From the different spheres of both social and human sciences, those of us who live on planet Earth call our attention that our common home is sick and in intensive care.
On April 22, we have commemorated World Earth Day. Social networks and the activities and writings of many environmental defenders have informed and alerted us to the collective suicide that we are heading towards, since very little is done to respect the Earth and reverse the accelerated destruction of nature.
Already in 1987, 36 years ago, a United Nations report informed us of the consequences of the destruction of nature and the misuse of its resources: “The Earth is one, but the world is not. We all depend on a single biosphere for the sustenance of our lives. Some use the Earth’s resources at such a rate that they would leave little for future generations. Others, in an even greater proportion, consume too little and live with a panorama of hunger, misery, disease and premature death.
In the year 2000, 23 years ago, a group of scientists and well-known people, among others Leonardo Boff; the former president of the Soviet Union (USSR), Mikhail Gorbachev; the well-known Argentine singer Mercedes Soza, launched a cry of alert with the “Earth Charter”. Here are the first and last lines: “We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a moment when humanity must choose its future. We are one human family and one terrestrial community with a common destiny.”
In 2015, Pope Francis gave us his encyclical letter “Laudato si – Praise be” on the care of the common home due to its accelerated destruction. Pope Francis delivered a “scathing critique of consumerism and irresponsible development” with a plea for swift and unified global action “to combat environmental degradation and climate change.”
The time has come to move from reflection to action, to practice, personally and socially.
It is very important to keep in mind that the Earth is a living being like us and we are not apart from it but a living and loving part of it.
To achieve this we must practice what Eduardo Galeano says: Lots of little people, in little places, doing little things, can change the world. That is to say, do not contaminate with personal and family garbage, do not waste water, avoid the consumption of food, clothing, equipment, decorations, toys and a long etc.
In the macro, the time has come to resume the ideas of social organizations, especially ecological communities in which we help each other to change our daily practice, mind and heart. Not only fight against mining, but against all extraction of different non-renewable natural resources.