A Bill Too Large to Absorb
The messages I post on Twitter and Facebook are shameless in their self-promotion of my novel, CHOICE OF ENEMIES…some promote upcoming author events…some promote successes of the novel…but the majority share headlines and photographs from around the world, dealing with global events that reflect the concerns I wrote about in CHOICE OF ENEMIES.
Today, I posted a photograph of Port Harcourt, which has been called the “dirtiest city in the world” (and plays a large role in my novel). It stands in good company. Moscow, New Delhi, Baghdad, and Karachi populate the unfortunate list. Many other deserving cities did not make the list. In Manila, families live in garbage heaps three stories high. In Rostov-na-Danu, radioactive waste pollutes the underground water sources. Outside Lagos, oil has contaminated the arable land.
Why are we intent on killing our home? The dangers are not only environmental but also economic and political. If clean water becomes unavailable to large swatches of populations, people will leave their homes to seek new lives…creating an unprecedented refugee problem…and an unprecedented security problem. If terrorist organizations such as ISIS now take advantage of a relatively small refugee crisis in Syria – inserting true believers determined to carry out terrorist attacks into the outflow – think of the challenges we will face if the refugee crisis becomes global. Not only might the economies of the receiving nations collapse, but the probabilities of devastating terror attacks inside their cities will be guaranteed, one hundred percent.
While world leaders discuss global warming and carbon emissions, water tables are being destroyed, arable land is being contaminated, and millions of people are living in garbage. These are also pressing situations which must be remedied…and soon. As the old advertisement said, “pay me now, or pay me later”…except the bill may be too large to absorb.
Today, I posted a photograph of Port Harcourt, which has been called the “dirtiest city in the world” (and plays a large role in my novel). It stands in good company. Moscow, New Delhi, Baghdad, and Karachi populate the unfortunate list. Many other deserving cities did not make the list. In Manila, families live in garbage heaps three stories high. In Rostov-na-Danu, radioactive waste pollutes the underground water sources. Outside Lagos, oil has contaminated the arable land.
Why are we intent on killing our home? The dangers are not only environmental but also economic and political. If clean water becomes unavailable to large swatches of populations, people will leave their homes to seek new lives…creating an unprecedented refugee problem…and an unprecedented security problem. If terrorist organizations such as ISIS now take advantage of a relatively small refugee crisis in Syria – inserting true believers determined to carry out terrorist attacks into the outflow – think of the challenges we will face if the refugee crisis becomes global. Not only might the economies of the receiving nations collapse, but the probabilities of devastating terror attacks inside their cities will be guaranteed, one hundred percent.
While world leaders discuss global warming and carbon emissions, water tables are being destroyed, arable land is being contaminated, and millions of people are living in garbage. These are also pressing situations which must be remedied…and soon. As the old advertisement said, “pay me now, or pay me later”…except the bill may be too large to absorb.
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