It would seem it is finally on top of us all. The collective result of decades (if not centuries) of ‘living off the hog’ and that crazy notion of continuing growth in a finite world.
Everything surely has a use-by date, to suggest otherwise perhaps is delusional or maybe you’re an economist? Such complexities of process and systems driving our society now require AI in many cases to bail us out and help with once-creative thought because it is got too hard.
Oh, the wicked web we have woven whereby a simple Landcare project to remove weed infestation and plant native vegetation on the banks of the Richmond River in Ballina first must have a report, an assessment of impact, and then approval from Crown Lands (don’t want to go upsetting the King do we?). How complex and hard can we make it!
Multiply this by the monumental task of healing and flood mitigation of the broader catchment and good luck. This is concerning. Surely boots-on-ground people have to be the start?
This is all our problem, not someone else’s. It ain’t ‘rocket science’.
It is time to peer out from the covers or climb out from the rock of the red-taped machine’s weight. Maybe simplicity and commonsense can one day reign again. Even if on a personal heartfelt level – take a look in the mirror and ask the question what have you done today for the planet, the river, or your grandkids’ kids etc?
Time to get human again, humans, surely it’s not beyond us, wind it back a notch or two… Or do we need to check that with AI?
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
