Are we too late to turn this around? The despair many of us feel by just reading those few words out loud is overwhelming.
People are by nature seeking profit and meaningfulness in the things they do. I think very few of us would go to work if we didn't get paid in some way. The few things we do without profit at mind, is what we are passionate about. Sometimes you do need money to keep on fueling the passion and that's how NGOs are created. But the core of it is, has and always will be passion.
When people who are passionate about the environment hear the words that it might be too late, they fight harder. When people without that passion and only profit thinking hears them, it has a different effect. They make sure to make the most profit while it lasts, since they are well aware that there will be harsher times coming. They are literally saving themselves and harvest as much as they can and put it aside for their future, not ours.
There is a saying that when the power of love is greater than the love of power, that is when mankind will be living the true life. It all boils down to the fact that human greed, that we think we are the most powerful, is killing the hand that feeds us - Earth.
I woke up and read that Brazil, who lay claim to the largest remaining intact rainforest in the world, has elected a president with very little intention to do good for the environment and is compared to Trump. Do we really have to repeat history over and over? Every time we stand there with our feet in the pool of misery, saying that "we shall never forget" and other wise words. Yet we go straight towards next misery when we turn around and start walking?
The lack of people being willing to make a change for the sake of our environment is remarkable. The reason they aren't willing to do so, is that they simply don't see the benefits of it and nor do the leaders it seems. We have a lot of new schemes going on in Malta with some good promotional videos going around showing people how to sort their waste. But how many times have we seen our leaders promoting when they sort waste, on their own social media profile? Not many. Instead they concentrate on showing the profit in monetary value. For them it has priority one, and they aren't ashamed of it the least.
We need to start understanding that sustainability, even when it comes to economy, is the one thing in the universe that is essential. You have to start with that word, whatever you plan for, then you build up the bricks around it. If you leave it out the bricks will fall at one point.
Yes, the world won't last forever, but do we really need to speed up the process? When I hear people claiming that they don't sort waste because they feel that as long as the top of the country and all companies don't, they won't make a difference, I cringe. How did we reach this point, where human beings feel that they are insignificant? A point where people can't get their head around the fact that all big things are built up my the smallest particles?
I feel that too many people around us at the moment are looking for short cuts with a short-term benefit rather than walking the walk and get a big reward at the end of it. That big reward might not be made up by a monetary profit, but instead the reward of knowing that the generation to come will live a better life thanks to your efforts. No one will be remembered for the amount of euros he had at the bank. The heroes are the ones that went out of their way to unselfishly save someone else than themselves, asking for no payment. If we had more leaders that ate last, instead of gobbling up all the food, our world would look very different. In a positive way.
We need leaders that understand the concept of sustainability, that understand that you can't eat more than you have and you have to think about several generations to come and safeguard them. This is basic knowledge, something that once was our instinct and led to survival over others.
Do we really want to be that one generation that screwed it up? That one generation that had all possible tools to save everyone, but instead created a bigger mess. Not only did we create a mess, like children some of us refuse to see it and clean it up.