We've All Gone Gaga!

The 2010 TIME 100 list has recently come out and I personally feel it shows just how far we have come. The list is an accumulation of leaders, artists, icons or anyone really that are considered to be the most influential in the world. To be included on this is a great honor for anyone really, especially to be ranked # 1. In past years the # 1 most influential people have been individuals such as George W. Bush, Dalai Lama, Edward Kennedy, and various others. For 2010 the # 1 most influential person was Lady Gaga.

What does it say about our culture and ideologies that the most influential person to most is Lady Gaga....I don't think it says anything good at all. Our lives have become so consumed by media and image that I find myself wondering if we have really lost what is truly important in life. Don't get me wrong Lady Gaga's music is fantastic and extremely fun but is she something the ultimately governs what we do in life? Sarah Palin, Beyonce and Neil Patrick Harris all ranked above the Barack Obama, again I find myself simply wondering why? To me this simply shows how obsessed we are with fame and not with the world as a whole.

Outside of my personal influences (such as my parents) I believe that an influential person should be working towards a goal, be an inspiration for greatness or have created change for the better possibly? Not by being influential because of their obsession with fame (the reason behind Lady Gaga's greatness). Of course TIME has gotten around this by creating various TIME 100 lists for different categories (turning the most influential person into a popularity contest in my eyes). As great as the TIME 100 lists are I find it's really just become a fame list and is not longer as reputable as it once was. So, what influences you? Is it musicians? Politicians? Or maybe one of your professors? I am curious to know what it is that truly influences the people in my life.

An Indication of our Future?

Recently, evidence has been found of a land crab that existed 1,000 years ago and was wiped out by colonists. This particular crab was extremely unique with its ability to travel great distances inland. It was also believed to be important as a predator since it was an omnivore, acting as a control for the ecosystem. However, with the colonist came domesticated animals that the crab was unable to cope with, resulting in their extinction.

This is just one example of the human impact on ecosystems. There have been numerous species that met their "maker" and are now extinct as a result of us. Extinction is definitely part of life, however, humans have exponential increased that rate at which we are losing species. As a species ourselves we need to concerned with the damage we inflict on the various ecosystems that exist globally. This inland crab was important in controlling the number of pests, snails and small birds. The loss of this crab was not detrimental to the ecosystems function, but there are many species today that face extinction that are considered linchpins.

Currently, a quarter of the world's mammal population is facing extinction. But more shocking is that more then half of all mammals are showing declines in their population size.  If we continue with our current living habits these trends will only continue as well. These species are an indication of how far we have degraded our environment. Humans are somewhat a dominant species in the global setting and hold the fate of many species in their hands. We have a responsibility to various species to not deteriorate their environment or hinder their ability to survive.

We need to take responsibility and start altering our behaviour to help those who have no control in the matter, those who are impaired by our actions.

Entering the World of Social Entrepreneurs

While watching TV with a couple friends recently a commercial came on that made us all laugh as we made the connection to our own lives. The commercial started by simply defining entrepreneur as being, another way to say unemployed. Since all of us are in international development we are all aware of the various enterprises we have seen succeed as well as the many that have failed and how this can translate to unemployment. 

After sometime however I realized just how untrue this is. This term we have started taking a social entrepreneurship class which has opened my eyes to many things that I had previously been missing, such as the many great ideas that exist and "employ" entrepreneurs all over the world. One that stood out to me in particular was the idea of Playpumps. The idea behind Playpumps is simple, children are simultaneously playing on the roundabout borehole while pumping out of the ground. In theory the idea is brilliant-it brings on things that both young and old would enjoy, fun and clean water.

However, there are some flaws with the very basic model behind the Playpumps. One large issue is that it assumes children globally have the same idea of fun. Many children may not view the roundabout as a means of fun ultimately turning the Playpump into an extreme energy suck for many women and children to simply access safe drinking water. There is also the issue of needing to access water at various points throughout the day. So, even if the children originally believed the Playpump to be fun it often becomes a source a work for them that is not as enjoyable as intended.

Despite these flaws the ideals behind the Playpump are fantastic in my mind. These issues to me are really a result of the Playpump becoming too mainstream as well as the large number of donors wanting to support the idea. You wouldn't normally believe financial support from donors to be negative, but in this particular instance (and many others I am sure) it is. With large quantities of money being directed at the project, there was a decrease in ability to introduce the Playpumps at a local level and create them to suit each location based on the individuals who would be utilizing the Playpumps. As we have discussed in our social entrepreneurship class there is large amount of tension that exists when trying to create a social enterprise. In this case there is the conflict between needing money to continue the enterprise and creating a product to suit your clients.

To me this is just one example that has so much potential so long as we hold onto our core values. As I approach graduation with my classmates it is becoming increasingly prevalent that we will be the future social entrepreneurs of the world and we have the ability to invoke social change. There is still much we can learn from past and current entrepreneurs, hopefully we will step up and be the change we want to see.

Rubber Duckie, you're the one!

That adorable little yellow rubber duckies that we all remember from our childhoods are now considered world class travelers. In 1992 a shipment of 28, 000 little duckies was lost at sea and are still washing a shore to this day. Amazingly this duckies are helping us to better understand our ocean currents. Duckies have been found in a magnitude of areas, showing up in Alaska, Hawaii, South America, Australia, the Pacific Northwest and even frozen in Arctic ice! Other have been found washing ashore as far as Scotland and Newfoundland.  These little guys have generated a following in response to their amazing travels and have been christened with the name  the "Friendly Floatees".

A retired oceanographer has created a website dedicated to the Friendly Floatees which has an interactive map for sights of them. People have been sending him pictures of rubber duckies that they believe belong to the patch lost almost 20 years ago. What it truly amazing about the location of these duckies is their ability to help us better understand the North Pacific Gyre. The gyre stretches between Japan, southeast Alaska, Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands. They have helped scientists determine just how long it takes for the circuit to be completed. 3 years the friendly floatees have determined!

But something more concerning that is the rubber duckies have brought up is the issue of garbage dumped into the ocean. The North Pacific Gyre is also home to the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. This patch is a large, floating pile of garbage the gyre accumulates and manages to stir. This patch consists mostly of various plastic debris, however, not quiet as cute as our friendly floatees. These rubber duckies have brought attention to a very grim situation that we as humanity has managed to get ourselves into. Globally there are 11 major gyres which could all potentially be sites for these large patches of floating trash that have an unknown impact on our aquatic life. If the friendly floatees can really teach us something its how durable plastic really is and that it is a global issue.

As cute as the rubber duckies are they can really teach us something about ourselves and the state of our planet. Years and years of producing and discarding plastic objects without much regard for their impacts is starting to show. The duckies are a strong motivator to reconsider the plastic items many of us still decide to throw away instead of recycling. If these giant patches of garbage were in your frontyard it would be unacceptable so why is it okay for the ocean and its inhabitants to deal with our wasteful ways? If we don't want our garbage I am sure they don't want it either.

Losing our way?

On the global stage each country has a persona that it represents or is well known for. In the case of Canada we are suppose to be the "peace keepers", the "freedom fighters"or any other variation of this that you may have heard. But over the past few years as our tyes with the United States has grown Canada has managed to grow out of this image. An example of our new "Canadian personality"is how we are planning on dealing with the Libyan conflict. To summarize, Libya agreed to a ceasefire upon authorization by the United Nations to use force in Libya if necessary to ensure the no-fly zone is upheld.  Our Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared that for the threat of military force to remain credible the "forces" (military presence from various countries) must be present and therefore we will deploy six fighter jets to help the cause.

With this one announcement Harper has managed to completely undermine Canada as a peace keeper. He manages to make military strength a strong underlying factor for Canada when that has never been what we are about. It is basically saying that 'Hey, we are okay with fighting now!',  when are our entire persona has been based on being the ones who try to keep the peace. By using military force and the threat of fighting our proiorities become skewed. And as a Canadian, the fact that we are continually becoming more like the United States is more then irritating. I have prided myself my entire life on being Canadian and being so different from the US. But as the years go by I find the peace keeper image slowly slipping out of our grasps.

We have abandoned our image for that of our neighbour, moving away from our roots as a country. We should be trying to find another way to contribute to the Libyan conflict instead of using military force. We have become just another military country that promotes violence instead of peace - something the world could really use right about now.

So much to do.... But where to start?

Every day I am thankful that I have been given the opportunity to further my education but at the same time I can't help but feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. So many issues in every aspect of our lives that its hard to feel optimistic. My generation and those to come face many issues such as climate change, poverty, inequalities or even the loss of cultural identity for many. Continuously I am bombarded with the question, "What are you going to be doing after graduation?", but the reality is I have no idea. How can it be possible to pick just one cause when there is so much change needed?

For example, today alone I have encountered four of these issues, both national and global. By starting my day with reading the news I have already exposed myself to two issues. The various reports on Japan's current state as well as the arrest of two pedophiles from Canada who were connected to an international pedophile ring. Then upon my arrival at school I learn about the impact of urban landscapes on our environment as well as the economic costs of mitigating or adapting to climate change. This is just one day, it's hard to imagine everything I have been taught in my three years of university thus far. And it is even harder for me to imagine only picking one field in which I can try to make a difference.

But I've come to realize it isn't so much the wide range of issues but whether we even have it in us to change that is overwhelming me. In an era where there is so much knowledge about global issues it is disheartening that so many people still hold economic prosperity as the primary goal. Humanity is at a crucial point where change is necessary, we cannot continue on simply as is. The fundamentals of society need to change and I believe our generation has the knowledge, drive and ability to do so. It is no longer about choosing which feild I'd like to work in but learning to work together. As the Three Muskaters would say, "All for one and one for all".

Global Adaptation Deficit?

Today as I sat in class learning about adaptation in relation to climate change it became clear to me that globally there is a large adaptation deficit. Unfortunately, as most people know, in the last few days the the world has been plagued with a devastating earthquake and its corresponding tsunami. Because of the stress we put on our planet these sorts of events will start to increase in magnitude and frequency and  I find myself wondering how prepared we really as for these events.

Even as we learn of the various threats presented from human induced climate change we continue on in hopes that it will just turn around and be okay. People continue wanting houses with an ocean view or are too concerned with the costs of being prepared. Economic gain continues to be more relevant then preparing for what is bound to happen. As the initial shock from the earthquake and tsunami pass many countries are re-evaluating the structural integrity of their buildings. Countries need to start being prepared for what may happen. Building houses on the coast - not such a good idea with rising sea levels. We need a reality check. The planet is changing and we need to prepare for the worst.

But can we prepare for large events such as the earthquake in Japan? Is there any adaptive strategy large enough to help cope with impacts as devastating as in Japan? If not then we are in for a depressing future globally. I believe we can, it will just take a change in our perceptions. Something that is easier said then done.

My thoughts are with those effected by the earthquake and tsunami.