Unravelling why people do not change their lifestyles for the future of the planet even though the evidence is here.

They give you tips:

1. Have your own reusable bottle
2. Buy a reusable straw
3. Have your own reusable bag for grocery shopping
4. Only buy what is necessary
5. Become a vegan
6. Take shorter showers
7. Stop buying regular household products, they´re full of chemicals
8. Walk, or bike; diminish your carbon footprint
9. Stop buying things you do not need

I could keep going for hours writing this long, and useful list. Because it is useful. It gives you the facts, and it’s clear and direct on how to make a change. But the problem is, they are not tackling the origin of the problem, only the solutions, and without the origin and its understanding, no one will just make a change out of nowhere.

Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash

At this point my Dear reader, you should be asking yourself what the origin is. The origin is the way in which you act, or the way in which you live, and why that contradicts the principles of sustainability. Only 1% of us have had a fruitful life with wealth, high-level education, decent people surrounding us 98% of the time, and the ability of doing pretty much whatever we want. If this 1% is part of the most educated, shouldn't we be the most knowledgeable about sustainability and the future of planet Earth?

Two issues enter here:

The circle of wealth: the 1% which could cause the biggest positive impact in the fastest way, is surrounded by wealth, by money, by businesses, by success equaling being rich. And when success equals money, think “shit”. Not because money cannot buy happiness, but because there is a disregard for everything in the natural surroundings as a result of one thought: $$$$. Economically speaking, there is a continuous feedback loop of a market failure in the whole capitalistic society of today's world:

The 1% which could turn the world around is blinded by the outcome of capitalism and by what the goal of economics has been defined as: growth. So this, this here, Sapiens, is the problem. The 1% needs to understand that capitalism is the best economic system up to now (which will probably change in the next 100 years), but it has a huge flaw where there is a disregard and exploitation of the raw materials. You might have heard this already, but currently, we are using the Earths resources as if it was 1.6 times its size. So you see, what you need to understand (if you have not), is that the problem comes from ideas that we have grown up with, ideas of wealth, ideas of human gods where natural resources are infinite, and ideas of selfishness and a lack of education about the topic. I´ve uncovered for you the real issue of the blind mentality, and now you can define what economics means for you (growth or balance). If you want to be part of the exploitation of the resources to achieve negative growth, at least be aware of the situation and choose to ignore it (but always be able to talk about it), or choose the small steps listed at the beginning (and more of them), and fight against exploitation for your future, your family, and the natural world.

The second issue found is the lack of innovation in education: We have been taught the same courses with small modification over the last 200 years. Economics, business, mathematics, life sciences, psychology... And they are wonderful, they are needed to understand the basis of knowledge and we should not eliminate them just yet. But this is the 21st century, we are in the age of the biggest technological advances seen in history, and we are in the time where what we do in the next 12 years will determine the future of this planet. So what to do all over the world? Implement education of THIS era. Of the now and the yet to come. Future generations need to grow understanding technology and sustainability. They need to comprehend the importance of eco-mindful thought, and the perspectives and creations within technology.

Here, things will start tumbling a bit; sustainability does not only focus on green thinking. It focuses on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals: if children grow to learn about this, more leaders will be seen, and more perspectives which could create big changes may arise from different backgrounds. We do not need The 1% for a change if there is an education of the now. Adequate education will do the job of creating big minds who aim for alternative thought. There are some offsets about this point: in poor countries, there needs to be either more government spending on education or help from other nations. But why would other countries have any type of economic incentive to help? This is for you to leave in the comments below.

Photo by kazuend on Unsplash

So, these are the two origins of the problem: the lack of worldwide education of the now and the yet to come, and the 1% who has grown thinking in a capitalistic society where growth= success, and where there is a disregard on nature. Tackle these two problems and people will start changing for themselves.

Note: this is almost impossible for the West. They have grown with a capitalistic mind of a self-consumer. It´s a part of them. Asking a person to change their way of living here, is asking them to change who they are. Education on the other side, is an issue of unbalance, where the money is concentrated in 20% of the countries.

There is still hope, and with all of you, my Dear Sapiens, the message will be spread slowly.