University of Namur / Law
The translation of this testimony was generated automatically by a translation program. Thanks for your understanding.
I think every day about the negative effects of our way of life on the environment and on other human beings, wherever they are in the world. Issues of social justice have become part – maybe the most important one – of this systemic thinking. It seems to me that a society that is not supportive cannot be resilient. As I was born in 85, I see myself as a pure product of the consumer society, so the changes I try to implement mainly concern the way my family consume : we try to reconfigure our minds to be satisfied with just what we need and to select fair and close production channels. In the same idea, we have relearned to respect non consumable items: to repair, reuse and share them instead of buying new stuff all the time. It is a completely different way of seeing the world, the resources we take from it, and it permeates everything we do : day-to-day family and professional life, holidays, parties, … It is a never-ending but exciting path. One of the most difficult things on that path is to deal with our own inconsistencies and nowadays constant and infuriating greenwashing of companies and institutions. Maybe the most decisive change in society should be made at a psychological level : we lack imagination to provide for alternatives. We seem not to be able to imagine we could be happy while living a more simple life. We cherish freedom but we have become slaves of a consumerist culture, for the benefit of very few persons, and nevertheless we are afraid to change the model.
Originally posted 2018-06-29 03:08:46.