Why we aren't making enough progress in the environmental debate

It’s because there are essentially two sides. One side knows the problems and their solutions. The other side doesn’t want to hear about them and resists change. And both sides are responsible for the fact that not enough is changing.

Even though it might seem that way, this isn’t about assigning blame; it’s about the responsibility of both sides and how empathy could be the solution.

To generalize a bit, environmentalists have dared to look our recurring global madness in the face, and they feel helpless, angry, and misunderstood. The less people listen to them, the louder they become. It is incomprehensible to them how others can look away like this, thereby endangering all people, wildlife, and plants.

But let’s also look at the other side with empathy. Why don’t more people listen? Because they’re completely overwhelmed. They have enough to deal with their own painful issues. On top of that come the world’s problems, which bombard them daily. How are they supposed to bear accusations of guilt and calls for change now, when they’re already so full of their own fears and deep-seated pain? Impossible!

Overburdened people have no choice but to shut themselves off from more, to look away, to ignore it. Perhaps until they have the capacity for it or their personal fears have been replaced by societal ones. 

Environmentalists, too, are overwhelmed; they have simply chosen a different strategy. Their own personal pain, still unhealed, is projected outward as anger and despair, with nature becoming the stage for our emotions.

What I’m getting at is that we must all first address our own issues, heal them, and then face our responsibilities on this planet as fully mature adults. I believe it is very important that both sides have learned to deal well with their own painful issues so that these do not burden the debates about our survival and that of our fellow living beings. Only when we can meet each other with empathy, meeting the other side where they stand, will we sit at the same table—free from fear and guilt, but with a sense of responsibility and mutual respect, as well as an appreciation for our lives here.