The twenty million residents of China's Beijing have been suffering from air pollution being assessed as above 'very unhealthy' and 'hazardous' levels since early this year.Wearing face masks to avoid breathing the noxious air has become as commonplace as putting on a pair of shoes and thick clouds of smog are keeping many citizens indoors.
Short term measures to combat the crisis includes shutting down factories and limiting government automobile usage as clouds of toxic air disrupt air travel and causes the rise of lung disease and cancer attributed fatalities.
But through it all, some folk in survival mode are having fun with this facial fashion accessory.
While some of us are fortunate enough to take clean fresh air to breathe for granted...
When I was kid growing up in a mill town, the old timers said air pollution was "the smell of money."
ReplyDeleteLooks like the smell of death to me.
At least they still have a sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteThe only one who is actually getting any benefit from this fad is the old guy with the full-face respirator. All the others are fooling themselves by catching the largest of the particulate matter but still inhaling the toxic gasses and micro-particles in the pollution.
ReplyDeleteThat particular gentleman is the Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei who's wearing that mask to protest the bad air quality in Beijing.
DeleteAnd saving his life at the same time...
Humans never seem to learn from the past do they. It was that bad in London, oh, a century ago? Air pollution was terrible due to burning so much coal, and then later having so much lead in petrol, the streets were choked with fumes. Smog they called it I think. So you'd think people would look at the past before making the same mistakes over and over again. Those dust masks are useless indeed, except the gas mask, perhaps. What a miserable existance.
ReplyDeleteI'm inclined favorably to dissidents and especially to artists, being one myself. Bully for Ai Wei Wei! May he breathe long and well.
ReplyDeleteDecades ago a huge landfill development was built in my town that now is responsible for mudflats producing a noxious odor that wafts through the burg whenever the tide is out of a Summer night. Somewhat ironically, it tends to be strongest in the swankiest part of town. I think of it as the ineffable odor of real estate speculation.
Despite the fun art it looks awful... And yes I do take breathing fresh air for granted here in New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way that guy wit the beard got a seal on that old gas mask!
ReplyDeleteNo wat to live, but will the rest of the world take note ? Probably not.
ReplyDelete