Building a better future

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” – Greek proverb

Don’t be narrow-minded or short-sighted. Some actions have short-term benefits, but long-term consequences. The easy statement for the cynic to make is, “oh well. I’ll be dead before it ever affects me.” But that is no way to think to build a better future.

An example that comes to mind is environmental health. The short-sighted action is to deregulate laws that make it difficult for oil companies to drill offshore. Without these laws, it would allow for increased production/profitability for the oil companies and because there is more supply available, it should offer decreased costs (in theory) for the consumer. What is missed in this though is that it often comes with decreasing safety standards, protocol, or other items that serve as a barrier…this barrier acts to protect the environment (avoiding another oil spilling disaster) and to protect their employees (as this can be a dangerous profession). If we’re not driven solely by money, we should be on board to have crucial safety measures in place, right?

So, the options above are, maximize company profit now at the expense of the earth’s and the company’s employee’s health OR lower company profits and increase the health and safety of the earth and the company’s employees.

What do you think the oil companies will choose? The oil conglomerates, their lobbyists, and even some of our own politicians have a lot to gain (or lose) financially based on how much oil can be extracted. They think so short-term that they try to convince themselves that what they’re doing is fine. It’s safe. It’s not bad for the environment. There’s no such thing as global warming, or if there is, that what we humans do has no effect on it. They want more money in their bank accounts and are willing to sacrifice the health and safety standards of others to get it. After all, they’ll be dead before we see the true ramifications for what they’re doing. Greed is an ugly thing.

There are more examples out there like this, many of them not as obvious. But think about what you can do in your daily life to build a better future. Build it, if not for yourself then for your children, or your children’s children.

Try thinking about the long-term consequences of your actions and then act based on your predicted consequences. You may never see the desired result, but at least you know that you have contributed towards a better future.