I always find that discussing the human’s impact on the Planet Earth always leaves a bad taste in people’s mouthes. I know that personally, a lot of the time, walking out of a talk like that, the solution seems impossible. How are we as a planet supposed to come together to reverse what we have done to the world itself when some nations are still dealing with things like civil wars? What I found really interesting was the talk about responsibility and privilege. Who does the responsibility fall to? Are all nations expected to step up and be a part of a bigger solution? Do countries that are dealing with civil war need to be as concerned with saving the planet as other countries do?
In my opinion, living in a country like the United States is a privilege that comes with responsibility. Recently, after looking at images of refugees pouring out of Syria, not knowing where there next meal is going to come from, it is even more evident how lucky we are to live here. There are more pressing day-to-day concerns for Syrians to worry about than climate change and human impact on the planet. Larger, more developed nations have the privilege to live in a place where issues such as the Anthropocene and climate change are considered pressing issues. People living in other countries don’t have that luxury, even if they too are involved in the problem itself. Ultimately, I think that the responsibility to reverse the effects of the Anthropocene fall onto the shoulders of nations such as the United States.