New Eco-Documentary

We are all aware of the situation and most of us agree that certain sacrifices must be made to curb the madness of growth. Provided they do not collide with our specific interests.

The African subsistence farmer would be all in favour of legal measures to increase fuel efficiency of cars and homes in America. But nobody is to stop him from having eight children. Even if many of them are doomed to a life of hunger or slavery.

The American leisure vehicle fan is all in favour of pills and condoms for the Africans. But ask him to give up what he calls "sport" or to spend money on efficient domestic climatisation and we are sure to meet with his vociferous opposition. Let our descendants take care of the shortages we create.

The Peruvian fisherman would not mind a price increase on unrenewable raw materials for the European industry. But ask him to limit his catch rate in the face of dwindling marine resources. To comply with the request will make him poorer, while not complying will hasten the depletion of the oceans.

The Filipino valley dweller has nothing against the protection of the Amazon rain forest. But ask him to reforest the top of the mountain he just cleared, and he will ask for an exemption because he needs the timber for settlement constructions below. And the press will help him by calling the recent landslide a "Natural Disaster".

Global ecological problems are all interrelated.
A search for the single primary cause that constitutes the basis of our crises invariably identifies two primeval phenomena:

1. The world's human population has long passed sustainable proportions.
   
2. Most religions have failed to protect our environment or to instill respect for our fellow-creatures. No faith shows enough realism to warn of unrestricted growth.

Relentless growth of global population is the engine that drives most of our current problems. Wars, crime, plundering of resources, migrations, pollution, extinctions and moral decline all have their primary cause in the ever increasing population pressure.

The only raison d'êtrebehind religion is our fear of death and our confusion about a "life after death" for our souls. In consequence, we seek refuge into a world of myths. Their texts were written in a time, when social and particularly scientific state of knowledge were clearly inferior.
Many religions rely on the principle of reward and punishment. They see wars as desirable, as long as they are waged against those adhering to the "wrong" beliefs. Some religions even command atrocious violence against our fellow-creatures as well as against ourselves.
All of these views clearly reflect medieval human views. They are certainly not handed down to man by a Supreme Being. Would the Great Cosmic Spirit, that created this unimaginably huge construction of millions of billions of galaxies we call the Universe, order a particular discrepant mammal in the outer fringes to go to "war" for its glory? How conceited can one species get?

Isn't it time to consider alternatives? Shouldn't we now make a complete inventory of our ecological madness? Would it not be better to have our best brains find solutions to our problems and make our politicians implement them before the final collapse?

A seventy minute documentary called "The River" considers the options we still have left.

PLEASE READ ON. WE ARE NOT SELLING ANY PRODUCT

For the first time, all the problems of the environment with man (no, not the other way round) are taken up in their contextual connection. Common denominators are identified and inalienable measures are suggested.

A copy of this film on DVD is made available free of charge to any non-governmental organisation active in ecological and social endeavours.
You may e-mail the author at this address, giving your name and stating intended use.