First off, it’s good to be back! It’s been over 4 months since my last post, and as much as I want to blame the fact I’ve been busy (which I have been), and work (which there has been a lot of), and travel (ditto – in 2017, I dove two oceans, two seas, and a lake), the truth is I’ve been overwhelmed by events and needed a mental health break.
I’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer pace of everything that’s been going on with the oceans. For every story of hope and goodwill (did you see the story about the people saving sea turtles from the recent cold snap?), there’s fear and hopelessness. That for all the work we’ve done (and many of you have helped out with!), it could all be for naught because of the American lust for profit.
I’ve also been wrestling with the ideas of political purity versus political expediency. Basically, how does one reconcile what they want out of politics versus what they can get? Many people have made some persuasive arguments about propping up the American two-party system does not affect change, but all the while, while engaged in this existentialist wankathon, one party, and only one party, has been plotting the systemic destruction of the one thing on this planet I truly care about.
And I might have remained in this bullshit fugue state for this wake-up call by the Trump administration.
Continue reading “To Save the Ocean, Start at the Ballot Box (Part I)”
