It's What We Do With Our Power

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live in another country? A country where you don't have the freedom of speech that Americans do? Have you ever thought about what that would mean for the environment?

Bell, in An Invitation to Environmental Sociology, brings up a good point: is democratization "a source of the environmental movement"? Without democracy, where would the environment in America be?

Think about it. Democracy gives us the rights to vote, to assemble, and more importantly protest. Without those rights, would there be any concern or voice of reason that would back the environment up? Maybe democracy is allowing people to fight for the environment and giving it a voice.

                                

But do all of those rights also hurt us as well? In America, we have the right to do pretty much whatever we want, even if it does hurt the environment. In America, we have the right to buy whatever we want, eat whatever we want, go wherever we want. But what is the cost of all of that?

Think about this: woman have the right to buy and wear whatever they want. In some countries, that is not the case at all. But I've seen woman wearing fur coats. Real fur coats. Think about what that is doing not only to the animal, but the environment in general. We are taking the lives of animals and using it as fashion. Because we can. Because we have that power. Because we have that right. Because we really have the right to do whatever the hell we want without having to think about the consequences.

                                         

Though it is a smaller example, the things we do and decisions we make every day affect the environment. And sometimes the rights and freedoms we have living in a democracy can help the environment and allow it to have a voice through our people. But can it also hurt us as well? With everything we do, we have the environment in our hands.