Complacency is the Enemy

“Climate change will not announce itself as an apocalyptic event, Climate change is a silent war that has already begun”. This quote can be found at the opening images of the video One Planet Once Chance. The reason why I chose this quote is because of the power that these words hold, and its accuracy in describing a notion that is widely accepted between individuals, the notion that just because climate change isn’t something that can be seen can only mean it is not real. An overwhelming number of people refuse to recognize the reality of climate change and the consequences that could come as a result of it, while others simply choose to ignore it. This quote made me think of the complacency of most of humanity believing that, because we do not feel the full effects of climate change right now or because we cannot see it occurring in our backyards, it is something we can put in the backseat and deal with later. People let this issue slide over their heads because our mortgages, rent, bills, and other problems are far more important than this one global problem, besides if it is a global problem than other people should deal with it right? Why me? This also brought up the idea of people believing that their actions are of little consequence to the bigger problem, individuals fail to recognize the magnitude in which their mindset is amplified. You may think that your 30 minute hot shower or leaving the tv on all night may not have caused the problem directly (and perhaps that is true) but millions of other people thinking the exact same way and doing the exact same thing certainly did cause this problem. We have reached a critical point in our history where although we have grown accustomed and satisfied with our way of living we must learn and change our ways so that our complacency and our self-satisfaction with the world doesn’t end up being what ends us.

 

That is all.