I understand that the purpose of this site is to provide a space where people can rant about what an asshole George Bush is and, believe me, I truly doubt there's anybody out there who dislikes him more than I do.

But, I think we are missing an excellent opportunity here to partake in some true cultural change.

Yes, we should continue to expose this fraudulent government for what it really is and yes, we should do all we can to throw these bastards out of office so we can charge them with the war crimes they've committed and, while we're at it, hit them with the high crimes and misdemeanors they haveÂ perpetrated against the American people.

But, we also must do some things to educate and organize ourselves to contribute to social and cultural changes necessary to preserve our planet and well being.Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

I live in the Great American Southwest, where for too long, the environment and environmentalism have been desecrated by mining efforts that stripped the landÂ and, by nuclear scientists who poisoned the inhabitants; by politicians who have paved over far too much paradise in favor of parking lots and subdivisions and strip malls and toxin-spewing manufacturing companies.

Because so many people are fleeing from urban America, these little pockets of once green, rural, open land are fast-becoming metropolitan centers.

And, the hunger for power and water is leading to ridiculous ideas like a water pipeline from Lake Mead, revisiting the Colorado River compact and building more coal-fired energy plants.

The lazy answer to all of this, of course, is "We gotta do somethin' so we might as well go along with it."

No, we don't.

Not when coal-fired plants are being thrown out of Kansas, Missouri, New York and other places that are learning the deleterious effects of these facilities.

We have a problem here in that we are looking upon our cities as being disposable.

Build 'em, wreck 'em, use 'em up and move on to destroy new turf, leaving urban decay in our wake.

Cities that were once centers of our culture are now scarred with boarded up sections of town, left only to the poor or dangerous. Meanwhile, little towns across this land where Mom and Pop shops were the center of commerce and everybody knew their neighbor are evolving at a frightening pace into metropolitan centers with Wal-Mart, McDonald's and Starbucks, just like in the "big cities."

And, we do nothing because, well, if we get 10,000 more people to move to town, we'll be big enough to get Olive Garden to open a franchise here.

Never mind that we are trading our natural beauty for the beast of commercialism and greed. Never mind that we are sacrificing our individuality for some Orwellian nightmare. Never mind that we are sacrificing our lives by polluting our air with refuse from coal-fired plants, dirty industry and foods that are so jacked up with preservatives that they have shelf lives of years instead of days.

As much as I'd like to lay this all in George Bush's lap, I can't. It's our fault for becoming so greedy, so selfish, so shallow that we allow ourselves to make compromises that have put the survival of mankind in tremendous jeopardy.

So, instead of replying here with your "Save the Planet" messages, save your breath and invest it in the bigger picture.

Write letters to your representatives, attend city council meetings, demand that they not allow corporate pig farmers, environmentally unsound mining practices or polluting power plants into your neighborhood or mine.

Yes, you DO have the right to make such demands.

And, anybody who tells you any differently is a lying bastard.

See, I DID find a way to work George Bush into this thing after all!

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About author Ed Kociela the City Editor of southern Utah's The Spectrum. He blogs at ed@edkociela.com. Ed Kociela the City Editor of southern Utah's. He blogs at www.edkociela.com