I can think of an ethical issue that involves the very
possibility of a good life for millions of babies and young people worldwide.
It is also an issue that causes misery and death right now to thousands of
young people worldwide. This issue is getting worse by the decade and many well
educated, professional experts in their fields of knowledge have warned us that
unless we stop what we are doing, we, as a species will suffer unimaginable
misery and chaos.
However, instead of public discussion about this issue, right
now in Australia we have a bunch of politicians, academics and media
commentators who think that their ideological take on issues such as single parent families,
homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion, Christian (and other) religious education
are more important. Don’t get me wrong, all these issues are of some consequence
in a society that has no other major problems, however, they are trivial when
compared and contrasted to … the ethical issue of global warming and climate
change.
While all of the issues above
affect minorities in our communities, global warming seriously affects every
being on this planet. We can debate the right to life nuances of the ethics of
abortion, yet untold millions of innocent and non-consenting lives will be cut
short by climate chaos. These 'innocents' also have a 'right to life' and their life chances should be given priority ethical consideration. While historical and heritage issues are important in
our education system, nothing could be more important than survival education
about global warming and climate change and how, if allowed to continue, it will devastate the life-chances
of all future generations of human and non-human beings. Education about how to avoid such climate chaos should be the top priority of all education systems. It is all a matter of perspective and it is
time we got the perspective right.
The ethics are crystal clear, global warming and consequent
climate chaos has the demonstrable potential to smash our culture, agriculture
and the industrial-technological foundation of our current society. It will render our species hugely less
populous and culturally depauperate. It will also take global biodiversity into
a period of mass extinction that has no precedence in history … as this time it
will be ‘us’ that will be the certain cause. To not recognise this, given the
advanced state of scientific consensus about knowledge on this issue, is to
engage the capacity for evil. Evil is the deliberate (wicked) continuance of
actions that we know will seriously adversely affect others, particularly the
innocent, into the future.
To deliberately ignore that which is core to all life and perversely focus solely on issues that affect small minorities sits solidly within my definition of evil. The greatest irony now is that
many of those who openly claim the moral high ground on these minority moral
issues are the same people who deny the reality of global warming. It is time
to reveal the wickedness of their position and do our best to refocus on that
which really matters.
What
I am suggesting is that 'we' take over ownership of the
moral high ground and demonstrate to the public that the position of global warming denialists and sceptics is
Evil. From every perspective possible (including religion) their
position is one where a huge ethical issue
is ignored and a values diversion (e.g., religious education) is put
front and centre. Since 'they' ignore facts, the only argument that can
hurt them is one they claim to have a vested interest in. We need to hit
them hard with a values argument that questions their priorities and
foundations. The 'right to life' is one such values issue. There will be
over 100 million babies born worldwide this year ... the biggest
ethical issue for them will be a habitable world by the time they are
mature. An ethically motivated person can worry about abortion and
global warming but only one of these two issues involves the foundation
of life for all human and other beings. It is a question of balance and
priority.
