Global Warming?

There seems to be a heightened sense of fear lately, induced by the media surrounding the theory of global warming. Every report that makes its way into the daily headlines seem to scream apocalypse and the end of mankind as coastal cities potentially become subject to severe flooding, and prolonged droughts will continue to grip the countryside - forcing millions to migrate and consequently creating civil unrest among the majority of the global rural population. Television networks are creating shows that cater to the "green conscious" public by demonstrating the technology that has spurred a marginal growth of 'green homes'. Even automobile companies are gearing up and revamping their products to meet higher gas-mileage requirements by the government (the same one, mind you, that is headed by two former oil tycoon executives - the largest perpetrator of supposed global pollution).

Even so, all these efforts could be in vain. Perhaps this is the pessimist in me typing in a time of even more distrustful views of the global environment. But the fact of the matter is that these large scale alterations in our daily lives are essentially worthless because many, including myself, would only make the necessary changes for a brief period of time before resorting back to our original consumption habits. We, as an industrialized, technology-driven society, have seemingly built our lives around mass consumption of natural resources that have directly contributed to this global demise. Without the automobile to get ourselves to and from work; without the coal-fired power plants that operate our office buildings; without the lumber companies that produce the daily products that we require on a daily basis - we are reduced to a stagnant economy that will drive billions of people into perpetual poverty (as measured by our current standards of American living) and essentially impede our technological and social advancement.

This whole mindset is based on the assumption that we are also a capitalistically-influenced society - where low costs and profit margins seem to dominate our business culture. With that said, even with the availability of energy efficient vehicles, solar-powered office buildings, or alternative sources of paper etc., there is an overwhelming tendency to deviate from these new technologies because our economy is mostly run by small businesses, that may not be able to absorb the short term financial impact of transitioning to more technologically methods.

As privileged members of this society, we feel a sense of entitlement to the luxuries that have been afforded to us at the expense of those who suffer beyond what we can comprehend. I will never know the feeling of stitching $150 sneakers for 2 cents/day so that some first world consumer can have the shiniest sneakers to wear on the first day of school. It is this sense of entitlement that will ultimately contribute to our societal downfall.

I must admit - that even as I write this, I am completely unaware of the atrocities that may befall a group of people I will never meet - just so they can produce products at a low price for the first world. Just as they have suffered by taking the scraps that the multi-national corporations have thrown at them (their profits padded by our insatiable thirst for their products), so too will they suffer the most as a result of global warming. Whereas our livelihood depends primarily on the technology produced by our society at the expense of others, the livelihood of the third world depends largely on the sustenance of the land.

Should we continue our ravenous pace of entitled consumption habits, we will continue to push our planet's resources to the edge of exhaustion. At that point, no amount of recycling can undo the permanent damages sustained by the Earth.