Cris Virgil M. Pescadero, BAPS 4
STS 40, Section E
Among the schools of thought in Sociology, we have witnessed debates on how men actually have lived in relation to its environment, and even vice versa. Idealist Dialectics presents to us how an idea can be used to make an object, stating that ideas form and create the consciousness towards the environment, that the real world is a reflection of the mind. On the other hand, Historical Dialectics tells us otherwise. It says that men, in the state of nature, will live according to the structures and needs that is present in the environment. Historical Dialectics then poses to us a simple question-what comes first, man or environment? It is then clear to say, basing it from the scientific discoveries, that the environment (or the Pangaea) actually existed way before the existence of men in the areas of the world. With the environment coming first before man, we'll take a look at how men utilized the environment to suit the needs, and further proposing sustainable ideas and concepts that will make the world livable for the next number of centuries to come.
Man's Utility of the Environment: A Historical Outline
The basic climate during the ancient times in the earliest recorded history, compared with the middle ages, presents that climate has not really changed a lot. We have seen huge ups and downs in the climate since the coming of the Industrial Age, with the upsurge of technology using carbon-emitting machinery leading the vast industrial tract. In the past, man's utility of nature is direct—with that we mean that men directly used nature for its consumption an utility. Men directly made use of the environment to satisfy their own needs. We can see a pattern in here, however, that men is, at the continuum, utilizing the environment for survival and existence. During the age of savagery, and up to the age of barbarism, men have exploited the environment. However, this exploitation was never a danger because in the natural process, the consumed items is just repatriated and replenished.
During the Middle Ages, men have actually experienced a rebirth of a civilization. In the words of Sociology, human societies can be classified into as Savage, Barbaric and Civilized. Middle Ages has presented to us, upon its closure, the development of the Renaissance where men rethought the ancient civilization. The once not-so-complicated utility of men of his environment then transformed into a very exploitative nature upon the development of new ideas and inventions, which catered to the “growing” needs of man for his own survival. These needs, although dictated by some known or unknown forces, continually destroyed the aspirations of men for a sustainable future.
The Revolutions: How these changed the then simple life of men, and its implications to the society
Four revolutions were actually recorded in the history of the world (actually, these revolutions were purely Western in context.) Agricultural Revolution started during the existence of settlements when men looked and settled in places where they can plant and practice the art of horticulture. Agricultural revolution transformed the whole human society from a primitive, nomadic life to a settling population. With the existence of settlements come the ability of men to exploit a single area which can serve as the place for farming and agriculture. We see here that men only exploited one site, thus a need for other sites for exploitation is not actually necessary.
The Scientific Revolution during the Renaissance gave rise to new inventions which made man utilize his environment to cater to his own needs. However, needs were no longer limited to just basic needs of shelter, food and clothing but by then included desires which not necessarily needed for existence. Idealist Dialectics would tell us that ideas will create man's environment. This can be true during this time. As men continually developed his own and and his environment on the basis of his desires, he is actually creating a demand for exploitation over nature. This revolution started the increasing upsurge of environmental exploitation. Worse thing is, human are still fond of creating new unnecessary needs without thinking of a sustainable future. We will tackle about these in the succeeding sections.
The Industrial revolution is probably the most labor-intensive and environmentally-exploitative revolution that the world has witnessed. Steam engine, which is a product of the industrial revolution, is a carbon-emitting technology which uses fossil fuels and coal for operation. Industrial Revolution paved a way for the development of new technologies which only cater to the needs of the people, not necessarily considering the consequences that it can bring to the environment. Industrial Revolution is a means of men to utilize the environment at its optimum. Information Revolution, on the other hand, came as a surprise when the world actually got smaller with the access of information being held by any one in the globe. Along with the Information Revolution comes the sharing of ideas and concerns that are actually patterned in ways that no man can understand. During this revolution, cultures and societies already interact with each other. With the sharing of ideas, men realize that their concerns are not actually devoid of the rest of the world's concern. Climate Change, for instance, has been observed with the sharing of information from one part of the world to the other. This revolution, although helpful in bringing up consciousness to the people, is actually not environmentally-exploitative compared with the prior revolutions that the world has witnessed.
Man's Utility of the Environment and Its Relations
With man's utility of the environment, one can see that his efforts for survival will actually lead to its extinction, and a mere threat of extinction is actually a means for the people to rethink on their actions towards environment exploitation. Although there are places where changes in patterns in the society is actually not apparent, the general patterns in the world system is actually based on the local events which is a reflection of the changes in the environment.
Man's mechanical utility was once helpful in his existence and survival as he used his environment to answer his needs. However, this utility, when not regulated, actually creates a threat to human life. During the time of feudalism, when the relations of men to the owners of production were farmer to tenant, the only means of production was the land. The land is tilled and transformed into productive land which provided for the growing demand for food during the feudal era. With the onslaught of capitalism, we have witnessed how the laborers have been exploited, and the proletariat-bourgeoisie relations was formed upon the introduction of money as a capital. Different from feudalism, capitalism has created more demands besides just food and other basic needs that is present during the relations of farmer and tenant during the feudal era. Capitalism has moved for more exploitation of the environment as it created more needs which are actually false needs. Nowadays, the capitalist system has produced a wide scale of disaster as it focuses on just mere economic structure, other than survival for future needs. What makes capitalism more exploitative that other systems is that it uses technology which are not necessarily environment-friendly. Environment-friendly machineries and technologies offer much bigger future sustainability, but its present cost is high. States tend to go for lower cost technologies because they opt for short-term goals of soceital development.
The Future of the World: Sustainability and Society
With the growing need for new technologies brought about by the needs created anew alongside the development of other things, men can only utilize environment as a resource. No other source can provide for the needs of man other than the benefits that his environment can offer. Historically, we have witnessed how humans' mechanical utility of the environment is used for survival. Alongside the need for survival is the continuous urge for the development. In the present times, survival is no longer the sole concern of the people and most especially of the society. Different means have been employed for the survival and the development of the human race. We have utility of men over his environment, we have ownership of the means of production and most especially we have technology which caters to the “growing needs” of the people.
The point of view in this modern world is no longer a survival of just one species, but rather the survival of the living. Alongside the call for this, societies in the different parts of the world compete with each other for dominion. One should not forget that the only source for any movement in the human species will come from the environment. Mountains, seashores, and rivers have been exploited and has been used up to its full capacity. In the future, some of these will disappear in the thin air. Man is the only species in the animal kingdom that exploits the environment way beyond its capacity to produce. When forests get denuded, when oceans lose its fishes, when rivers fry up, that is the only time that we will realize that money cannot be eaten.
The call for sustainable society is a multidimensional process. It will aim to tackle economic and social issues which are relevant to the continued existence of mankind. The proposals on Green Technologies as evident in some developed states creates an impression that the once states who only struggle for world dominion now opens up on the possibility of adopting a sustainable future. On the local level, we will continue to look for advantages of a sustainable development because our own mindset is still entrenched in the idea of a simple economic development which is by nature very exploitative. What needs to be done is the realization that for humankind to exist in the future generations, anthropocentrism or human-centered development is not the key. What the world needs is a neo-humanist thought that will tackle on human needs but considering whatever there is that will affect him and his society—with the environment as the major factor to be reckoned with.
