If you came looking for a tribute to Blur, guess again… though this does have a lot to do with their song "Chemical World." Damon Albarn hit the nail on the head when he wrote that one.
Sounds like this is gonna be some "Save the Planet" cry for help written by one of those die-hard 60's hippies with nothing better to do than protest. Quite the opposite… more like one of those "Human Beings are Complete Idiots" articles written by a very proud (yet somewhat maladjusted) member of Generation X.
So how exactly is the world "chemical"? Where to begin? Ah, yes, medicine, more specifically, cancer treatment. Researchers have discovered a cure or prevention for cancer recently. However, it could not be used, the explanation given to the public was that it contain a certain element that if combined with a chemical in the body would kill a person anyhow. This is obviously part of the problem, but it isn't impossible to solve. The real reason that a cure or prevention for cancer cannot be released to the public has to do with the chemotherapy industry. At this point in time, chemotherapy has been a significant treatment for cancer patients with a fairly high efficiency rate. But if a cure for cancer were found, it would be very costly to chemotherapy with regards to revenue and employment. It would also affect the future of those studying chemistry presently. The bottom line: We'd rather use radioactive chemicals to heal a person of this disease than make use of a more natural treatment.
Is gasoline a chemical? Science and me don't get along that great. Anyway, I'm thinking it is right now. I think the Japanese have invented a car that runs on water (something to do with hydrogen, I don't know). The only problem is that hydrogen is highly combustible. But if there's no other flammable substances involved there's no harm. Except to the gasoline industry. They'll lose huge amounts of money and major gas station chains will be forced to shut down. So what humanity as decided to do here instead of preserving resources and being environmentally friendly is use up every milliliter of the worlds gas resources before using the automobile that runs on water.
This last point is probably the most evident in everyday life. In recent year, the drug culture has turned from the more natural stuff (Marijuana, Hashish) to a more up to date chemical variety (Acid, Ecstasy, and Disco Biscuits). They've come with the rise of the Rave/Techno/Electronica movement that's been taking the dance clubs by storm. Chemical drugs such as Acid, Ecstasy and Disco Biscuits (the third containing heroin as 1/10th of it's make-up) provide their user with hallucinations that give their nights out at Raves an added edge. Continuous use of these or any other chemical also fucks up the mind. Hardly a half descent substitute for their natural counterparts. (By the way, I'm with Paul McCartney on the legalization of marijuana, I'll leave that for next time though).
I give Mr. Albarn a lot of credit for that song. (he did write it, didn't he? Sabrina? Andrea?) Here we are, heading into the 21st century, in a time where we have the (beneficial) power to resolve a lot of matters that have gone wrong or are headed that way. We choose not to though, until we fade away into the wasteland we've created. But like I said in the beginning, I'm nothing more than a maladjusted member of Generation X in a world ruled by Baby Boomers… you know, those ex-hippies who used to want to save the planet.
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