| | (I only wish more people were in the band.) **edit: Would it help if I avoided the "sin" language? I'm really interested in *your* opinion. Yes, you!
I'm reading an article this morning. The Nation did an interview with the executive director of Greenpeace. I'm not even done reading it yet, but a few sections insisted that I share them. I emailed snippets and the link to church friends and I googlechatted with an activist friend of mine in northeast Ohio. Let me extend the conversation to this sphere as well.
"The uncomfortable reality is that if we are to deliver the quality of life that folks in the US and other developed countries enjoy, and that the elites in other developing countries enjoy, we would need eight planets. Six to eight planets. Just think about that for a minute. Because even we in the progressive movement need to realize that if we are serious about creating a sustainable and just world for our kids and grandkids, we have to realize that we also have to challenge certain assumptions we have about our consumption patterns. And the inequality of consumption of stuff is just overwhelming. What North America and Europe spend on cat food annually will provide three nutritional meals to the entire African continent every single day. And I've got nothing against, obviously, pets. But the inequity is completely unsustainable."
Some people refuse to believe that we're running out of resources. (And I can direct them to many convincing arguments that we are.) Many who do actually see that energy use is a problem think that new technologies will save us (eventually... and I'm skeptical of that one). Right now, though, we're chasing our own tails, consuming ourselves like snakes,
and we're - dare I use such language - sinning. It doesn't matter if you think we can eventually make our way of life sustainable. Right now it isn't. The world has not collapsed, but every day people die because of our way of life. (But people die every day for lesser reasons anyway.) So what? That's not the point. Two wrongs don't make a right. Life is terminal (and occupants of the U.S. could stand to learn that lesson more than most). Death will come to us all one day. But there's no reason to kill people and animals and plants right now needlessly. I'm not a vegetarian. I eat (living) plants. I rely on the death of other creatures to survive. But I try to be mindful of the sacrifices, to be aware of what, how, and why I consume. To be thankful. I overuse and abuse my gifts. I "sin" as much as other people in the U.S. I encourage us to do this less, to slow down, to eventually stop. It's gonna take a lot of work, a lot of people loving each other, a lot of (sustainable) communities. Places where you leave the world, the land, the same as or better than you left it - not where you (we) consume everything and leave desolation. Matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but we're certainly permuting a lot of it out of whack in ways that will require more energy (and more resources) than we can harness to "correct." I could go on (and have in several edits of this post already). Instead, I'll open the floor to you to pick up where I left off.
Naidoo also says,
"Let me make a very controversial statement that I might regret. I don't think environmental organizations will win the challenge of environmental justice on their own. I think it will only be won if environmental activism becomes more broad-based activism where environmentalism is located in a broader framework of social justice, economic justice and so on."
It floors me that this statement is still controversial. I'm taking bits of this blog to my church, to my social justice committee there.
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| | Posted 9/30/2010 8:19 AM - 52 Views - 8 eProps - 10 comments
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--"Yay! More [you-know-what]!"
AND
--"Get your pamphlets out of my FACE!"
Regarding the 8-earths myth: we will never have this kind of social justice UNTIL the things we need are that easy to obtain that they can all come from one earth. Many people in charge couldn't give a toss about this, and don't mind if these people live in squalor. I mention this because I--dependent as I am on GMO crops and cheap shoes--am not the only one who would really like a bunch of low-wage workers making everything I own cheaper. Until we get to the idea that it SHOULD be done, no one will give a damn about how it CAN be.
To tie back to that quote in blue: the sad reality is that social justice, economic justice, and environmental justice are big dense problems that will take ages to solve. Until the world at-large gives a damn--only then will they be truly solved.