November 20, 2016 - 16:11
When I first started reading As the World Burns, I, just like the author of "As the World Burns Questions and Response," felt hopeless. It seemed like absolutely nothing could work. None of our so-called simple solutions would ever be viable. However, when reading the end battle scene and viewing the images, I felt a new sense of possibility and hope. Just the fact that the humans and the animals eventually came together to defeat what was killing the earth filled me with a new sense of hope.
With reconsideration, I feel that the authors were trying to convey a more hopeful message. It is possible to change the way our world works and stop corporations from destroying the environment; it will just take a lot more than what we are doing now. How did we ever let ourselves be fooled by those "50 simple steps" in the first place? Why did we ever let ourselves believe that changing lightbulbs would reverse the effects of global warming? This, again, brings us back to that idea of denial. We don't feel ready to face reality and accept that what we are doing now is just not enough; it does make us feel powerless. But, as the authors of As the World Burns pointed out to us, we need not feel that way. Change is possible, we just need to accept that we need to work a lot harder for that change to happen.
I also agree strongly with the book when they mention that we need to give up our comfortable lifestyles. We have become accustomed to living this way, but it's not necessary at all. In order for real change to happen we need to get out of our comfort zones.