Post #5
Climate change is no longer an issue of having fingers pointed at us — the highest greenhouse gas emitters — while we overindulge on Lindt truffles and watch the Real Housewives of Orange County in ignorant bliss (just me?). But I digress. Climate Change is a very apparent and very serious problem; some hot places are getting hotter, some cold places are getting colder, seas are rising, storms are brewing, etc. The fact that there are still individuals — *cough cough* the White House — who deny it baffles me. It is an issue that, sure, will globally affect various platforms such as the economy, but mostly will affect the livelihood of innocent people.
Amid the ignorant brutes who have no regard for their actions, there are also huge activists in mitigating climate change. Among those activists is Latin America. As a continent who is home to many nations at high risk, it is only natural that there were major criticisms as the Trump Administration pulled out of the Paris Agreement in June of Last year. Because of this political move, efforts to mitigate climate change from other Paris Agreement members will have to increase drastically. In Latin America, many actions were already in place, but once the withdraw occurred, even more needed to be rushed into effect. Although a future of efficacy of Paris Agreement goals that once seemed uncertain for Latin America is now actually being lead by them, the question for others — namely the U.S. and others of the same mindset — at what point will the issue of climate change extend beyond the general public’s neglected to-do list?
The United Nations defines Human Rights as:
“…rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more.”
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 provides over 30 articles of human rights. One of those rights is the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Unfortunately, some of these human rights have been infringed upon for some cultures due to the actions of others. In her TedTalk, Dr. Elizabeth Lindsey enthusiastically narrates her endeavors in keeping cultures alive through sharing their stories. It is unfortunate that some of us place more value on ourselves than others. Who do we think we are? To live with such wild abandon and no regard for others? We are thousands of cultures under one species. Dr. Lindsey shared a story of a Sardinian woman’s words — “you are children of the gods”. When reflecting on that phrase and this discussion of human rights, I cannot get a verse from my favorite poem out of my head. Max Ehrmann reminds us:
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
The threat of global warming risks the extinction of so many innocent cultures who have contributed nothing to their own demise. Whether it’s the disappearing cultures, Latin American coastal countries, or whoever — we all have the right to be here.
In his TedTalk, National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis acknowledges and honors many of the individuals from around the world that he has shared stories with — stories that he believes can change the world. Davis points out that the world isn’t just suffering ecologically, but also it is suffering ethnologically. Many cultures are dying out, not because of the inability to keep up with a world advancing in technology, but because of their inability to compete with the power showcased by ethnocentric societies. We as Americans weren’t forced to hide in the shadows of the mountains after the invention of the car… but Native Americans were forced from their indigenous land onto reservations because of the power of Europeans with weapons.
The idea that cultures with a large presence either feel threatened by the idea of a “polycultural” world, or are so infatuated with their own culture that they don’t care what happens to others lines up perfectly with the criticism Farish Noor makes about Beyond Eurocentrism. It is not our job nor our right to view everything from a White Ango Saxon Protestant — AKA “WASP” — view. We must acknowledge and honor that other world views exist. Where’s the fun and beauty in viewing the earth from a monochromatic lens?
