Despite being a powerful force when mobilized, social movements and workers rarely utilize their power and in most cases are unaware of their power. Environmental issues such as global warming and climate change are the greatest threat posed to humanity, and they are a direct consequence of the damage resulting from the industrialization of societies. Therefore, this paper will explore how the power of social movements and workers can be tapped and utilized in environmental preservation and pollution reduction efforts.
The planetary management view that the societies in the Western world have adopted is based on the fact that they seem to be largely unaware of their inherent reliance on the natural world; this ignorance has allowed economic production, militarism and wars, consumption, excessive waste, and pollution. If the societies and workers are made aware of the simple fact that their communities cannot survive outside the natural environment, then it would be significantly easier for a push towards a reduction and reversal in the damage being done. The knowledge of pending doom is crucial in ensuring that the worst forms of industrialization are managed. In a capitalistic or even state-socialist nation the people inclusive or workers hold significant sway; for example, in recent years companies have had to resort to green and environmentally friendly policies and products after the consumers (people) began rejecting their harmful substances.
On the other hand, the Earth Wisdom View clarifies that Industrialization in most instances is disastrous to nature and environment, their importance in human living standards is negated by their impacts on other societies. It is surprising that a single country can consume more than 25% of world’s energy and produce more than half the world’s garbage while producing a significant percentage of the environment destroying, ozone depleting pollution. When the workers and the social movements acknowledge that Earth is planet occupied by other nations who often bear the blunt of climate change and global warming alongside millions of other species, and the natural resources that are so extravagantly consumed and wasted are finite then change will be inevitable.
Works Cited
Clark, William C. Managing Planet Earth. New York: Springer, 1989. Print.
Macnaghten, Phil and Bronislaw Szerszynski. "Living the Global Social Experiment: An Analysis of Public Discourse on Solar Radiation Management and its Implications for Governance." Global Environmental Change 23.2 (2013): 465-474. Print.
