Chapter 15

I loved this article by Sumner and the message attached. I think what I like most is the frankness and wit that Sumner uses throughout in order to engage his audience in a subject that, let's face it, isn't at the top of most of our lists. That is exactly the problem, says Sumner, that enough of us are not paying attention to the subjects most relevant to our lives and the future of humanity. With that train of thought we are all on a one way trip to fire and brimstone. Another thing I found interesting in the article is the relevance being brought up to events happening in the present which should instantly spark interest in the reader. After reading through this article, the part about our attempts at finding alternative means of fuel in either solar, wind, hydro, etc. brought to mind a recent article I read in (yeah you guessed it) Newsweek. In one of their "Project Green" sections there was a blurb about the main rivers of China gradually becoming poisoned by the industry boom there. These waters are crucial to the powering of millions and the well being of many Chinese citizens in smaller towns and villages. This trickling down of poisoned water is all too relevant to what Sumner is discussing near the end of the article. Unless we begin to drastically change our ways in how we treat the world around us, then those alternative fuel and power sources we feel like there is an abundance of will be gone or near unusable by the time we get our grubby hands on them. A tragic view of the future, but what view isn't?