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Disposable People, Disposable Planet
We’ve rounded the corner to the end of the year, and, like many people here on Medium, I’ve taken a look back at my writing. Unwittingly, I seem to have followed a theme in much of my political and cultural commentary: disposability. I never used the word or even discussed the concept directly, yet it was there lurking behind many of my essays. I made a commitment to write more about climate change, and I believe that’s what shook the realization loose.
I’m not an environmentalist, but I’ve always tried to be responsible about my impact on the environment. I hate living anywhere driving is mandatory. Traffic, of course, can be enraging, but thinking about all the harmful emissions makes my back hurt. I prefer cities with mass transit systems or walkable towns. I’ve always been aware of environmental issues and deeply bothered by the careless management of the planet’s natural resources, but it honestly wasn’t an animating force in my life. When I began writing about climate change, I realized how much of the unease and fear about the issue I’d packed away and wasn’t thinking about. I had to confront the truth: The climatic conditions required for human survival are being destroyed, probably irreversibly. What should have been an intellectual exercise became a deeply emotional one.
