IT USED to be that the struggle was between social classes, between rich employers and poor laborers.
Yet new battle lines that transcend class are being drawn worldwide between victimizers and victims. Like rich and poor white folks are victimizing rich and poor people of color. Rich and poor black, brown and white homophobic folks discriminate against rich and poor, black, brown and white LGBTQ’s. Black, brown and white folks are trafficking black, brown and white men, women and children.
Today it is getting increasingly evident that climate change is shifting and drawing the battle lines between destroyers/polluters of the environment on one side and Mother Nature/planet earth on the other. Our planet has slowly been dying from the unrestrained destructive exploitation of its limited resources by neoliberals of both the left and the right variety and from the pollution of the environment by our indiscriminate and harmful disposal of waste.
The results of the former’s greed and the irresponsibility of the rest of us are destructive earthquakes and tsunamis, typhoons/hurricanes and torrential rains that cause floods and landslides. Ocean food fish are dying from ingesting waste mercury, lead and plastic. Islands are disappearing because of the rise of ocean water levels from melting icecaps in the North and South Poles.
Socialist ideologies on the left, capitalist ideologies on the right and neoliberals of both left and right are all fighting for dominance in the drive to exploit earth’s resources. They mouth off transcendent religious and down-to-earth good human reasons. But however good these reasons sound, the end result will be the same: the ultimate survival of planet earth through the destruction of its nemesis, greedy, irresponsible earthling.
Because we are not heeding Mother Nature’s warnings, the situation can only get worse, until before we know it the tipping point is reached and man is on his way to becoming as extinct as the dodo. Lest we forget, nature can survive without man. In fact she existed billions of years before man arrived. Man, however, cannot survive without nature.
We, therefore, can no longer choose to stand behind either side of traditional political battle lines. If we want to survive or want our children to inherit a livable earth we must unite, rich and poor, rightists and leftists and rally behind the green flag of those who commit to protect and promote a healthy and life-enhancing environment.
Our choice is to stand with Mother Nature on her side of the battle line or perish from the face of the earth on the side of greedy exploitation and irresponsible pollution. We can start by minimizing the use of single-use plastics and disposing of them properly.