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As a society, we've chosen to prioritize financial interests above all else; thereby, robbing future generations of the richness and majesty that makes the worl

As a society, we've chosen to prioritize financial interests above all else; thereby, robbing future generations of the richness and majesty that makes the world a beautiful place. When propagandists successfully politicized environmental protection, they set us on a path that not only ensured the mass extinction of thousands of species of plants and animals, but also jeopardized the survival of our own species. No one has a full picture of what the impacts of the impending extinctions and climate events will be, but I believe characterizing them as an existential crisis for the human race is accurate. Money doesn't do much good when the food and water are poisoned, the air is toxic to breathe, and vast portions of the continents are under water. Unfortunately, we're not well adapted to dealing with slow moving threats such as these, so addressing the situation while there's still time seems dubious at best.

hanniabu 8y ago
> As a society, we've chosen to prioritize financial interests above all else; As a government* While the government is supposed to be for the people, by the people, they often act against the desires and interests of the population.
- eropple 8y ago
  Dunno where you are, but in the States somewhere between forty-five and fifty-five percent of the voting public will vote for just about anything if it's good "for the economy". (That is the charitable reading of their voting record, anyway.)
  - clarkmoody 8y ago
    Nah, they'll vote for anything their party tells them to. Most people don't have any sort of guiding principles. Their decisions are mainly based on tribalism, identity, and partisanship.
- jmcqk6 8y ago
  >> As a society > As a government These are not different things. The government is made up of people from society. There is no secret cabal running things, just a bunch of people. If you want to treat the government as something other than yourself, then this is the inevitable result.
athenot 8y ago
> Money doesn't do much good when the food and water are poisoned, the air is toxic to breathe, and vast portions of the continents are under water. Unfortunately, those who stand the most to profit are also those who can mitigate the damage for themselves with costly workarounds such as fresh bottled water imported from the opposite side of the world, high tech air filtration systems and secondary homes in remote places. In other words, they don't care.
justicezyx 8y ago
As a society? Since when the common people have much say in any nontrivial large-scale policies? Name one that the behindscen motivation isn't cooperate profit?
- tmountain 8y ago
  While our democracy is clearly flawed here in the US, we still have say in whom we're putting into office. A broad stroke of the electorate choose to put people in office who are outwardly hostile to environmental protection measures, so yes, as a society we allow these things to happen.
- berbec 8y ago
  School desegregation.

hanniabu 8y ago

> As a society, we've chosen to prioritize financial interests above all else; As a government* While the government is supposed to be for the people, by the people, they often act against the desires and interests of the population.

eropple 8y ago
Dunno where you are, but in the States somewhere between forty-five and fifty-five percent of the voting public will vote for just about anything if it's good "for the economy". (That is the charitable reading of their voting record, anyway.)
- clarkmoody 8y ago
  Nah, they'll vote for anything their party tells them to. Most people don't have any sort of guiding principles. Their decisions are mainly based on tribalism, identity, and partisanship.
jmcqk6 8y ago
>> As a society > As a government These are not different things. The government is made up of people from society. There is no secret cabal running things, just a bunch of people. If you want to treat the government as something other than yourself, then this is the inevitable result.

athenot 8y ago

> Money doesn't do much good when the food and water are poisoned, the air is toxic to breathe, and vast portions of the continents are under water. Unfortunately, those who stand the most to profit are also those who can mitigate the damage for themselves with costly workarounds such as fresh bottled water imported from the opposite side of the world, high tech air filtration systems and secondary homes in remote places. In other words, they don't care.

justicezyx 8y ago

As a society? Since when the common people have much say in any nontrivial large-scale policies? Name one that the behindscen motivation isn't cooperate profit?

tmountain 8y ago
While our democracy is clearly flawed here in the US, we still have say in whom we're putting into office. A broad stroke of the electorate choose to put people in office who are outwardly hostile to environmental protection measures, so yes, as a society we allow these things to happen.
berbec 8y ago
School desegregation.