Tag: progress

Hello Mr Hedgehog

Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

Today’s news then is that hedgehogs are officially ‘vulnerable to extinction’. This is down to a variety of factors such habitat destruction, human development, introduced non-native species and the use of chemicals. I remember reading a while back now about hedgehog numbers becoming dangerously low and at the time thinking I hadn’t seen any for a while. They’re not typically animals you would come across as they’re prone to hiding as well as hunting at night I think. I say both of those things without being entirely sure but I think that’s the case.

For the last few months I have been driving a van delivering bread and I am constantly slowing down for rabbits, hares and the occasional deer. There is an entire world going on at night that we’re completely oblivious to. When we sleep it becomes safe for the rest of the animals to run free. But they don’t because the roads seem littered with carcasses which usually disappear by morning, most likely into the belly of a scavenger. What is sad though and why this hedgehog news has caught my eye is that I will easily see at least one dead hedgehog a day on the roads somewhere. While that may not seem like much it adds up and considering that is just what I see and is only road deaths, it comes as no surprise the situation for the hedgehog is starting to look so dire.

It seems mad to imagine such an iconic animal could be in danger of dying out and while it’s unlikely to happen soon because of sanctuaries and the speed these things happen, there is always the danger it’ll get to a tipping point and they’re unable to survive as a species without assistance. These things spiral. The Mammal Society has drawn up a list of forty-seven native mammals in this country and eleven, including the hedgehog, are in serious danger. If it were one species then you could isolate it but when this is happening to so many we must find that common denominator in this and accept our role.

We’ve seen what can happen with the native red squirrel which now only inhabits pockets in England and Wales, and larger areas of Scotland. The grey squirrel is an invasive animal brought across from America. It is larger and more dominant which has in turn pushed out the red squirrel. I remember red squirrels everywhere around my home in the countryside when I was growing up but now it’s nothing but greys. The native wildcat now only inhabits a tiny corner of northern Scotland. Are they destined for the same fate as the Tasmanian tiger. It may be a world away but surely we can learn something from these foreign lands our ancestors plundered and altered immeasurably. If not we’ll just continue to carry on their mistakes. All in the name of progress don’t forget. Roads are supposed to guide us and lead us in certain directions, but it’s starting to become clearer with every passing morning as I witness their devastating potential that they may just have become a symbol of us losing our way. That’s assuming we ever had any direction in the first place.

What Is Your Price?

Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

How much would it cost for you to….? Is a game played by adolescents and usually not a very pleasant one. Does everything have a price though? That is the question. I heard our time being discussed in this way once; to work out if your job or whatever it is that takes up you time was worth it. You must put figures on the various things you do so let’s say part of your job required climbing in drains or hurting kittens, what would you need to be paid to do that. You then throw in whether the time away from home is sufficiently recompensed, how much would it cost for you to not get home until after you children have gone to bed for example. In that case you are being asked to put a value on an element of raising the children. Do the benefits outweigh the costs. Ultimately that is how it equates to everything, do the financial benefits of climbing in drains outweigh the grim costs of stinking of shit. Something like that though we can get used to but can we put enough of a cost on never seeing our families and growing distant from our wives.

You can take it a step further. A fracking company wants to come into your community and hydraulically frack for natural gases. Now you know that will potentially cause damage to the local water and risk earthquakes, what cost would you put on those inconveniences. How about they offer you two hundred thousand pound, thats a decent sum of money, would it be suitable recompense for risking your water being polluted to the point you can’t even shower in it? It’s possible you may just use a fraction of that money to buy a rain water catcher and use that for showers, problem solved. How about if this company also pollutes the river which you use to catch your fish to survive on. What kind of price can you put on that? Is there a price to having one of your few sources of food and water damaged, life changing irreversibly. Does that price change when you have children and realise they’re not going to be able to catch the fish to survive off. At least you have cash in the short term, but really if it affects your whole existence then was that worth it.

If you had asked someone prior to the industrial revolution when work was less regimented and you did what was required while also having a higher level of self-sufficiency all round; whether they would sacrifice their time and freedom for the benefits the industrial revolution has created, there is no guarantee they would accept it. What is the price you put on you time. We work forty hours per week, if not more but for what. We may gain from many things but we also lose out on many others, all these things we have put or had a price put on for us. What price would you put on the continued destruction of this earth, and would it change if that was in regards to what price you put on that for the suffering of your children. If there is a price for anything then surely there is a price for that too. Can we really put a price on progress when it isn’t clear that we even know what it is.

Dublin

Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

You’ll never believe it but I’ve got a hangover. Drank a few too many Guinness and red wines. The Guinness in this country really is smooth it’s undeniable and despite the hangover I’m actually looking forward to some more. I went with a couple of my cousins on a little racing bike around Dublin today which probably helped me sweat out some of the alcohol. Dublin is not necessarily bike friendly but it’s not too difficult and dangerous to get around in the centre of town. I know how useless I am on racing bikes, especially in crocs which don’t fit well into those little peddle holder things but I survived. Also spent most of the time thinking it was a one gear bike, which is wasn’t, but meant I got a real workout on the cobbled streets. It is a beautiful city though, some lovely old building and a hell of a lot of interesting looking pubs.

There is probably a little too much of a worring trend in what some call progress as they build flats everywhere though. It’s strange how people who run the city seem to think the place needs an infinite amount of hotels and flats, and that they can repossess these old buildings with history and character, and not lose the very character that makes the place desirable in the first place. We passed an old market which is the most beautiful building and which is now going to be turned into some commercial shopping centre. Or the oldest horse market in Ireland, which I remember going to as a child, being closed down because the owners of all the big hotels and office buildings recently built around it started putting in complaints. How will these things benefit the city, it’s people and those who want to visit interesting culturally renowned places. We know who it benefits and it’s depressing. People consciously make decisions which will be to the detriment of their hometowns just to line their own pockets. I guess it comes down to priorities and perspectives, I know mine.

With that in mind I’m going to do what people do best on Christmas Eve, when they’re not happy with something but not going to do anything about it. I’m going to have a drink, chill out and get on with the daily grind of a life full of everything.