Change?

As the "Big Three" parties do their best to woo last minute undecided voters I am reminded of the word on everyones' lips ... "change".

What will change?

Taxes will go up. Inflation will go up. The rift between the "haves" and the "have-nots" will widen further.

Our health will continue to degrade ... and the NHS will be in a position to pay for less and less. Progressive unsustainability!

As peoples' livelihoods come under increasing threat, so a fringe element will turn to crime, as they have always done. We will have more police officers ... but they will be burdened with red tape and powerless to take decisive action for fear of treading on delicate sensitivities.

In schools, teachers will still have to take abuse from spoilt children "who know no better". They will still have to neuter the outspoken, even as they embrace freedom of speech.

And we will still insist on "one man, one vote" in Africa, when, right here on our own doorstep we have cleverly manipulated invisible borders to divide votes in a system that few actually understand to the degree that would qualify them as responsible custodians of democracy.

People will still pass the buck and shift blame and cover their behinds. People will still revere the savvy entrepreneurial skills of those jokers on "The Apprentice" and admire the roguish spirit of historical legends that killed, stole and plundered with impunity.

And then those that vote will vote for a party because they've been a "life-long" supporter ... or because on TV their man ducked and dived less than the next guy.

Or because they needed a license to complain about the encumbent crew!

But what will really change?

We will still think it's alright to spend beyond our means. We will still think it's alright for someone else to pick up the pieces of our recklessness. We will still think it's right to have children, even as our planet creaks under the load of nearly 7 billion inhabitants.

We will cling to this right in spite of a clear message from Mother Nature telling us some of us are too sick to reproduce ... after all we have IVF! And China has a shocking record on human rights' violations.

Someone else will make it right. And if they horse it up, well at least there'll be someone to blame!

Wouldn't it be nice if we elected a government that actually could effect meaningful change?

For that to happen, we have to first rethink the way we view our own role. Right now a disaster of unprecedented magnitude is unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. I say that because no-one actually knows the full extent and true cost beyond that which affects humans.

We have no other frame of reference. We are the center of the universe. The environment and other creatures are not our concern. We only care about the economy and the handouts. Those birds covered in oil are someone elses' problem.

Well, they are not!

They are yours and mine ... and until we see that and realize the true severity of the implications, we will get what we deserve.