Quote:
Originally Posted by
joybird 
It is very hard for any of us to make declarations about what is safe or isn't because as of yet, no one knows how this disaster will play out. There is the potential for widespread radiation contamination of people and the food supply, even if the media has stopped talking about it because it is scaring people and because the attention span for news in this country doesn't last more than a week anyway. It does seem clear that the Japanese gov't has been untruthful and misleading in its reports to its own citizens. Let's not forget that the forces in this world who own the power companies, a huge source of capital, also have almost complete control of the media. They are also intricately intwined with the governments of all the industrialized nations. We live in a world controlled by capitalism, that is to say, profits come before people. There is a tremendous amount to be lost by the ruling elites, and it would be naive of us to assume that people lives would in any way come before the demands of that capital. We have been shown this over and over by the many decisions our governments make that affect our health every day.
People keep asking me, don't I trust the state health department and the EPA and the FDA and all the gov't bodies that are supposedly employed to protect the citizenry. Well, you know, these are the same agencies that send me quarterly letters reminding me to vaccinate my children, saying that I should be afraid of not vaccinating them. These are the same agencies that allow grand-scale use of cancer-causing chemicals that flood our environment. These are the same officials (and the same sorts of 'studies') who claim that mercury used in dentistry is perfectly safe, and that there is no problem with children being exposed to flame-retardant chemicals day in, day out for their entire lives. These are the same agencies that claim GMO foods are fine, irradiated foods are perfectly safe, pesticides cause no trouble for humans, and they are the same agencies that oversee and regulate the use of the many prescription medicines that cause the unneccasry deaths of thousands of people every year. I could go on and on but I'm sure you get the point.
How frightening!
Luckily, we have the ability to choose our beliefs, to choose thoughts that make us feel good or thoughts that make us feel fearful.
I choose to believe:
1. I can pretty much say what I want, and I haven't been censored yet.
2. I believe that people saying their truths and sharing information via Facebook and other sources is what has led to the revolts against tyranny that are happening in the Middle East. I believe that if Capitalism and The Industrial Nations could, they would prefer these revolts were not happening because of the disruption to oil and gas.
3. I believe that geiger counters are actually fairly easy to obtain, are a very accurate instrument, and that between Twitter and Facebook and other online sites if there was deception by the Japanese government regarding actual radiation doses, there's no way such deception could continue for any length of time.
4. Bad things don't last for long. And they always get found out. You can't put melamine in the milk supply forever. Or even for very long.
5. The world rights itself whenever there is an imbalance again and again on the side of health and well-being. We topple sometimes but come back to center more often than not.
6. I look around me and I see way more libraries and roads and functioning water supplies and sewer systems and schools and colleges and people jogging and people riding bikes and people playing at the park with their children and people looking vibrant and happy than I see prisons or sickness or even cops handing out traffic tickets.
7. Life really is pretty damn good. There is nothing to be afraid of. There's no big bad boogeyman controlling you or your family.
8. And that the media, rather than understating or hiding the reality of crises, if anything tend to exaggerate the severity of the situation. I remember Y2K and H1N1, for example. If the radiation crisis is no longer being reported in the news, that's probably because there's nothing much to report. Its getting better over there. They've got several reactors in cold standdown (perfect!) and the spent fuel pools now have regular water and electricity has been restored for the most part.
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