Me, myself, and I

Environmentalists are selfish. Posters and protests, advocacy and activism: these are the results of self-centered concerns. Stand too close to the portrait of eco-altruism those granola crunchers paint for you and you’ll lose sight of this fact. Do not be fooled! Every Green Peacer and carbon-ceaser has one common, inalienable, and egoistic impulse to serve his own best interest. And this is exactly as it should be.

What motivation exists in this world that is more powerful or more tangible than the drive for self-preservation? We are inescapably bound to our bodies and our selves; our ability to survive is the single greatest limiting factor on our ability to act. The basic fact is that we have to be here if we’re going to get anything accomplished. In this way, environmentalism is first and foremost a human rights issue. The fight may manifest itself as protection of natural resources, but the final goal is the struggle to maintain life. Yes, it is abhorrent to imagine our home planet transforming into the nightmarish future that will come if fundamental and universal changes do not occur. But it is even more repugnant to imagine our place in that apocalyptic dystopia. All idealism aside, what we are fighting for is ourselves.

To find some precedent for these conclusions, look to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Whatever your politics are on the issue of the universalism or relativism or imperialistic nature of the United Nations, the UDHR is a fantastic rumination on the basic needs that compel and allow human beings to live. How better to understand human motivation than to consider those things that are necessitated by it? Look to the most basic article of the UDHR, Article 3, which states, Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Ambiguous, no? What can be taken from this declarative statement other than, simply, people have a right to live. Life is self-apparently inviolate. If we can believe this, then environmentalism is defended, because it is first and foremost the protection of the self.

This egoism, however, does not negate the altruism at the heart of the cause. It is the quintessential argument of the Golden Rule, with added self-defense. Environmentally minded people treat the earth with respect for the sake of others while at the same time treating the earth with respect for the sake of the self. This reciprocity is a collective life insurance policy. I’ll recycle my bottles if you recycle yours. Where the system falls apart is when the society does not behave uniformly, and this is the moment that you see active environmentalism spring to life. What might be construed as compassionate concern for fellow man is in reality nothing more than the attempt to enforce reciprocal self-interest. Yes, we want you to use renewable energy sources! Yes, we want you to reduce consumption! But it isn’t for you, it’s for ourselves. There is no greater equalizing factor than the shared bleak repercussions of a world without the ability to sustain life. So, while it is not for a lack of a sense of fraternity, when we come down to brass tacks, the call to reduce, reuse and recycle is just as much a coat of armor as it is an invitation to cooperate.

Marcus Aurelius, the stoic Roman emperor wrote in ‘Meditations’, “If the power of thought is common to all, common also is reason, through which we are rational beings. If so, then reason is common which tells us what to do and what not to do. If so, law also is common. If so, we are citizens. If so, we are fellow members of a community. If so, the universe is as it were a city. For of what other community can the whole human race be said to be fellow members?” This is the idea behind any defense of human rights, of which I argue that environmentalism is one. If the necessity to live is shared by everyone, then the instinct to live must be so, too. And, as Marcus so logically puts it, if we share the same basic goals, we must share the same basic guidelines, and in this way, we become a unit. This is the only mindset that will enable environmentalism to succeed. Until each person recognizes that the protection of the planet is the protection of the self —and therefore the fulfillment of our most basic needs—we exist each one of us in a community of one. United we will fall and divided we will stand.

Elizabeth Kipp-Giusti is a Columbia College sophomore majoring in religion with a concentration in human rights. She is a Columbia EcoRep. A Tree Grows in Morningside runs alternate Fridays. opinion@columbiaspectator.com