Every Tom, Dick, and Harry we meet knows for sure what global warming, the dangers, and degradation are, but why don’t we fully address the issue? At this point, awareness is not the problem, the problem is that we are aware and we are able to reduce the damage, reduce the impacts, however, there is a kind of total neglect of the problem. Why is this so? In our school curriculum, we are taught the importance of conservation, yet each generation has only a handful of people investing their time in environmental stewardship. What is the problem here? Is it a problem related to human nature, or is it the capitalist way of thinking that has become embedded in our heads?
People want numbers, statistics and facts. Plain statements clearly won’t do it justice. Particularly in Geography and any kind of environmental science, it is evident that there is a lack of statistics, a lack of knowledge about what happens in the long lists of lectures that we have to memorize. We are taught about the existence of certain ecological groups and agencies, but we do not have a clear understanding of what exactly is going on there. To convince people to pay enough attention to the matter, we must provide them with raw statistics, the kind that will shock them, even crumple their core, enough to scare them into understanding the true nature of the matter at hand. As the old saying goes, “The risk of inaction is high, time is running out.”
On the other hand, in some cases, entire nations do not have the financial capacity to even think about conservation, instead completely ignoring the problem and trying to avoid it as much as possible. Here, degradation is just a way of life, something that will “eventually happen”. What these nations don’t understand is that conservation is simply not a financial issue. Some nations like Namibia prosper off these conservancies, which serve as a source of income. Sustainable living also won’t take pennies out of your pocket like most would think, but would instead provide a clear alternative to help save money. Sustainability means that you would cut back on some of the amenities you would otherwise use and replace them with simpler, less damaging alternatives.
However, the poisonous resource optimist jumps out at you and talks you into thinking “enough is already being done to help the environment.” But the truth is that not enough is being done. In a world with rapid technological advances, why do we still struggle with environmental issues? Why is there a huge gap in the knowledge we acquire about how to solve these problems? With all these agendas and forums, why is the Barrier Reef still dead? Who are these capitalists kidding? Do the sustainability reports from all these companies really mean anything? Have you been tricked into thinking that? Will you be a victim of these efforts? Wake up.
