Keep to the Golden Mean

 

Since the early and mid-seventies man realized that his progress was coming at a cost. Till then it was not realized that all the scientific and technological progress that was being achieved was coming at a cost. Nature was being harmed irreversibly. But once the scientific community confirmed this, the politicians immediately jumped on this ecological bandwagon and started driving it themselves.

It became necessary to be an environmentalist whether you believed in that sort of a thing. These politicians profited from some of the most polluting industries in the world but kept up a public image which made them champion environmentalists.

The environmental bandwagon has been running since then. Any leader in any corner of the world was forced to support the cause of nature conservation whether he or she believed in it or not.

There was no dearth of activists in the three decades till the start of the new century. Environmental protection was a cause which received world-wide support from the governments and the people. It was the thing to do. But world di not take any drastic steps to curb environmental pollution. This can be understood because it was understood that curbing pollution had a direct bearing on people’s incomes.  

Fast forward to the decade of 2010s onwards. Greta Thunberg a Swedish girl appeared out of nowhere and began to rave about the damage done to the environment by the earlier generations, especially politicians. She was welcomed as if she were a messiah sent to wake up mankind from its slumbers. Naturally, the politicians and the world leaders had to pay attention, and humor her because she gained popularity very quickly.

Her forceful rhetoric and direct approach was new to the people and won her a huge following. Greta began to advise governments and even experts as to how to run their economies. There were sane voices of experts and other people who advised that whatever she was saying was not practical. But their voices were drowned in the noise that was created by Greta Thunberg’s campaigns.

When the people start following a cult the politician and leaders have to follow suit. Greta Thunberg began to call out industries like fracking, the oil industry, thermal plants and demanded that they be shut down to cut down on pollution. Such drastic measures impact adversely directly on the economy of any country. But some political leaders tried to implement them, with disastrous consequences. There were job losses and disinvestment in these industries. These short sighted measures undertaken on the words of a girl touted as a messiah could not be implemented for long.

Today Greta Thunberg is not heard anywhere. The world could not afford her anger.

What the world needs is a gradual shift towards more sustainable exploitation and consumption of resources. Drastic measures will not work without causing disruptions and will only create more problems. The cure cannot be worse than the disease.