Through my experience of living half in developed Europe and half in developing countries in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Amazon, I have seen very often how money is destroying our earth, and how life in Europe, where it is ten times more expensive than in developing countries, is causing destruction. Many in Europe say that you shouldn't buy cheap goods, because that would exploit people in developing countries, but that's not true, because they still only get a tenth of the price for production. What is true is, that all the money from rich countries can not only buy everything, but also because they can pay more than local buyers, in developing countries, there is a shortage of their raw materials in their own country, and in addition, the people are destroying their own country and the future of their country, in order to get their hands on what little money there is by Western standards.
For example, with palm oil, it is not only the case that it is only grown in developing countries, it is also the case that local people only get the bad yellow oil from the pulp, while the good white oil from the kernels is only available for export. The much better coconut oil that used to be sold locally, is no longer produced, the palm oil companies have made sure of that. And since the palm oil companies can sell their oil to Europe at a higher price, they have stopped selling it in their own country, so that as a result there is no longer any frying oil. In addition, the palm oil companies are clearing all remaining forests, until there is nothing left, to make money from exports to Europe.
By spending money in Europe, the forests in all tropical countries are being destroyed; nothing can prevent this, except by not spending money for consumption. And since consuming costs so much money in rich countries, it also causes a disproportionate amount of destruction. Money is directly destroying our earth, money is something devilish. Without money from rich countries for raw materials, the destruction of jungles could not be financed at all. This also ensures, that the gap between rich and poor in developing countries is increasing in the name of so-called development.
In order to preserve our earth, everyone who lives in rich countries must drastically reduce their consumption. There is no other way, because the continued development of many countries, means that the problem is constantly increasing anyway. The more expensive a product is, the more impact it has on destruction, because of the higher purchasing power of companies in poor countries. That's why I never want to live in a rich country again, because I don't want to contribute disproportionately to the destruction of our earth.
Money is actually a neutral tool, but despite its material worthlessness, it is poison. Just as poison can help in small quantities and can be a medicine, in larger quantities or in an overdose it is usually devastating for the basis of life. As the Indians once said about the Europeans, only after the last means of living have been destroyed for money, will people realize that money cannot be eaten.
Campaigns
We need to rethink environmental protection campaigns. For example, instead of condemning the workers of gold mines in the jungle, we should condemn the high level of consumption, that these workers make possible for the rich. Of course, it must be prevented that large machines such as excavators come into the jungle, which accelerate the destruction enormously, but the workers themselves consume below-average few resources for their lives in their simple accommodations, and without everything that city dwellers think they need, and therefore put hardly any strain on the planet.
The gold mine workers are just trying to live, they neither created the problem of our planet, nor can they end it. We should not look at people's work to survive as the cause of destruction, but rather at what people consume, and then we see that those who consume the most, those who live in the big cities, which are based on exploitation, they are most to blame for the destruction of our planet, and only they can end the problem, because of their power to have the money with them.
Consumerism and greed are destroying our planet, not the activities of ordinary people seeking ways to survive. To drive them out will not change anything, as long as the demand for more and more raw materials continues to grow. Others will then do the work. But as the demand for more and more raw materials disappears, the problem of mining disappears too. That's why any campaign to save the planet, must start where consumption happens, with the rich, advertising, economic growth and living standards. We have to stop judging quality of life through consumption, we have to see and evaluate quality of life independently of what we consume, in order to have a future on this planet.
If you give up high consumption, the economists will certainly argue, that you will then turn your country into a developing country, that no longer controls world events, and will therefore be one of the exploited ones in the long term, because prosperity is not possible without exploitation and poverty of others. Yes, that can very well happen if we don't make the change together, but I would say, that it is more important to me, not to be part of the destruction of our planet. If the argument then comes, that this can be regulated or managed through laws without any disadvantages to oneself, then I have to say, that it doesn't work, because in rich countries the laws are circumvented, and in poorer countries they are ignored or bought, everything for the sake of destructive economic growth.
The demand for products, for high consumption, is much more powerful than any law, because of the money behind it. In the countries where the biggest destruction takes place, the poor countries, the law is just a facade, the reality (especially outside the big cities) follows completely different principles, money determines everything there, also because the officials, the police and the soldiers, who actually don't need to worry about their income, are using their position to get rich, at the expense of ordinary people and nature. And when a rich investor comes from a big city, all local life and business of ordinary people is over, for the benefit of big money. This is then declared progress, but at the same time it also destroys the culture and livelihood for future generations. Money is poison that kills in too large doses, and laws are just a facade that belongs to the "beautiful glittering world" to hide reality.
