Is this what we really want?

Is this what we really want?  That’s the thought that keeps popping in to my head as the wind tears at the roof and the water digs a gully as it runs down the drive.  I have found media reported events over the past months (year?) to be particularly concerning.  There seems to be no will to change the way we do things despite the discomfort of economic hardship and the volatility of nature.  The story told in the Age of Stupid is too close to reality.  It seems that we have the power to choose and we keep making the same poor choices.  There is hope – perhaps the way we manage ourselves is changing.  Us Now – is a short movie which describes the process of virtual democracy that is emerging in the rich world wherein we all influence the direction of society, though we have yet to show that we can take responsibility for our own actions.  Can we govern without leaders?  I used to believe that we would have time to change our ways before we killed nature, but that confidence is waning as I see our leaders of government and banking and business playin the same old games.  The Copenhagen Summit in December is billed as a last chance to change human consumption patterns, but its outcome will be similar to that of Johannesburg and Kyoto – until everyone, especially the top 10%, changes thinking and behaviour the problems of society, economy and ecology will continue.  We must be the change.  But christmas is coming so we must consume large amounts of plastic and accumulate more stuff and travel to the melting Alps.