so it took me a while to decide what i was going to write about for this post. i had a lot on my mind and loads to chose from like religion, the holidays, finals and education or family. something has been sparking my attention all semester in my ecology class and now further reinforced itself today. that is that world has become too reliant on money. both making it and spending it- not wisely i will add. now, money is a topic anyone could go on forever about but i am going to narrow it down to the influence of business on the life of the consuming american.
all semester in ecology we looked at alternate ways of farming, obtaining energy and producing fuel. we also studied the methods used today and compared them to new ones that could be used instead to benefit the environment. most of the methods used today had a negative impact for the environment or the consumer- whether it be air pollution, water pollution, deforestation, cancer etc. the new methods always had a positive impact on the environment hence the reason why they were thought up in the first place. for all of the new methods we researched pros and cons. the new methods had positive health and environmental benefits. most importantly though, a constant con to the new methods was money. simply enough, the government and big corporations do not want to put the money and labor in to something when they can get the same results synthetically for less money despite health risks.
as an example, wind power. wind power is an alternative energy method that many places in this country support. however, there are an over whelming amount of people who do not. their reasons are that it can hurt the bird population, it makes too much noise and that the costs of making the wind power plants are way to high.
as a person who is growing up in a society where science has made life easier, this really worries me. sometimes the science that is making life easier tends to be more detrimental to our health and planet. this is finally becoming noticed now because things that started while my parents were young are now showing to be bad for your health. the reason why these things are not being taken out of society is because life would dramatically change if they were. for example, cars and gasoline polluting the air. i am not a HUGE environmental activist that preaches about everything, but it hurts to see many environmental decisions based off of money.
i first realized this issue through the environment and the side effects of technology that we are seeing today. but when you really think about it, everything in society is like this. it is a monopoly, all a business move. unfortunately the consumer is not benefited by the monopoly. in the end, america is run by business. each business only looks out for its consumers so much. science is a business and as a side note so is education and government. in each monopoly these businesses create decisions are made by the benefit the business receives - not the consumer.
this is a subject that puts america between a rock and a hard place. as a democracy, business is a large part of the basis that this country was founded on. without business- america would just be a giant dictatorship. its sad to say, but business is entirely necessary. it is what makes america stand above so many other countries throughout the world. one wish i do have is that american business become smarter. what i mean by that is they put their consumers first to do what is right rather than less expensive. i think there is hope. the world is becoming more aware of the flaws that money in science causes. with environmental knowledge, people have the choice whether to subject themselves to it- or- completely revolutionize finding alternative ways of living and saving the place that gives them life.
