Not only does this quote reflect a very real situation but also a very sad situation. Roberson's quote also brings to the fore many moral and ethical questions that intersect with the study of sustainability. Why is war bad? How can the population steady itself out without such paradigmatic statistics (birthrates of developing versus industrialized countries)? Should developed countries allow this sort of policy for its own citizens? All of these questions are extremely scary to think about because they all brush their paint on competitive parts of the canvas of our world. In so doing, we tend to think about these questions from the sociological lens of in-group/out-group relationships. Should the United States not attempt to out breed a developing country who has not produced as many advances in science and technology? I cannot say that I agree because that is flat out disgusting, but it shows an interesting problem in the solution to our population growth problems. How do we stabilize the birthrates of developing countries? Robertson, with just cause, doesn't attempt to answer such specific questions because then she would be stepping into a moral spider trap of no escape. Does it mean more international restrictions on births as we saw in countries like China before its capitalistic policies began to unbind such legal wrappings? Or does it mean asking countries to comply and hoping that they do? To be sustainable means, then, to approach the population question through the lens of changing the conscious mentalities of every human being on the planet and this means beginning education at very young ages all over the world, most importantly in those nations where the birth rates are out of control. I think Robertson, then, misses some key areas of why developing countries have yet to experience a demographic transition. Does "social and economic progress hold(sic) the key to escaping from the demographic trap" (Robertson, 2014)? Poverty doesn't cause high birth rates... What it does is encourage high birthrates and therefore is a correlative mechanism with increased population. Providing education that changes the mental composition of those living in such a society, while providing economic opportunities that align with their particular worldview, will, in my view, enhance our options and spur, in some regards, developing counties toward their demographic transition periods. Social conditions will thus change along with psychological condition. I think the methodology, the social constructed method, misses some of the individualistic realities that we all face as humans and thus looks only at macro-progressions and macro-changes, and not necessarily individual or mico-changes in such societies.
However we look at it though, there seems to be many problems facing humanity as the world's resources are slowly petering away. With population growth at an exponential level, our hopes for long term survival are slowly diminishing unless the world goes through a demographic transition holistically. What needs to be found is the root causes of why population increases and how we can all tackle such problems -- this is always up for debate.
"We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and global are linked. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world. The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live with reverence for the mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in nature." (Earth Charter, 1992)
Although this is in the preamble, these couple sentences struck a cord for me. Not in the political sense but on an individual level. I do not wish to create international constitutions that dictate the values of all, however, I think the idea is necessary to be a good person, to find an ethical foundation for our nature of being. If we do not, we are constricted to a nothing in our being that is fundamentally lacking any identity outside of the whole and of the predestined values already in place. Human history has seen many so-called crises. And humanity has always responded by creating documents like the Earth Charter. This is part of the ebb and flow of human society and how we are predisposed to think about the past, present, and future no matter how many theories of relativity attempt to tell us otherwise. So when we look at the internal, we find places in ourselves that literally combat the outside hysteria we find all over the place. In doing so, we project an image that may imprint itself upon many people we come in contact with and if they too embody those traits then we can find common ground to remain stoic in the face of unimpeachable danger. We can look at the world and then find something both individual and holistic. But this doesn't require us to break the bonds of that create a kinship group of like-mindedness. In fact, competition is key to our survival. It is in the way we approach competition that may need to change and this is what I believe the Earth Charter does -- in some areas -- and doesn't do extremely well. It aims to give us an image of a pseudo-religious cause that connects us directly with our planetary body, but it fails to realize that without some of these anxieties we may never travel beyond this planet and into the unknown reaches of our galaxy. This is why, although the Earth Charter is necessary, it doesn't necessary reflect some of the mechanisms that may spur further advances in some areas of our imagination. I wish it would because looking into space at night is one of the most beautiful things the eye can set itself upon. What it does extremely well is tell us that to be humble and to connect with everyone else around us is an extremely important thing. And I have to agree because mutual support is so important for the psychologically imperfect humans that we all are. One of my favorite short story collections by Italo Calvino puts both of these ideas center stage as the main character, qwfwq -- who is meant to be a paradox in time -- travels from earth to many other planetary bodies in search of emotions and companionship. This is a fundamental truth we should all hold dearly. It is a shame many of us don't.
No comments:
Post a Comment