We will go on
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
The quote above is from one of my favourite books, The Lorax. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the story: the Once-ler, a failed industrialist who cuts down truffula trees to make a garment called a thneed, destroys the environment through his endeavours. Later, we find the Once-ler in seclusion, telling the story to any rare passerby who has the time to listen. The fee he charges for the tale is the shell of a great-great-great-grandfather snail. When I remember this, I just wonder whether the people of our generation will even be able to meet their grandfathers, let alone a great-great-great grandparent.
In the past, the world seemed to operate slowly, where the effects of small acts would be seen decades, maybe even centuries later. In theory, sentiments, behaviours, and habits change slowly over time. But in our age of technological advancement, we can watch things in real time and talk to each other even if we’re an ocean apart. What’s ironic is that the destruction of our earth is also occurring in real time, right before our eyes. We have really mastered advancement in all aspects.
Global warming is what climate change was called when I was in elementary school, where we were taught to avoid being “litter-bugs” and informed that the Arctic was melting . Many years later, there’s a greater sense of urgency around climate change; our climate situation has become dire and is becoming increasingly unfixable. If this emergency is not treated with the attention and priority it deserves, then yes, the future is hopeless.
The question is: why are we being passive in the face of this challenge? Why are we lacking the will to work together to slow down the destruction of the earth?
I think that society’s increasing nihilism is not helping the cause. We’re all living in an existential dread, not knowing whether there is anything to live for. However, I think that anything is really what you make of it. There were many in the past who thought that the future held no promise for themselves and for future generations- but, it turns out they were wrong. The world has changed, and shifted, and not all of it has been bad. We’ve had human victories worth celebrating, and witnessed things that those before us could have only dreamed of, like self-driving cars and smartphones. When I think of all that we have accomplished thus far as a human race, I’m in awe.
I will end it with this: I do not know, nor can I predict, where we’re going and what the trajectory of the human race will be. But, I know that we have made it here, and that is reason enough for hope. Maybe I’m being naive, maybe not. But I say that pessimism breeds more pessimism, so I’ll remain optimistic. We’ve changed the structure of human society and earth so drastically over the past few centuries that I believe we can do so again.
As I alluded to earlier, our ability and willingness to take action is our compass on the path of hope. Will we head onto the path of utopia or dystopia? I think the key to predicting what will happen depends on our collective societal cooperation. Only if we as humans decide to honestly work together, including- and especially- those in power who have the resources to do so, do we have a chance at achieving a utopian society. I can only hope that the disaster that we’re in right now is what it takes for humans to band together and work towards change. When that happens-which it will-because Elysium is not impossible, then the change that is needed will happen. Only then will we have a realistic version of the utopia that’s written about in our books and that even the Once-ler and the Lorax could only dream of .
