Photo by Pixabay from Pexels
I was having dinner with a friend in her mid 70s, and she was remembering significant global events she has lived through, e.g., wars, assassinations, cultural revolutions. She said, “But never in my life have I seen anything like the global upheaval caused by the coronavirus.”
That got me to thinking: Imagine what actions might result if we, the citizens of the earth, took as seriously imminent destruction to the environment as we’re taking this COVID-19 pandemic.
What if…
…people decided to have remote business meetings and conferences not because of possible virus transmission but because every time a plane leaves the tarmac, massive amounts of dangerous carbon is put into the air? And what if we decided to work from home because of emissions caused by our driving habits not out of worry of being breathed on by an infected colleague?
…shelves were empty not because of panic buying but because we had contaminated our water and our food and forgotten how to grow it?
…our medicines, gadgets and the comforts of life became inaccessible not because workers in the global South were incapacitated but because the environmental damage felt disproportionally by people in those areas affected their ability to meet our desire for stuff?
…entire cities were locked down not because of government quarantines and possible mass infection but because of rising sea waters and possible washouts of entire cities caused by us?
…the concern felt for leaders in politics, business persons, entertainment giants and sports stars who give us feelings of stability and hope were felt for the animals and plants threatened by our destructive actions which indeed give us stability and hope?
What if our response to environmental destruction was on the same scale as COVID-19?
Surely, our personal actions would be different; our policies would be intact and more aggressive; our global collaboration would be amplified.
What if we took tomorrow’s “COVID-2050” as seriously as we’re taking today’s COVID-19?
This post originally appeared at Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
A Maryknoll lay missioner since 2011, Maria Montello teaches philosophy and critical thinking at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the Catholic Major Seminary there.
Thank you so much for the provoking thoughts you have shared…I will share your message with others. You are absolutely right on the money. If only we are concerned about saving the earth as we are about saving lives, what a world it would be?
Very insightful and stirring. Thank you!
Good to hear. And, ironically, saving the Earth means, ultimately, saving ourselves. The issue with the environment is, of course, everything happens more slowly, almost imperceptibly. You don’t see videos on TV of polar bears singing from ice flows because of their “social” isolation.