passing on the cost

Excerpt from the book - Breaking free of Nehru by Sanjeev Sabhlok

The problem is that we are all guilty, to a lesser or to a greater extent, of such violations of justice. Our collective neglect of the environment has now created a situation where many animal and plant forms are seriously threatened, apart from the damage caused to millions of other human beings. As an example, each time we buy products made from a tree that has not been fully replaced, we pass on at least the following (small) cost to others: 

• the cost of increased flooding and damage to topsoil is passed on to those who live downstream of the forest from which the tree was culled;
• reduced opportunity to make a living by those who make a living off the by-products of the trees;
• slightly less oxygen to breathe for all citizens of the world; and 
• slightly higher temperature and excessive climatic variation consequent to the reduced absorption of Carbon dioxide - faced by all citizens of the world.

In addition, there is a loss to the food chain in the wild, as well as loss of habitat provided by that tree to birds, bees and other animal and plant life. 

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Thinking seriously on the above excerpt, or even if I think of the process itself, we are causing too much of damage to many such things out of absolute ignorance. Since our lives are intricately bound by the continuing success of all other species of life, how can we be so ignorant on such things? Are we a free society yet?

Srik

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