I don’t discuss politics or much of anything controversial on this blog.  Mostly I talk about my life and I leave the opinions out of it.  That’s largely because I know that it isn’t easy to convince other people to agree with you and a bit because I’m not generally the sort who goes on crusades.  I tend to keep my cards pretty close to my chest when it comes to what I think and what I believe.   I can, and do, lead, but I’m not so great when it comes to being a follower.

Still, ever once in a while something comes along that just gobsmacks me with its stupidity and I have to shake my head and wonder if we’re all really as dumb as this particular thing would make it appear.  In this case, the event in question is Earth Hour.   If you haven’t seen this yet, the idea is that everyone will turn their lights off for one hour starting at 8:30 p.m. on March 28.  Supposedly switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, while leaving your lights on is a vote for global warming.   There’s so much wrong with this idea I don’t even know where to start.

First of all, neither the Earth nor global warming care which way we vote.  I’m guessing most of the people for whom we actually could vote don’t care whether we turn our lights off or on either.   I highly doubt our elected officials, or the elected officials for any country are going to be running around counting who has their lights on and who has them turned off.  We know our planet has climate issues.  It’s not like a lot of people have been in the dark about this.  Except perhaps those who will voluntarily be in the dark tomorrow night.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, this is another example of a program that makes people feel like they’re doing something without actually doing anything at all.   It’s rather like sleeping in a cardboard box for a night to dramatize the plight of the homeless and then going back to your comfortable home the next day, it’s all show and no substance and it changes exactly nothing.

I’m about as liberal as they come, and I believe that people can bring about change, but they only way to effect that change is to do something.  Turning off your lights or sleeping in a box or doing a pantomime in the town square doesn’t accomplish a thing.  If you want things to be different you have to roll up your sleeves and make them different.  Buy the homeless man a sandwich.  Help build a Habitat for Humanity house.  Plant a tree.  Install solar panels.  Help educate others about cleaner burning fuels.  Do the work and take the time and make a real differnce.

What scares me the most is the idea that there are people out there who believe that something like Earth Hour is really doing something.  I’m sorry to say that it isn’t.  If you want to preserve the planet or attack any of the problems that face us, you have to be willing to do the work.  Sitting in the dark for an hour tomorrow isn’t going to change the fate of the planet or stop global warming.

Going out into the light and working your ass off to change things just might.