The Climate

So I was thinking about the whole climate thing going on in society right now. I agree we should be mindful of the climate, and our impact on it. But I don’t agree the government should force common individuals into certain habits and prohibit them from making choices. It’s the same old problem as with any dictatorship: it might be a great model of rule, as long as the dictator is wise enough and good enough. And I don’t think any human individual or group can achieve either of those criteria. What I mean is this. Who is to say that the measurements the current government deem most important are actually important at all? To force a nation’s citizens do certain things, or not do certain things, or pay for certain things are decisions not to be taken lightly. And it seems that when it comes to environmental issues, there are a lot of trends that come and go. Take the diesel cars for instance. Just a few years ago, they were labeled as environmentally friendly and were subsidized by the government. Now, just a few years later, they are suddenly the worst thing ever and are all but banned. So today, electrical cars and wind-power are the saviors of our society and our planet. Alright, but will they still be in five years?

But actually, this is not what I want to talk about. Because whatever we come up with to “fix” the climate, the details of the journey is not as interesting as the destination in this case. It seems to me that everyone is talking about what to do or not to do to deal with the climate. What I would like to know is, what do we do next? Let’s say we fix the climate. Everyone stops flying and using plastic and starts riding a bike or walking. And the earth is clean again (or you know, cleaner). Then what? Have we achieved unlimited happiness then? Will our society flourish and our children prosper forever? I think not. And I think everyone knows this, deep (very deep) down. It just seems tragic to me, that some will fight so hard for a cause that it in the end leads nowhere. Don’t get me wrong — it’s definitely preferable to live on a less-polluted earth compared to a more-polluted earth. But at the same time, life will go on and the real problems for our children and anyone still around will be the same as always. Namely, finding meaning. Finding a life worth living. And this is where it becomes interesting, because I imagine many environmental activists find this sense of meaning in the very struggle for the environment, so in a way they are the biggest losers if the environment would actually at some point reach that state of “being saved” that they struggle to reach. It would actually be quite interesting to know what would happen. Would those people realize as we closed in on that desired situation that their cause was coming to an end? How would they react?

I believe we have seen this situation in other causes throughout history. For instance, rebellions led by socialists against the evil rulers that usually end up with an evil ruler rising from the ashes of the overthrown society, who initially claimed to have the purpose to prevent a new evil ruler to rise from the ashes of the overthrown society. I’m not saying the same will happen with this movement of environmental activism. But I don’t see the harm in discussing possible outcomes and comparing with history. And what’s more important — we must not lose sight of the truly important things in life and the real struggle to find truth. We must never let any single topic of society, politics or economics cloud our vision of what it truly means to be human. It is important that we take good care of the earth. But I believe the best way to do this is not by forcefully taking away the choices of individuals, but by enabling them to make good choices themselves. For if we would end up with a clean earth full of people forced into submission, what would we have achieved? The freedom of the individuals must come before the needs of the earth. And there must be a way to uphold and empower both the people and the planet.