"Let’s face it: Life can suck. The human race sucks.
We’re destroying our planet and live in a hugely unequal world. Even though we
can see this destruction and inequality happening before our eyes we aren’t
really doing anything about it. It can make a person who cares, like me, feel
terribly frustrated. I want to help and change my own lifestyle, but I feel
kinda small in a world of 7 billion other people. I feel like no matter what I
do I won’t make a difference. And then you hear “one person can make a
difference” all over the media and it makes you feel guilty for not being that
“one person”. The truth is, the world isn’t going to change overnight if one
person decides to buy a hybrid car or to give money to some charity. What we
need is a massive social movement.
We need to realize what consumerist zombies we’ve become. I know change is hard, because it would mean that those with power and money (aka: most of the Western world) will have to give things up, and this would inconvenience them. I’m completely okay with admitting that the reason I have not made significant changes in my life is because making those changes would mean I can’t have all the things I want. It makes me question my own morality… I’m all for helping others and bettering the environment, but why is it that as soon as I helping involves lowering my own standard of living I’m a little more hesitant? The reason, I’ve decided, is that most people to have good intentions and want to make a difference, but we also want to have the best lives possible for ourselves and for the people we care about. The issue is therefore changing people’s mindset. We need to make the rich realize that taking action to help the environment and the poor will benefit everyone, so lowering their lifestyles just a little will be good for them in the end. In the world I am living in right now, I don’t see that happening. It’s a slightly depressing conclusion, but I just can’t see the polluting, unequal lifestyles of the West going away anytime soon. Why? Because we like the status quo.
We like having “stuff”. We’d like everyone to have “stuff” like us, but getting them “stuff” is too hard. There’s several problems with that view. First of all, more “stuff” is not what we need. Having a huge suburban house to fill with things we don’t need is not the good life. Second of all, consuming more “stuff” will only worsen the environmental crisis we already have. Shipping food, clothes, toys or microwaves from some country with cheap labour so we don’t have to pay full price is incredibly unsustainable for the environment and perpetuates poverty. Third of all, we could indeed give the poor “stuff” if we really want to. As a development student, I’ve heard statements like “we could solve world hunger with the money Europeans spend on ice cream in a year”, and I do truly believe those statements.
In my opinion (and I do not exclude myself from this at all), the Western world spends a lot of money on things we don’t really need, and we believe that this means we have a higher standard of living. The “World Happiness Index” is a function of consumption… how screwed up is that? So, how could we possibly get that social movement I was talking about in order to change this status quo? I don’t have the answer of course, and I don’t think anyone does. My conclusion is again, kind of depressing. I think it might take a major disaster for the rich to wake up and realize we are killing our earth and each other. I also think that there may be a few people, maybe from my generation, who will find a way to drill the harsh reality of the current state of the world into the minds of the rich and make them change.
Maybe it will just take one passionate person to make everyone realize that we need a major shift in how we live our lives. And you know what, I know I’m not the only one who cares. When it comes down to it, we all care about each other and want to make life on this planet better. So what’s it gonna take to get people to realize that we can’t keep living the way we do and that we need to work together to figure out how we should live? It’s a question that may not be answered in my lifetime, but it’s something the human race is going to have to figure out sometime soon. In the end, I’m skeptical but optimistic about our future. I think we do have the ability and will to figure out how to live sustainability but it’s gonna be really hard getting there. Sustainability may just be the biggest challenge the human race has ever faced; now we just need to raise up and accept that challenge."
We need to realize what consumerist zombies we’ve become. I know change is hard, because it would mean that those with power and money (aka: most of the Western world) will have to give things up, and this would inconvenience them. I’m completely okay with admitting that the reason I have not made significant changes in my life is because making those changes would mean I can’t have all the things I want. It makes me question my own morality… I’m all for helping others and bettering the environment, but why is it that as soon as I helping involves lowering my own standard of living I’m a little more hesitant? The reason, I’ve decided, is that most people to have good intentions and want to make a difference, but we also want to have the best lives possible for ourselves and for the people we care about. The issue is therefore changing people’s mindset. We need to make the rich realize that taking action to help the environment and the poor will benefit everyone, so lowering their lifestyles just a little will be good for them in the end. In the world I am living in right now, I don’t see that happening. It’s a slightly depressing conclusion, but I just can’t see the polluting, unequal lifestyles of the West going away anytime soon. Why? Because we like the status quo.
We like having “stuff”. We’d like everyone to have “stuff” like us, but getting them “stuff” is too hard. There’s several problems with that view. First of all, more “stuff” is not what we need. Having a huge suburban house to fill with things we don’t need is not the good life. Second of all, consuming more “stuff” will only worsen the environmental crisis we already have. Shipping food, clothes, toys or microwaves from some country with cheap labour so we don’t have to pay full price is incredibly unsustainable for the environment and perpetuates poverty. Third of all, we could indeed give the poor “stuff” if we really want to. As a development student, I’ve heard statements like “we could solve world hunger with the money Europeans spend on ice cream in a year”, and I do truly believe those statements.
In my opinion (and I do not exclude myself from this at all), the Western world spends a lot of money on things we don’t really need, and we believe that this means we have a higher standard of living. The “World Happiness Index” is a function of consumption… how screwed up is that? So, how could we possibly get that social movement I was talking about in order to change this status quo? I don’t have the answer of course, and I don’t think anyone does. My conclusion is again, kind of depressing. I think it might take a major disaster for the rich to wake up and realize we are killing our earth and each other. I also think that there may be a few people, maybe from my generation, who will find a way to drill the harsh reality of the current state of the world into the minds of the rich and make them change.
Maybe it will just take one passionate person to make everyone realize that we need a major shift in how we live our lives. And you know what, I know I’m not the only one who cares. When it comes down to it, we all care about each other and want to make life on this planet better. So what’s it gonna take to get people to realize that we can’t keep living the way we do and that we need to work together to figure out how we should live? It’s a question that may not be answered in my lifetime, but it’s something the human race is going to have to figure out sometime soon. In the end, I’m skeptical but optimistic about our future. I think we do have the ability and will to figure out how to live sustainability but it’s gonna be really hard getting there. Sustainability may just be the biggest challenge the human race has ever faced; now we just need to raise up and accept that challenge."
I like this rant, Michelle! It echoes how I often feel in this field. It's often difficult to maintain a positive outlook when confronted with the reality of the world around us.
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel the same way a lot of the time. The most frustrating thing for me though is it's not the whole world that feels this way, in fact a lot of cultures don't buy into the whole consumerist thing and think what's best for the whole group takes precedence but they aren't the ones that have the loudest voice. In cultural psychology we talk a lot about the differences between individualist cultures and collective cultures and I spend a lot of my time imagining what the world would be like if we could take the best of each type- unfortunately we don't live in that world.
ReplyDeleteVery good point. It is a matter of culture... and sometimes we disagree with our culture (which I think most of us in INDEV would say they do). We're never going to live in a perfect world, like you said, but we can try and try and get there. If we don't have that, then what do we have right?
DeleteI agree with you Michelle about our current situation. I've had many conversations with Bree in regards to this. The conclusion that I've come to is that we, as development students, must remain optimistic about our work. Our single action could/will have a ripple effect, which could be the revolution we are hoping for (YES, a revolution).
ReplyDeleteOn the bad side of humanity: have you seen the Jericho series? (Netflix has it)
ReplyDeleteOn the simple and funny way of explaining about "stuff" (I have young kids) I recommend Max Lucado's "You are mine".
Boxes and Balls...
Anyway... rants are therapeutical but also mobilizing... I'm looking forward to how will YOU change the world (and you can!)
Thank you Hari, and I look forward to doing my best to change the world! Also, I haven't seen Jericho but heard good things about it... I'll have to look into it.
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