Homo Homini Lupus

It was once said: homo homini lupus - man is a wolf to man. We destroy everything we create, we blur the reality just to live a façade and we find bliss in sheer ignorance. The environmental crisis we now live is the quintessential ignorance in a blind, deaf and mute society.

One could say that such an issue is trivial when compared to famine, terrorism or the economic crisis, among the several problems humanity is facing. All of them lead to severe consequences, that is unquestionable. However, are they as bad as the tragedies caused by the climate crisis we are now finding ourselves in?

Famine inexorably strikes undeveloped countries and poor areas around the globe. Whether due to a matter of bad administration or simply a general tendency to ignore problems this issue is still given more attention from the media as a whole than environment. Moreover, the solution to this is far less radical than the one needed to solve all the problems caused by our environmental unawareness.

Terrorism sets fear even on the heart of the bravest. One attack is enough to prove how fragile mankind is. It is also another fruit of a blind society, which refuses to claim guilt on anything it has caused. Yet, terrorist attacks have decreased since the WTC event, for this has touched deep on the world's proudest nation's wound, causing immediate retaliation and thus, being increasingly reduced throughout the years.

When it comes to the economic crisis, this is not the first nor the last we will face. Economists learn with one mistake to make another. Nonetheless, this kind of crisis has always been overcome, and it will likely be once more.

This leaves us, then, with one final problem which has silently gone global. It has always been in front of our faces and yet, again we turned a blind eye to what we should have not. Forgetting about the environment is forgetting about our very own existence. It is the same as playing with a loaded gun. The truth, however, is that the gun has already been fired. The damages are uncountable and our lives are at stake.

None can say when exactly it is going to hit our city or neighbourhood, and yet, directly or indirectly, everybody is already being affected. Whether it is famine, terrorism, economic crisis or environmental crisis it is high time mankind takes a decisive step toward the solution to these urgent matters, otherwise the price for our blissful ignorance, for not protecting ourselves, will be too high to be paid.