Are we living the life fast forward??

The news item “Ozone hole has dried Australia, says study” appearing in the The Hindu newspaper dated 25th April 2011 reports that the scientists say that the Antarctic Ozone hole is about one-third to blame for Australia’s recent series of droughts. But the same news item gives some comforting news at the end of the article saying that the U.N. Montreal Protocol has significantly curbed emissions of the substances that caused depletion of Ozone in the stratosphere, the upper atmosphere. The Antarctic Ozone hole should be repaired by 2045-60, the report adds.
The Ozone hole, the Global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions and the vagaries in the weather conditions and in nature that come with these are the visual proof that we are exploiting the nature beyond the tolerance levels. It is good that we are taking steps to curb this exploitation.
In general, we tend to use up whatever the nature offers us and end up fast in scarcity of the resources. Nothing is spared, the air, water….. ! There are two reasons for the using up of resources. The first reason is the population explosion. This needs no further explanation. The good thing is that all the countries are moving towards stabilization of the population. Someday, we will definitely have a stable population level, but, from then on to move towards a population level that is in total compatibility with the surrounding nature will be our next task.
The second and the more disastrous reason is the way we the individuals consume everything that we can lay our hands on! We want more of everything – a second car, a palatial bungalow with more space than we need, lavish use of timber, marble, granite and such resources, air conditioners, the list goes on endless. We want to out beat others. We want to be the richest, come what may. We put up a show, throw up a feast and what not to have that one-upmanship, wasting food and many other natural commodities in the process! This unwanted and unhealthy competition results in the deprivation of the genuine needs of a good lot of population for now, and in depriving forever the needs of the future generation. They also undergo these orgies to endlessly gratify themselves. ‘Have we the right?’ is a moral and ethical question that the individuals will not bother to answer. Okay! But, their acts don’t do good to these individuals either! Over the time, these individuals end up segregated from the main stream, sit on top lonely, lose their peace of mind and lose their health.
Mahatma Gandhi has said, "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. But, we ignore this dictum to our peril. It is time that we correct ourselves.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have shown the world the way by giving back the world much of what they took from it. That satisfies the economical aspects of the problem.
But, in general, we have to learn to live optimally utilizing the natural resources. In living the life fast forward, we will not only not enjoy the present, but we will lose the future for ever, may be.
I typed in Google search “the nature can supply for our need, but not our greed” to get Gandhi’s quotation correct. In the process I am amazed to find 5,260,000 results on the subject, all dealing with preserving nature and its resources. It feels wonderful that so many are involved in correcting this problem.