I was unaware but have been told that it is also Easter this weekend. Lee has got the day off from school so has been working with me all day in the farm. He's a good kid, sometimes getting annoying but I suppose is the same with any 13 year old boy. Stuart's parents have come over to give a few Easter eggs to the family.
While we were having lunch I noticed Stuart's parents were far from the environmental type. They come from Queensland and have been in the business of farming most their life. They were what I would classify as a typical older generation of Australians, for any older Australians not bearing the same mannerisms would be a very rare exception. The tone of voice and their Aussie lingo making it difficult for Max and Julia to follow. I took the opportunity at the lunch table to ask Stuart's dad of (or if there were) Aboriginal people's in the area he grew up in. He looked at me like a surly old bugger and said "Yeah we did, and they were as useless back then as they are today". The table was quiet, I looked around briefly, only to realise Max and Julia couldn't understand, Stuart like a little kid in joy around his parents, Stuarts mum Edna coughing from all her smoking, and the only one I could see thinking the same as me was Bee. I haven't mentioned it to Bee but at this moment I felt we were thinking similar but without mentioning any word or even acknowledging each other. I believe she definitely knew what I was thinking. I contemplated saying it is you dickheads who have contributed to an attempt of human genocide, decades of human suppression, cultural eradication and the takings if innocent children from their families. I asked him why they were useless. His response was "They piss in the pools". Stuart like a little child giggled and agree with him. This response made me even more frustrated and actually very angry. I asked again, why are they useless. The response this time was "They stink". It was like talking to Homer Simpson. The most unfortunate thing is that I've had the exact same response from every other older Australian I've spoken to on this matter. Stuarts dad explained he was in a car with an Aboriginal once. I genuinely believe he had never spoken to an Aboriginal person in his life, based off his own accounts and only being able to refer to one example of sitting in a car with one.
Despite being very annoyed at Stuarts parents, I have been very pleased with the knowledge and awareness young Lee has on environmental and social issues. He knows quite a lot about permaculture, which I gather has been taught indirectly through his life on the farm. After talking with Max I have learnt his parents were environmentally minded, also the same with Julia. The only one who's parents haven't been environmentally minded (besides Stuarts) have been Bees, the lady running the farm. Stuart has only adopted an environmental life style as a result of Bee, and he has confessed that. After conversations with Bee I have realised we have quite a lot in common. Her family background and upbringing being somewhat similar to mine. Her awakening to environmental matters have also been developed from a path similar to those of my own as well. I find many environmentally minded people I meet have been brought up by parents or others who have helped make them aware.
Perhaps one of the most difficult things in life is to have a deep connection with your environment and understand at the same time the impacts of environmental degradation. You live in a world where you can't express it to anyone because people around you don't understand and are also the same people who are contributing to that degradation. In the past I have felt sickened by breathing in the VOCs from aerosol, or ammonia from floor cleaners or any of the other myriad of toxic chemicals we're faced with everyday. You try to not contribute but sometimes are left with no option.
When people say "we cant do anything" or "don't worry, someone will fix it down the track" I can't help but feel even worse. It reminds me of the stolen generation and how many people would have said the same. I feel relieved to meet people like Bee, who have also come to this awareness and are proactively doing something about it. I can guarantee with the rate of environmental destruction, fresh water loss and pollution to our earth our future generations, if they're not bedridden with some type of illness, will say "who were the idiots who left the earth in this condition!!". Having this understanding makes it even harder, knowing you can't be content with life while you pretend to be oblivious to the destruction around you.
This week has certainly opened my eyes to a lot of things.
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