Is there time left to save the world?

In late 2014, I was lucky enough to experience Christopher Nolans masterpiece: Interstellar.
Do not let the title fool you into thinking it involves extra-terrestrials and lightsabers. No, this
film portrayed our world with as much realism as possible. Even the scientific theories are
accurate. Then again, it helps when renowned astrophysicist; Kip Thorn is the producer. To
summarise the three-hour film: Earth has run out of food, and humans are reduced to
surviving off crops that are also close to extinction. To save humanity, our protagonists travel
through a wormhole, enter a black hole, and infiltrate the 5th dimension. All the while
managing to evacuate earth before its too late. My summarisation does the film no justice,
but nonetheless, Interstellar is a classic example of art imitating life; a portrayal of the path
we humans currently tread, and the potential wrath of Mother Nature we may incur.
I think such a premise resonates with what Chloe King and Christopher Smith, who declare
in the first issue of Debate: The earth is everything we have, and I think it is worth fighting
for. We cannot hope to fall upon a wormhole in our solar system, allowing us to bend space
and time so that we may colonise another planet, only to pursue the same erroneous course
that may well damn this planet. If we do not alter the course, some of us will burn, others will
freeze, and some will drown. What happens on this side of the planet matters on the other
side of the planet. Either way, our fates are intertwined. So where does this environmental
cause for concern begin and end? More often than not, it starts in your hands as a
cheeseburger, a chicken nugget, or toppings on the pizza you purchased from Hell Pizza.
Ironically, hell is where it all ends.
Farming is our nations bloodiest industry, and a living hell for many animals trapped inside.
Bear in mind, greenhouse gases, pollution of water ways, and rising sea levels are
connected with the slaughter of sentient beings for human taste buds. Cows, sheep, pigs,
chickens and fish may not be intelligent like us, but they do breathe and feel pain like us.
And perhaps, some will argue, it is our right to dominate these animals for our consumption.
I have heard this rhetoric before. Sexists argue the domination of females is acceptable

based on physicality. This claim to domination allow racists to justify their treatment of
minorities as a matter of might makes right. This belief in might makes right allows us to
wage, as Serj Tankian proclaims: War with land and all of its creatures. Our nations core
industrial enterprise mimics the profiteering found in the economies based on war. Death
and destruction become profitable variables so long as they are directed against the other.
The environment and every species that inhabits it, including members of different
nationalities become the other. Fortunately, I am not the first person to make the
aforementioned points. Bob Torres, in his inspirational publication: Making a Killing: The
Politics of Animal Rights, does a far better job at highlighting the injustice of modern day
farming, and its effects on climate change than I ever could. However, I would like to
summarise the suggestions Torres puts forward, starting with what we should not do, and
following with what we can do.
We should not financially contribute to disingenuous non-profit organisations that operate
multimillion dollar headquarters. Organisations that were once humble now operate as a
business, employing individuals to sign you up for regular donations that line the pockets of
executives in Versace suits. Changing how the world works should be not be an
entrepreneurial endeavour. As Torres states, you can be your own activist or as I prefer;
pioneer of change. When you commit yourself to change, you strive to make the world a
better place and you will accomplish more than any politician could hope to achieve. So how
does one become a pioneer of change? It is simple and it starts with individual selfregulation; the rejection of consumerist waste such as the latest IPhone produced by sweat
shop labourers working for 2 cents per hour is an action anyone can do, it does not require
chopping down trees to make placards which are later discarded in the weekly trash. The
rejection of activities harmful to the environment and to ourselves. When individuals stop
eating at McDonalds; stop purchasing their overpriced latte or Ariana Grande at Starbucks;
make use of public transport; cease handing out thousands of flyers to advertise protest
rallies, which never make it to the recycling bin, then meaningful change can come about.

Some will argue that such efforts are not enough; I agree, but that does not make such
efforts less morally just, nor less effective. And for those of you who are not yet convinced,
allow me to repeat the words of James Q Wilson who proclaims there are less racists today
than there were 50 years ago, because American civil rights leaders chose to punish racist
behaviour. To maximise on such endeavours as others have mentioned will require structural
change. The feminist movement is an ideal example of structural change in which the
dismantling of patriarchal forces allowed woman greater freedom. However, the fight for
racial and gender equality is far from over, much as in the same way choosing to live in
manner considerate to the environment does not mean environmental pollution will
disappear entirely. If we commit to one course of action while ignoring the other, we in effect,
compromise our goals and that, I think, is hypocritical. Compromise and hypocrisy are
qualities best embodied by career politicians; not individuals who are of a good character.
Structural change should be pursued in conjunction with individual change. We should not
force ourselves to pick between the two; we can have the best of both worlds.
Some may fault me for championing animal rights and concern for the environment ahead of
human rights. I am not, for the benevolence we extend to the tiniest creatures on this earth;
we extend to members of our own species. In Sister Species: Woman, Animals and Social
Justice; Lisa Kemmerer quotes Martin Luther king to remind us that all oppressions are
intrinsically linked. Sexism, racism, speciesism; ideologies not only immoral but destructive
to the environment. If we alter the way we live our lives, bring about structural change that
seeks to protect the environment and punish those who transgress against Mother Nature,
we may just reverse the damage done to our planet.