No one wants to read about this, but I'm going to write about it anyway
Okay, look. I'm going to be honest. I was never completely a nature lover--never have been and never will be. I have a visceral dislike for insects, despite the blood-sucking ones' attraction to me. I'm a bit of a princess and don't let getting dirty, so I don't spend a lot of time outside (Camping? Only if there's a queen sized bed set up three feet above the ground for me). Honestly, for anyone who knows me, I'm pretty much a homebody who likes being indoors and occasionally needs to be walked outside. I'm pretty much an introverted puppy princess--whatever the heck that is.
That being said, I still appreciate the earth (or what's left of it) for its ability to sustain so much life and allow me to even exist. I like seeing the stars twinkle at night, the flowers bloom every spring, and listening to birds chirp in the morning. Most people do. Yet at some point in human history, we made a huge, imbalanced shift in our perspective and lost the ability to respect nature for what it is and does. In our efforts to better our own livelihood, we started seeing through the lens of opportunity and profit (urbanization, market economy; seeing land as a sell-able object instead of ecological system). On top of that, we decided that our convenience and financial wealth is more important than the lives of all other ecosystems, animals, and, yes, even insects (corporate companies manufacturing cars for easier transportation and pipelines for oil; everything comes in disposable plastic these days).
The moment this shift in perspective was made was the moment humans failed as a species. It was the moment our self-serving nature for the purpose of survival purely became selfishness.
No other species has managed to completely disrupt the natural balance on earth. If we truly cared about this planet we live on, we would have found a way to make our technology environmentally sustainable to begin with. We would have taken into account how much it would hurt the environment as much as we would profit from it. Instead, like many mistakes, we only start caring about the consequences when they directly affect us. And usually, the consequences come too late.
Hell to the no. Why? Because as Bill Nye so eloquently and effectively sums it up: "The earth is on fucking fire." Because justifying something usually means you're in denial that you've screwed up in some way and are looking for examples to support your conviction that you're right. You're only trying to make yourself feel better because your subconscious knows you're a fucking idiot.
Humans are self-serving and self-preoccupied; we're worried about making a living and living well. What I'm saying doesn't have to negate those arguments; I'm saying we can do all those things but also not hurt and deplete the environment so drastically. You can create jobs in clean energy sectors, manufacture and sell eco-friendly products, and still make as much bloody money as you want. Sure, it's going to be expensive to make this transition, but guess what? Cleaning up all the floods, hurricanes, and forest fires are going to be expensive too.
We're the most evolved species on this earth. We sit on our religious, militarized, educated, and capitalist pedestals at the top of the food chain. We justify our actions as apex consumers by the entitlement that comes in our job description: to consume. But we've done so in a way that's fueled not purely by survival, but by greedy ambition. This lust for power and wealth is literally going to be the death of not just the human race, but the entire planet. We've managed to ruin not just ourselves, but our home.
Our current capitalist system is built on this premise that nothing is ever enough: nothing is ever efficient enough, comfortable enough, impressive enough. We keep mass producing cars, dirty energy, meat, weapons, iPhones. Plastic Coke bottles in new designs. But when will we understand, collectively, that we surpassed the threshold of "enough" years ago? (Thank you very fucking much, Industrial Revolution). The earth knows it. Humans are the ones lagging in our political denial of every single life-threatening problem that comes up (fuck you very much, governments who do nothing).
I was born into this industrialized, technologically advancing world and knew no other way of life. More to the point, I didn't see any fault in the way I was living. I didn't see the amounts of plastic trash I was discarding every year, I didn't think the cars I rode around in was poisoning the air. It was simply my way of living, the only way I was shown how. Is it my fault the earth is ticking time bomb? Yes and no. I did not intentionally do any damage to the environment but I am equally as culpable as anyone else living in this generation on this earth, simply for the fact that I live. I live and I consume to live. But I can do it responsibly now, with the knowledge I have even if it makes no real, measurable difference. But, this is the only way for change to start.
If any proactive action is going to be taken, the system we're living in has to change. People on an individual and collective level have to see global warming as a disaster with a speeding deadline and accept it, no matter how uncomfortable that may be. Because one thing I've learned is that the more a problem is neglected, the more it will grow until we have no choice but to acknowledge it. And by then, it already may be too late.
That being said, I still appreciate the earth (or what's left of it) for its ability to sustain so much life and allow me to even exist. I like seeing the stars twinkle at night, the flowers bloom every spring, and listening to birds chirp in the morning. Most people do. Yet at some point in human history, we made a huge, imbalanced shift in our perspective and lost the ability to respect nature for what it is and does. In our efforts to better our own livelihood, we started seeing through the lens of opportunity and profit (urbanization, market economy; seeing land as a sell-able object instead of ecological system). On top of that, we decided that our convenience and financial wealth is more important than the lives of all other ecosystems, animals, and, yes, even insects (corporate companies manufacturing cars for easier transportation and pipelines for oil; everything comes in disposable plastic these days).
The moment this shift in perspective was made was the moment humans failed as a species. It was the moment our self-serving nature for the purpose of survival purely became selfishness.
No other species has managed to completely disrupt the natural balance on earth. If we truly cared about this planet we live on, we would have found a way to make our technology environmentally sustainable to begin with. We would have taken into account how much it would hurt the environment as much as we would profit from it. Instead, like many mistakes, we only start caring about the consequences when they directly affect us. And usually, the consequences come too late.
If you think our current way of life is justified, you're a selfish asshole. And you're also wrong.
There will always be arguments made to justify an action. In the case of free market capitalism vs environmental sustainability, they will sound like, "Well, we have to create jobs somehow. People need to eat" or "Technology has vastly improved quality and duration of human life" or "I want more money!!!!!!" Honestly, I'm not here to challenge that, because they're all valid sentiments, even if the last one makes me want to shit all over your expensive shoes. Despite being valid, does that mean these arguments have the right values and reasons to back our technological and urban developments?Hell to the no. Why? Because as Bill Nye so eloquently and effectively sums it up: "The earth is on fucking fire." Because justifying something usually means you're in denial that you've screwed up in some way and are looking for examples to support your conviction that you're right. You're only trying to make yourself feel better because your subconscious knows you're a fucking idiot.
Humans are self-serving and self-preoccupied; we're worried about making a living and living well. What I'm saying doesn't have to negate those arguments; I'm saying we can do all those things but also not hurt and deplete the environment so drastically. You can create jobs in clean energy sectors, manufacture and sell eco-friendly products, and still make as much bloody money as you want. Sure, it's going to be expensive to make this transition, but guess what? Cleaning up all the floods, hurricanes, and forest fires are going to be expensive too.
We're the most evolved species on this earth. We sit on our religious, militarized, educated, and capitalist pedestals at the top of the food chain. We justify our actions as apex consumers by the entitlement that comes in our job description: to consume. But we've done so in a way that's fueled not purely by survival, but by greedy ambition. This lust for power and wealth is literally going to be the death of not just the human race, but the entire planet. We've managed to ruin not just ourselves, but our home.
Consumer capitalism gave us comfortable but meaningless lives
Humans have gotten too comfortable, and comfort breeds greed. Our basic needs are already taken care of, so what the hell else can give our lives meaning but to create impossible problems that didn't exist before? We start focusing on the superficial, the material issues that revolve around our human desires for wealth, power, and status. We start saying nothing is ever enough to satisfy us, so we keep consuming to feed these desires. The problem is that we consume but we don't give anything back to replace what we took.Our current capitalist system is built on this premise that nothing is ever enough: nothing is ever efficient enough, comfortable enough, impressive enough. We keep mass producing cars, dirty energy, meat, weapons, iPhones. Plastic Coke bottles in new designs. But when will we understand, collectively, that we surpassed the threshold of "enough" years ago? (Thank you very fucking much, Industrial Revolution). The earth knows it. Humans are the ones lagging in our political denial of every single life-threatening problem that comes up (fuck you very much, governments who do nothing).
In conclusion: we're all going to hell and taking the entire planet with us
Honestly, thinking about global warming terrifies me to the core. Reading about how governments and political leaders with the power to make the necessary changes are still woefully ignorant of our global crisis makes me want to give up. Seeing how much plastic trash flooding the public garbage bins while I'm simply walking around the city is disheartening. These instances are only examples that systematic attitudes surrounding consumerism and global warming are corrupt and individual change is not happening fast enough. At this point in 2019, at this rate the world is still tooting its consumerist trumpet, there's really nothing to do but wait for the disaster to play out. Being hopeful everything will be okay is simply out of the question.Epilogue, because hope is a stubborn bastard
It's not just about us anymore. It's not just about our petty political differences and different perspectives we hold about how to live life. Fuck you and your feelings if you still think that matters above all the global catastrophes happening all around the world.I was born into this industrialized, technologically advancing world and knew no other way of life. More to the point, I didn't see any fault in the way I was living. I didn't see the amounts of plastic trash I was discarding every year, I didn't think the cars I rode around in was poisoning the air. It was simply my way of living, the only way I was shown how. Is it my fault the earth is ticking time bomb? Yes and no. I did not intentionally do any damage to the environment but I am equally as culpable as anyone else living in this generation on this earth, simply for the fact that I live. I live and I consume to live. But I can do it responsibly now, with the knowledge I have even if it makes no real, measurable difference. But, this is the only way for change to start.
If any proactive action is going to be taken, the system we're living in has to change. People on an individual and collective level have to see global warming as a disaster with a speeding deadline and accept it, no matter how uncomfortable that may be. Because one thing I've learned is that the more a problem is neglected, the more it will grow until we have no choice but to acknowledge it. And by then, it already may be too late.
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