I find it very important to be keeping up on what is going on in the world around us and not just politics. On Friday nights, if my family and I make it to 10 pm, we watch Real Time with Bill Maher. For a little background, Maher is a comedian, writer, producer, a political commentator, and a television host. Maher is known for his HBO political talk show Real Time with Bill Maher. On the show, Maher starts with an opening of current events happening and also uses that time to bring out his comedic side and make jokes about what is going on in the world. Then, Maher moves to his first guest and that usually ends up being a celebrity or a director in Hollywood or someone who has a new book or movie coming out. After his first guest, Maher moves to his panel, which is two more guests that are usually more involved in the political world. His panel goes back and forth debating various topics and current events. Maher ends his show with a segment he calls New Rules, my personal favorite.
New Rules is filled with, you guessed it, new rules that Maher comes up with and shares his take on various current events, cultural trends, and political issues. Each “rule” is essentially a short, witty commentary that leads up to a longer, more serious monologue at the end of the segment. This past Friday, many viewers thought Maher would end the segment and use the time to talk about the election, instead, he decided to focus on a much bigger issue that most of us do not realize. The rule was called “Trash Of The Titans”.
Maher said, “We are all going to die because of plastics.” Maher laid out the fact that the oceans are dying. Maher provided a quote from the United Nations, “The ocean generates 50 percent of the oxygen we need… absorbs 25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.” Maher also made a point to say “We’re killing it and we can’t live without it.” The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now three times the size of France. Think about that for a minute. National Geographic said “about 70 percent of marine debris actually sinks to the bottom of the ocean.” Perhaps the most concerning statistic Maher brought up was, “We consume up to a credit card’s worth of plastic every week”. Maher added “We eat the fish that eat the plastic, and we eat pigs, and chickens that eat fish that we feed them”. Maher continued to say “The ocean is the life support system for the planet. It’s like we’re on a ventilator and purposely stepping on our own hose.”
Maher then went after people who recycle saying it’s a con. “Only 9 percent of the plastic even produced has been recycled.” This is a very concerning issue and I applaud Bill Maher for taking the time to focus on an issue that is bigger than politics. This is life-threatening to everyone, and you might think it doesn’t apply to you but it does. I encourage you to take the time to watch Real Time with Bill Maher. He covers all issues and is truly middle of the road and is not afraid to call people out on both sides of an argument. He’s funny and most importantly, he’s real with you. I will admit before watching this last episode, I never thought about the ocean being in as much danger as it is and how much we need it to live. We don’t realize how lucky we are to have something until it’s gone. Who knew it would be air that we breathe.
