Day 2 –
Welcome to the Rio+20 pre-convention, convention. That statement could probably sum up the day but I will give you a complete picture. After a long (almost 2 hour shuttle ride complete with leftist college grad who I stumped and awed in a debate about capitalism and free markets) we finally arrived and entered the pearly gates of sustainability. We found ourselves as lambs among a pack of wolves. The theme of sustainability existed from the poorly designed wood and cardboard pens to even a restaurant that claimed sustainability by serving only vegetables and non-alcoholic beer.
The highlight of the day included the many panel discussions that took place all across the huge site. My favorite of the day was about the topic of overpopulation. Every panelist tip-toed around the solution we all know they wanted, abortion and just living with less. I stood up and asked the panel to clarify a few points about how to quote “use the same but with just less resources.”
The short answer to me was that (for some reason) they believe private companies just like to waste resources – and that is why the government needs to intervene and force companies to do the same with less. To put this concept into words lets say Ford could make 3, F-150’s (I’m from rural ND) with the same resources it takes to make 1, F-150, the commies on the panel believe that apparently Ford would not…which is a ridiculous notion if you understand the basic notion of capitalism or business in general.
I was extremely looking forward to the “indigenous” people of Rio protest rally but apparently they decided to do whatever it is the do instead, sell beads or something. We spoke with delegates from countries like Burundi, Germany, China, and Monaco about what they thought about the sustainability debate. Lastly, we tried to get our hands on the illusive “Zero draft” document that is the new document to “change the world”. Unfortunately, due to their policy of transparency the made it transparent that no one could see the most recent draft. But do not worry; CFACT will be here in the trenches, to make it known to the world when it does come out.
A.K. Kamara
Collegians Midwest Coordinator
