Weighing the costs of luxury
By Liu Shinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-18 15:21
Updated: 2007-07-18 15:21
It is unreasonable to blame people for craving a higher resolution TV set, a faster computer or an automobile that is easier and more comfortable to drive. It is human nature to constantly seek greater enjoyment. Hundreds of years of development of modern industry have led us to believe that science and technology are invincible and omnipotent, and that so long as human beings are willing to explore new ideas, they have the power to raise the level of human enjoyment without limit. In other words, we assume that painstaking effort is the only fee we need to pay in exchange for a life of constant improvement.
However, the huge piles of electronic garbage remind us that we have ignored a more fundamental cost of modern luxury - the draining of resources and the pollution of the air, earth and water. We should ask ourselves: Is it moral for us to mine the resources of this planet beyond what our generation needs, cutting into our offspring's stake just to pander to our incessant avarice for luxurious enjoyment?
Email: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn
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