[Think] A macabre vision of hope for the planet

[Fen Labalme]

My friend Pete sent me this - got me thinking, so I asked if I could forward
it to this list.  As he notes, it paints a somewhat gruesome picture of hope
for the world...



Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2002 14:52:07 -0700
From: Pete
To: ...
Subject: Save the World!

Hi -

My low spirit, hopefully passed, this time was based on (the old tiresome) utter
hopelessness of the planet's future. If it still available from the NY Times
server, this is all you need:

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United Nations' World Summit on Sustainable Development

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/20/science/earth/20MANA.html?pagewanted=1

"Some environmentalists say the whole notion of sustainable development is an
oxymoron..."

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Thinking that my depression was not just chemical brain stuff, but that, given
my near divine  :)  prescience, depression is appropriate for anybody who shared
a like sort of vision.

Then I stumbled on this:

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"Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic 2002"

http://www.unaids.org/barcelona/presskit/barcelona%20report/contents_html.html

http://www.unaids.org/barcelona/presskit/barcelona%20report/chapter2.html

"The scale of the AIDS crisis now outstrips even the worst case scenarios of a
decade ago. Dozens of countries are already in the grip of serious HIV/AIDS
epidemics, and many more are on the brink."
=============================================================================

I've been talking for years about AIDS being the only known, viable hope for the
salvation of the planet. If this pandemic spreads more quickly than our best
efforts to stop it...

The July 2002 Barcelona HIV/AIDS report has me, for the very first time, seeing
that stopping AIDS is as close to unalterable hopelessness as is the planet's
destruction by human overpopulation.

In other words, I now see a genuine neck and neck horse race. An even chance for
me to see the first decrease in global population within my lifetime - a decade
or two maybe. A macabre scenario for the departing victims to be sure, (no fun
for the survivors either) but far less so than the awesome result if a cure for
AIDS emerges. 

Entry Word: macabre
Function: adjective
Text: Synonyms GHASTLY 1, grim, grisly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, horrid,
horrifying, lurid, terrible
Related Word deadly, deathlike, deathly; ghostlike, ghostly
 
...

It is very plain that nearly everyone, including you I suppose, will have no
part of either scenario. Fair enough.

My hope has returned, albeit with no glee. Hope is essential to spiritual
survival. In times like these, I'll take mine wherever I can.

Pete