Mail to the World

16 December 1997

"’The mysterious bacterium lurking mainly although not exclusively in the soil of Africa has been stirred up by destruction of tropical rain forests and is attacking man as never before,’ doctors say."

"Buruli, a virulent African cousin of a flesh-eating bacterium which surfaced in Western hospitals in the 1990s, strips away skin by destroying blood vessels with toxins to expose huge areas of gangrenous flesh."

"Tell-tale swellings turn into ulcers, then gaping yellow and black sores ringed with dead flesh. Victims often die from multiple infections, exhaustion and septicaemia."

**man has modified the environment, favouring the emergence of buruli**

**Exposure even to low levels of air pollution over a long period can shorten your life, a Dutch scientist warned on Tuesday**

-Actual quotes and facts found in the newspaper. Associated Press.

Now you all, isn't that just all gross? We cut down the trees and that action lessens the oxygen that is available for us to breath. Even if we re-plant little dinky ones, its not the same if we had cut down 200 yr. old ones. At the same time we are creating all these shit gases from our cars. The O zone is going because trees are being cut down and because the carbon dioxide and deadly gases we produce ourselves are eating at it. Its all just so insane. There's science but is it really OK to tamper with nature? Will we eventually have no control over what we create? Will it destroy us as we had destroyed everything else? We're so inconsiderate and careless. Greedy for wealth and happiness, that we cant seem to obtain, we always want more. Its human nature to want, but where can the line be drawn? Then we dig deeper into the rainforest and we bring out all these diseases which were hidden deep in there that perhaps we were not suppose to find. We were not to tamper with all that. Now mother nature is pissed and she is protecting herself from destruction, but its all killing us. We're all gonna fry or even kill ourselves with whatever we have been producing (will it end in an atomic war? who knows). I don’t make sense now do I? We all die, but with all this shit, we're dying in pain. We're not gonna find another world like our own anytime soon. There are other worlds out there, but what about our own? If we are able to live on that other world, we're not gonna take care of it. Look at what we have already done to our own world. What is going on? We must change our ways. Humanity will be lost and I sometimes wonder if its already gone. We all are headed for self destruction. The killing must stop, the pain and suffering bites. Poverty stricken mega cities: children are dying from things as small as hunger. We live lives here in our warm houses and the a lot nice food on the table, without a care about anyone else but ourselves. We complain about how we didn’t' get what we wanted for Christmas or our birthdays, yet others don’t have food or hope of another day. We're all caught in these rich lifestyles and we are so blinded that we just don’t see what's happening. No one seems to give a fuck anymore, what the hell happened? Stop getting pregnant and having all these fucking kids if you cant take care of them. Don’t cause anymore pain, I don’t need to see them hurt. Moral values are gone and we are lost without a guide. Religion is now a joke to most of us as we work our way towards science. And even of you do see all this and do care, you need to take action. What is happening to them effects us in every way. The man who lives in, Africa needs to feed his family somehow. We cant blame him for cutting down the rainforest and destroying our lives. Its our problem too. I’m not trying to make anyone feel guilty, just trying to get people to think and to relieve the stress I’m holding inside of me. Shiot, this is long, but wait one more thing. I want to point out that this is all a part of how we all live. Its all human nature to be greedy and all. I'm a greedy little freak myself, there is always something that I want, and I'll never be pleased. Its just how you go about doing things. "Do whatever it is that you want to, as long as you don’t hurt anyone else." And also keep in mind that you really cant save everybody, you just have to do your part one step at a time, you can save one person and that makes a lot of difference. And don’t think that death is the way out either. Suicide is not the answer to anything. I mean that one person who dies, even you, could hold the one key, the one piece of knowledge to a cure for any disease, etc. Anything is possible, and no one knows if what we're doing is right or wrong. We are all taking a plunge into the unknown and we just don’t know. All we can do is consider the benefits and consequences of what we do today and how it will effect the lives of tomorrow. Look at this science in genetics, our curiosity may either drive us to happier more pleasant lives or it will be the beginning to our own destruction. Think about it, and perhaps I need to go see a psychiatrist, maybe we all do, or perhaps it is possible that everyone is crazy.

-TEEN-

Subj: Brava!     Date: 97-12-16 19:42:45 EST

I think your right but, just to make an argument(I'm totally on your side man), life is good for many people and if you try to deal with all the problems we have now we're never going to get anywhere. We have to do it slowly. If we rush everything we will be in an even bigger mess and we will be so confused we won't know what to do. In the near future, if we stay at the pace we are now, we may find the cure for countless diseases, the solutions to numerous problems,and a way to control violence effectively- the very things that put people in poverty in the first place. As for greediness, there is no cure for that, and you are being a hypocrite in saying that we should stop it, because you do it too, you know it and it's a hard thing to fix. As long as there are humans around, there will be problems. Its human nature to make mistakes, be greedy and commit acts of violence (verbal, physical, or emotional)--its just the way we are. We all have good intentions- we don't want anyone to be hurt, etc; but it happens and we cannot control it.

On the subject of Environment:

Just about everyone realizes that the earth is slowly wasting away, but not enough know. (obviously) If you want the system to stop demolishing our home then you have to fight it. You can't just sit around here in the boonies of VA and complain. We live near enough to the capitol and you know there are other people who feel the same way. There has to be, 'member the people who burnt down the pony pen in Oregon? I'm not saying go straight to the top, but work your way there! use the net to meet people who can relate to your thinking. Experts do say that the Earth is not going that quickly and that if it does go it will probably be caused by nuclear warfare and not by us forgetting to recycle, reuse and reduce, even though that would help tremendously. If you want to save the environment, get up and do it.

Damn the man.

Gingerlynn

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