How can they live like this?

 

"How can they live like this?"

We have all heard this.

When faced with the squalor of the poor people living in slums.

The garbage piled up, with open sewerage flowing through living spaces.

We turn our noses up, literally, and find ourselves questioning why they don't dispose of the trash and create basic sanitation.

The assumption is that we, who live in carefully manicured suburbs would if placed in those circumstances, will not live like that.

Our neighbours in these exclusive areas regularly spend weekends cleaning up the roadside and planting flowers on the verges.

If we can do it, why can't they?

This is the mindset.

I believe that we are approaching this from the wrong perspective.

To compare our lives to that of those in the slums is not a fair comparison.

We are not living hand to mouth, with no guarantee of three meals a day and this is the key difference. Those in the slums don't have access to clean water and servants and all the services we take for granted.

Let us look carefully at the actual issue.

We see people throwing garbage without any regard for their neighbours or children. Their actions are short-sighted. Their children will be born into the squalor and in their lives, they will most likely just add to the problem. The mountain of filth seems insurmountable but if it were dealt with at the beginning it would not exist.

To equate that to our lives would not be to compare our beautiful lawns with theirs but to look at our carbon footprint.

We who are the masters of the universe with all the wealth to water our lawns and trim our hedges, knowingly burn fossil fuels and pollute the oceans and rivers with our industry all while knowing the effects on the climate of the planet.

This is a fair comparison.

Our consumerism leads us to generate garbage and packaging on an unprecedented scale. We burn fossil fuels to power our big screen TVs and are prepared to kick the can down the road. Our children are born in a world in crisis and we don't try to reduce our carbon footprint and the footprint of our production. We don't care about the rising sea levels and how many people it will displace in the world.

We can sing Kumbaya and go through the motions of recycling, but we don't really do anything meaningful or even believe that our small efforts can make a difference. All the while we keep on killing the oceans and destroying the atmosphere.

The earth was not polluted and destroyed by the garbage piling up in the slums.

It is us the industrialists who knowingly stripped the earth of its vegetation and polluted the atmosphere on an epic scale. It is us who brought us to where we are today.

The carefully manicured lawns and recycle bins are an illusion.

If those who don't have a solid roof over their heads were to spend time and effort cleaning their surroundings it will not solve the real problem.

We the frantic, frenzied Amazon generation are the real reason the Earth is turning to desert and the ice caps melting.

Physician Heal thyself.

June 2022
M Parak.

I asked chat gpt 3 to improve this post and got this. 

Living in squalor: The hidden connections between poverty and environmental degradation"

We have all seen it: the piles of garbage, open sewage flowing through living spaces, and the abject poverty of those living in slums. It's easy to turn our noses up and question why they don't take care of their surroundings. But is this the right way to look at the problem?

The truth is, comparing our lives to those living in slums is not a fair comparison. We are not living hand to mouth, with no guarantee of three meals a day, and this is the key difference. Those in the slums don't have access to clean water and basic services that we take for granted. But instead of judging them, let's look at the root of the problem.

Research shows that poverty and environmental degradation are closely linked. In slums, residents often don't have the resources or access to proper waste management and sanitation services. As a result, they are forced to live in unsanitary conditions that harm their health and the environment. Meanwhile, our consumerist society generates an unprecedented amount of waste and pollution. Our burning of fossil fuels and industrial activities are major contributors to climate change, but we often turn a blind eye to these issues.

It's easy to point fingers at those living in slums, but the real problem lies with us. Our consumerism, our lack of action to reduce our carbon footprint, and our disregard for the consequences of our actions are the true drivers of environmental degradation.

So, what can we do? Instead of just recycling and going through the motions, we can take meaningful actions to reduce our environmental impact. We can reduce our consumption, invest in renewable energy, and support policies that address poverty and the environment.

It's time for us to take responsibility for our actions and work towards a better future for all.