Astronaut Garan’s perspective is a striking metaphor, yet it does not leave me enchanted. Not because I dislike the astronaut or his opinion, but some truths such as this are already known to us. These facts are clearly visible and tangible, even as we stand here on Earth. Obviously, I can easily understand problems faced on earth, without even travelling to any part of the space.
My question is,
Do we really need to leave Earth to see what’s broken?
While his message is thoughtful considering his perspectives from outer space, at its heart, it only echoes the same pressing discomfort that urgently calls to confront our misplaced priorities.
The Lies We Live
As stated earlier, I do not feel a need for one to travel to another orbit, only to realise that Earth is whole. Also, it is well known to us that earth is the only planet that is suitable to call our home. Sadly, we witness our planet increasingly getting compartmentalised and living fractured lives. Using Garan’s lines, there are no borders from space. But, ironically, man-made borders have become the sources of tensions and conflicts on earth.
The greatest threats to humanity today are not natural disasters, but heinous man-made catastrophes. Who creates wars, inequality, environmental degradation, and the climate crisis? These are not miscarriage of nature, but purposeful consequences impregnated by human greed and ego.
Wars displace millions, annihilate infrastructure, and leave behind strings of trauma that survives for generations. Famine is not always born of drought, but these days, it turns to be another illegitimate offspring of conflict and political manipulation. Economic sanctions are always conceived in the womb of corruptions, abhorrence, and dominance to strangulate civilian populations.
At the heart of it all lies immutable DNA of hypocrisy. Nations that declare the loudest to uphold world peace manufacture proxy wars, aggravate arms races, and engineer regime changes. Institutions borne to uphold peace are suffocating and struggling to challenge on actions launched by superpowers. Climate agreements designed to combat climate change are handcuffed by national interests. Each change in leadership reshuffles global priorities, unleashing tsunamis that erodes global progress, and flood the world with erosion of instability and inconsistency.
The real inconvenient truth is all about changing our mindset and not the climate change or natural disasters. We know what must change, but we resist because it threatens our ego, our comfort, our profit, and our power. We are, indeed, living a lie.
At times, thinking of these, I wish those who exploit the world with their power, ego, and money find another place to live and never return.
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