W.C Lawson (The Beacon)
By W.C. Lawson, Staff Commentary
Everyone wants to talk about inequality. Well then, let's talk.
There is a huge problem with the human race that most people don't know about, are afraid to talk about or don't want to talk about.
In modern-day society, we as a species are born into a normalized culture that is killing itself. I'm not talking about guns or war. I'm talking about the structure in our daily lives, as we have taken materialization into its own hands where it is actually controlling us.
Under a microscope on the planet, one could see that we are feeding more pollutants and carcinogens into the air as we industrialize. Not only are we harming ourselves in the long-term of our species, we are taking out all other forms of life on Earth.
If we spent more time worrying about the generational inequality of human species, we would ultimately have even more time to worry about other social issues that people care about, such as nondiscrimination, legalization of marijuana, abortion, healthcare and so forth.
Local author and Buddhist practitioner Paul Levy couldn't have said it better in his latest book, "Dispelling Wetiko."
"Let's look at how we are using our energy: we are literally investing our resources into developing engines of mass destruction so as to keep ourselves safe and protect ourselves," Levy wrote. "In the process, we are destroying each other, ourselves, and the biosphere. We are literally feeding and supporting our own genocide."
As a species, we are mentally ill. If we weren't, why would we be doing this?
We have let religion and God take their place so much in our lives that we have even created our very own cop-out for our lack of compassion: Man is born subject to ignorance as we have sinned.
Let's be honest. We are the most intelligent species on the planet and since we have let the idea persist that one day we will be saved by an inter-dimensional being, we have become complacent in our own trajectory. This isn't to say religion is at fault. Instead, our reaction to religion has led us, with full intellect and will, to sacrifice the long-term freedom of preserving humanity for the short-term convenience of living in so-called "luxury."
We have seen examples from our history, especially from westernized civilization. From oil companies buying patents of electric-powered vehicles to expanding waste-filled products, greed, money and capitalizing on others has become our number one priority as humans.
The evolution of the biosphere can't keep up with the evolution of our technology. The worst part is, we know that. Even though we are aware on a very surface level that green energy is more ethical than depleting our natural resources, we are totally willing to continue doing so.
Again, if we spent all of our time worrying about preserving the planet now, we would have the opportunity to discuss other social issues later.
When the last leaf falls, it doesn't matter what sexual orientation you are, what race you are, what nationality you are, what gender you are or what religion you follow, because there will be no one around to judge one way or another. The most titanic-proportioned case of social inequality is between past and modern people, and future humans to come.
W.C. Lawson is a junior communications major. He can be reached at lawson14@up.edu.
