by: Courtney Remacle
A New York Times reporter tweeted this photograph of an LED billboard displaying the sunrise in Beijing while the city beneath it was cloaked in smog and pedestrians surely unable to see the real sky. This photograph is a stark and sobering look at the effects of pollution, as well as a reminder of the dissonance between the world we are currently living in versus the world most of us would like to live in.
Image via grist.org
The obvious story in this photograph are the damaging effects of pollution and the health hazards that must be incurred from living in an environment without fresh air. But the deeper story that this made me ponder is what it’s like to live in a place where it must be so difficult to connect to nature; where even simple pleasures like watching the sunrise or sunset have been eviscerated by environmental degradation, and how technology and advancement can only do so much to fill that hole. There is much talk in the environmental movement about technology as savior and how the right advancement will solve all of your problems. Conversely, the others in the environmental movement advocate a back-to-the-land stance and argue that humans should remain in as close contact with nature as possible, and eschew many modern conveniences and ways of living. While I don’t think either of these stances are wrong, I don’t fall into either camp. Neither are right for me. I think that technology has a place in our society that’s important, and I’m grateful for modern transportation and renewable energies and the Internet and things that provide me with conveniences that allow me to focus on things that matter. However, this photo was a reminder to me personally that technology cannot be a substitute for the things that are most important. Like many of us can taste that aspartame is no substitute, I can tell that Facebook is no substitute for a friendship, a photo cannot replicate an experience, and something as primal and beautiful as a sunrise cannot be recreated on a billboard. Authenticity is important, and in our lives as humans it is important to have an authentic relationship with nature. When I think about those people in the photograph, I mourn not only their lack of fresh air but also the way in which their circumstances have deprived them from being able to watch something as simple as the sun traversing the sky.
I won’t lie-I enjoy having my running water and electric coffee grinder and computer and all the things that make going about my daily life easy. But I would trade them in a heartbeat for an opportunity to rise early and watch the sun wake up; to have dirt in my hands and the crunch of leaves on the ground.