World News Trust World News Trust
World News Trust World News Trust
  • News Portal
  • All Content
    • Edited
      • News
      • Commentary
      • Analysis
      • Advisories
      • Source
    • Flatwire
  • Topics
    • Agriculture
    • Culture
      • Arts
      • Children
      • Education
      • Entertainment
      • Food and Hunger
      • Sports
    • Disasters
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Government
    • Health
    • Media
    • Science
    • Spiritual
    • Technology
    • Transportation
    • War
  • Regions
    • Africa
    • Americas
      • North America
      • South America
    • Antarctica
    • Arctic
    • Asia
    • Australia/Oceania
    • Europe
    • Middle East
    • Oceans
      • Arctic Ocean
      • Atlantic Ocean
      • Indian Ocean
      • Pacific Ocean
      • Southern Ocean
    • Space
  • World Desk
    • Submit Content
  • About Us
  • Sign In/Out
  • Register
  • Site Map
  • Contact Us
  • Russia's War and the Global Economy | Nouriel Roubini
  • U.S. Considers Radical Rethinking Of Dollar For Today's Digital World | David Gura
  • Why is Israel Amending Its Open-Fire Policy?: Three Possible Answers | Ramzy Baroud
  • WATCH: Republican National Committee Abandons America
  • ‘Previously Unknown Massacres’: Why is Israel Allowed to Own Palestinian History? | Ramzy Baroud
  • The Revolt of the Imagination, Part One: Notes on Belbury Syndrome | John Michael Greer
  • Human gut bacteria have sex to share vitamin B12 | University of California - Riverside

Always do the right thing (because 99 is not 100) Mickey Z.

More items by author
Categories
Edited | Books | Culture | Commentary | Commentary -- WNT Reports | All Content | North America | Politics | Spiritual
Tool Bar
View Comments

stone
I.F. Stone
Mickey Z. -- World News Trust -- Feb. 15, 2011

Da Mayor: Always do the right thing.
Mookie: That's it?
Da Mayor: That's it.
Mookie: I got it. I'm gone.

If every American were to make every single lifestyle change suggested in the film, An Inconvenient Truth, it would only result in a 21 percent decrease in carbon emissions. In fact, while the average human produces 2,500 pounds of waste per year, the average per capita waste output is 26 tons… because 97 percent of waste is produced by agriculture and industry.

Individual lifestyle changes won't do anything to "save the planet," so why bother?

To help answer that question, I defer to Valter, one of the catadores (pickers of recyclable waste in Brazil) featured in the excellent documentary, Waste Land. "One single can is of great importance," Valter explained, when asked about the value of recycling, "because 99 is not 100."

My translation: Never lose sight of the big picture but always do the right thing.

Who wouldn't want to witness a major reversal of some of our current catastrophic global eco-trends? But, as the legendary journalist I.F. Stone once said: "If you expect an answer to your question during your lifetime, you're not asking a big enough question." Making daily -- even hourly -- choices of resistance isn't necessarily about being present when the current corporate-dominated paradigm shifts (or is shifted). It's about doing the right thing... here and now. It's about defying the dominant culture in any way we can.

For example, when you buy a used shirt at a local thrift shop instead of opting for a brand new article of clothing sold by a store that supports sweatshop labor, you don't expect that specific purchase to end workplace inequality and put a halt to conspicuous consumption. You buy the used shirt simply because it's the right thing to do.

This mentality counters those who say stuff like: "Why should I use public transportation instead of drive? All those other motorists are still using their cars anyway." Sure... they are. But you're not. 99 is not 100, and you, dear comrade, are doing the right thing.

Whether you aim to recycle your old cell phone or to knock over a cell phone tower -- again -- it comes down to remaining aware of the institutional framework while still doing the right thing many times a day... all with the same ultimate goal: dismantling a societal system that's relentlessly assaulting our planet and everything that lives on it.

Until the laws are changed or the power runs out, Mickey Z. can be found on an obscure website called Facebook.

back to top
  • Created
    Tuesday, February 15 2011
  • Last modified
    Wednesday, November 06 2013
  1. You are here:  
  2. Home
  3. All Content
  4. Edited
  5. Always do the right thing (because 99 is not 100) Mickey Z.
Copyright © 2022 World News Trust. All Rights Reserved.
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU General Public License.