer. Turn off your TV. Turn off your techno hypnotism and walk out of your house and meet face to face with other actual people who share similar concerns. And talk. And assemble. And protest. And help.

It's up to you to work out your course of action. But if you take none, then that is your vote and you must live with it. Or maybe perish with it.

One more quote from Mr. Burke, to give you impetus: "No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."

Among my most firmly held goals in life is to not be a silent partner to the greed and exploitation that is destroying our world, bit by bit.

I'm determined to stick with it.

And I'm asking you to join me.

Take care and get cracking,
Adrian Zupp

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