Dear teachers I learnt in my school that India's biggest (or one of India's biggest problems) was 'population explosion'. During the emergency, mass sterilisation (often forced) was done to 'control population'. Even today, we have sterilisation camps (mostly for women), to reduce the population. Even now it is popular thinking that our poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy are all due to 'population explosion'
However, it is more and more clear to many that an important cause of poverty is the rampant consumerism in a minority of the world's population .. As Gandhi said..'there is enough for everyone's (and everyone's) need but not for everyones greed...' ... we can take care of all the people in the world and provide them food, clothing, shelter and meaningful work/life.... but the earth cannot afford current rates of exploitation and mindless consumerism / greed ... " Pope Francis reached the same conclusion; he points out that blaming “population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues.” To blame population growth is, he goes on to say, “an attempt to legitimize the present model of distribution [of wealth and resources], where a minority believes that it has the right to consume in a way which can never be universalized, since the planet could not even contain the waste products of such consumption.” read more at http://www.nationofchange.org/2016/12/21/rapacious-consumerism-climate-change Consumerism is the biggest cause of climate change/environmental degradation ... and since it is inherent in the current model of capitalism, it is important that we re-look at our 'Economics' and reform it ... including what we teach in schools Comments welcome.. regards Guru IT for Change, Bengaluru www.ITforChange.net -- EnglishSTF Link: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/englishstf -- *For doubts on Ubuntu and other public software, visit http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions **Are you using pirated software? Use Sarvajanika Tantramsha, see http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Public_Software ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಇಲಾಖೆಗೆ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ ***If a teacher wants to join STF-read http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Become_a_STF_groups_member --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "EnglishSTF" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to englishstf+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to englishstf@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/englishstf. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/englishstf/CANJf2f-gyO_PFqbipr5M5drWEVv43K77BNKm5Gin%3DmWpFMHw8w%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
