Privilege for a Few Consequences for Many

Its 66 degrees outside today.  In January.  Of course, St. Louis is notorious for unpredictable weather.  But, its January 5th and we really haven't seen winter yet.  We've had  a couple of wintery days.  A dusting of snow.  But winter has not settled in here.  And, while I love rolling my windows down in the car and opening them in my house...it frightens me too.  And I think about the fact that, while I'm basking in the freakish warmth of January 5, 2012, the polar ice caps are melting a little bit more.  Polar bears are getting a little bit closer to extinction.  And the water may rise just a tiny bit more on the shores of Bangladesh.  My privilege may very well be another's pain.  But that seems to be the condition for those of us in the US and other westernized, industrialized, wealthy countries.  And, even for the justice minded, its damned hard to relinquish.

We were talking in class about how little fresh water there is in the world.  About how we need to preserve it.  And my mind drifted to my love of scalding hot baths.  How much comfort they bring when I'm cold to the bone, or sore from too much Just Dance 3 on the Wii, or just stressed out or sick or unbearably tired.  I rationalize that we have a lot of water here in our region.  That forgoing those luxurious baths would not give water to a thirsty child in Kenya. But the fact remains that while I soak in scented bubbly water up to my shoulders, there are people dying for lack of the very stuff I'll send down the drain without a thought.  What do I do with that?

My husband and I make an effort to buy local, to get Fair Trade, to spend justly when we can (see, even there we have a choice!  To spend our money justly or just to spend it).  But we are still so very privileged.  We live in such total luxury when compared with the rest of the world.  Or when compared to how we probably all need to live if this planet is to have any shot at sustaining life as we know it.  I wonder what our lifestyles need to look like if we are going to keep the rarity of a 66 degree day in January.  Will we be able to live them?  Will we have the strength to turn away from our many comforts so that our children's children may have hope of any comfort at all?