A world of possibilities

It seems like the whole world is crazy, except for you and I, but some times I wonder about me. I’m to the age where I really shouldn’t give a rat-patooty which direction the economy is going, and, why should I care about the environment. I’m on social security, plus I can keep all the money that I feel like making on the side, so my earning years are fading into the past. I’m not going to be needing the environment as much as the kids that I see around me that can text 5,000 words per minute, with just one thumb, while driving down the highway at 70 MPH. However, it seems like they just don't pay attention, or they have swallowed the cool-aid that we are better off buying cheap offshore goods, just because they are cheaper.

We jumped at the chance to close the (potentially) worlds cleanest pulp mill. Our local people screamed bloody murder while the pulp mill operated, because of the “accidental” spills of pollution that they had. Did in occur to anybody that the mill was being run by the same Chinese companies that we now buy our toilet paper from. If we were so concerned about our environment that we forced the pulp mill to close, why are we so eager to buy the same toilet paper from them, that was manufactured without environmental restrictions, from their offshore, and dirty, pulp mill?

It almost seems like a plot… I believe in plots, maybe that’s why I seem crazy. But, wouldn’t it make sense for foreign markets to pump disinformation into our rather naive kids into believing that everything made in America is bad, and all semblance of industry has to be gone, to keep our air and waters clean, and our soil free from the dread genetically-modified produce.

These things are all honorable, I believe in all good things for the environment. But, it seems a lot like sweeping problems under the rug to push industry offshore. Why not force other countries to comply with our high standards, or their products be banned? Aren’t our kids tired of finding out that food from offshore is often polluted? Don’t they care about the fact that PCBs have been mixed with the food that they ship us? Don’t we care that toys are painted with lead paint? I could go on, but I don’t think that anybody is so naive and ignorant that they don’t know about that lack of standards on the products that offshore companies ship into the U.S. Think locally, act globally. Balance trade, we can't continue to buy more than we produce. Hint: we don't vote in China! Maybe we need to get better U.S. leaders... doncha' think?

The plot seems to be, to convince us that their products are worth the risk, because their products are much cheaper than we can make them. No matter how hard we try, they will always be able to compete, they have no employee benefits, they work as many as 12 hours a day, they have no standards to meet. They dam up the countries entire river system for free power for their factories. The big one; They manipulate the value of their money to always be less valuable than ours, that way their products will always be cheaper than we can make them. Go back and read that last sentence again, if you don’t understand how the American worker is being cheated out of their jobs, that is the key. Now matter how hard we work, it will never be hard enough to go around the fact that they cheat us!

Why are we closing and tearing down mills and factories that are the standard of non-pollution in the world? Our steel mills were cleaner, our textile mills were run by worker unions that had good employee benefits. Then to make matters worse, somehow we are convinced to instantly tear down our mills and factories to be shipped to China to be used as rebar re-enforcement in their dams.

Now, we are studying how to build a rail over the hill into the Sacramento Valley, to ship cheap Chinese goods inland. Call me foolish, but we already have a railroad, right-of-way and all, down the Eel River canyon. Why not repair it, in an environmentally sound way? Forget China, do it for America, and the north coast. Build it to passenger standards. Imagine the tourism possibilities. The rolling hills of Sonoma, not to mention the wines. Mendocino and the Ukiah Valley would be big. From there, through Willits and on into the scenic Eel river Canyon. A stop a Dyerville, or South Fork, where one of the worlds most outstanding forests exists. Building the railroad may cost less than a cruise ship, with some amazing possiblities that ships don’t have.

The rail could even continue into Eureka to take advantage of some of the worlds best seafoods. Have dinner, stay overnight and head back to San Francisco. The trip should last one week, the same as a world class cruise. Heck I would even sign-up for a trip like that. We would be the envy of the world. We already have these sights. Why not take advantage of them?

Now, watch the disinformation fly.