Collective Pessimism

Collective pessimism: an act of responding to a global issue in a pessimistic way which done by a large group of people.

Human are all pessimistic in some extent. This keeps us survive the harsh reality of life: choosing the right path over the wrong one, picking a true love over a toxic relationship, working a nine-to-five job instead of lying on our beds all day long.

In individual level, the results of being pessimistic come in a short-term period and experienced by only a singular person or a little group of people. The consequences are so visible to our eyes, touchable to our skins, that we could see and feel it coming in daily basis.

On top of that, this pessimism is so little compared to how we feel about our capabilities. We might feel doubtful if we will get the job we applied for, but we silently believe that we can send another thousands of applications to other thousands companies. We know we could do it despite of difficulties we might encounter through the journey. It is the confidence that makes the doubt less significant.

But, when it comes to a major challenge, things mentioned above are lost. The results are long-term, and experienced by almost the entire planet earth’s residence. So, we put zero optimism to ourselves, believing that there’s nothing important we could do compared to this big pessimism following this big problem.

We say things like, “the governments are taking care of that;” “environmentalists are working on this;” “someone’s doing something.” We are so optimistic that other people are tackling this issue, yet we are so pessimistic about ourselves taking roles in it, not knowing that six billions of people are thinking the same way, leaving only one billion who either too young, too poor, or too sick to think.

We say even worse expressions like, “it’s doomsday;” “we’re cursed;” “we’ll die anyway;” “we’re moving to Mars.”

In other words, collective pessimism is billions groups of people in line, waiting to be killed by the worsening problem they refuse to take responsibility of.

It seems like, we are so impatient to see the death, to witness the destruction of our one and only home, that we don’t even want to get our hands dirty with unnecessary little tiny efforts to save our own planet.

We don’t even bother doing the least we could do: 

being optimistic.

Something About Plastic Bags in Banjarmasin

It's been almost three years, since the local government of my hometown, Banjarmasin, banned the use of plastic bags in modern shopping places all over the city. So, it has become a habit for my mom to bring her own reusable bag everywhere.

But it doesn't necessarily mean that she becomes an anti-plastic-bags overnight, like I do. She still shops with a lot of plastic bags in traditional markets and everywhere outside of the air-conditioned shopping centers. 

I used to think that the regulation doesn't do anything much but merely a slight decrease of plastic bags consumption. But now, that I've lived in two different cities (Banjarmasin and Semarang) as an extreme anti-plastic, I know that the rule has done something way more than that.

It teaches the people that plastics are harming the environment, plus, giving a sample behavior to that new lesson, by banning the plastic bags. It may change people's behavior, though it's just in a very limited condition, but it's not the ultimate goal. The educational purpose is.  

The difference I noticed from both cities, which the other (Semarang) doesn't have this regulation, is that, people in Semarang don't even aware of the 'why' of my explicit behavior: refusing the plastic bags. A pecel seller would say: "sudah banyak plastik ya di rumah;" as an ayam geprek seller say, "hemat ya, Mbak;" or a nasi uduk seller say, "aduh, ini panas, Mbak;" and a chocolate drink seller say, "ndak tumpah, Mbak?" and the list goes on.

My fast conclusion is, those kind of responses are said only by people whose minds never been told that plastics harm the environment. They lost the most basic ingredient to changing a behavior: education, which become something that Banjarmasin people has been receiving since 2016.  

So, when I'm home, people would not say things like Semarang people do. Instead, they say almost similar words to "cinta lingkungan lah;" or "andak di tas kah?" when I opened my backpack; or just simply not saying a word and put the stuff I purchase without packaging.

I'm mostly pissed off by Semarang sellers because of their false assumptions, but here at home, I could say that I'm proud of what I'm doing, because people know the real 'why' behind my action. 

As plastics are that main pollutant to our rivers here in Banjarmasin and rivers play vital roles in our lives, I think, more people should be, at least, know that plastics are harming our rivers, though we don't directly dump them on streams, but still, we never know where the plastics reach their ends.

But as for now, I can't be more thankful to our local government for setting a stepping stone for this city to be less wasteful. 

Sincerely, 

A proud Banjarish 

Something About Climate Change

I don’t know much about this issue, but I don’t need too much information just to convince myself that climate change is real.

I know it is, since I was nine. It was something about global warming, green house effect, acid rain, pollution and their impacts to environment and human’s life. My natural science book told me so, and my teacher said as it was just in a near future for the world to be in an apocalypse. Those were enough to make my poor little soul insecure. Anxiously, I waited for it to happen.

As years goes by, nothing such an apocalypse really happened. So, I stopped worrying and hold this weird belief that I might’ve dead before the climate change really happens. Turns out, despite of me being such an ignorant, the climate is changing already and it doesn’t need anyone’s belief to keep on happening, until it reaches its worst, then, at last, the world will come to an end.

The thing is, I’ve been a denier my entire life. I should choose, whether, I will stay with my irrational denial like an asshole, or try to, at least, do something that I’m capable of.

So, the decision was made.

I decided to do the latter.    

I started my journey by watching YouTube videos about people who live a sustainable lifestyle. But that wasn’t enough, I read a book titled This Changes Everything by Naomi Klen. Time by time, I changed one behavior at a time, while learning more about this issue by reading and watching news or documentaries.

But, the more I know, the less capable I thought I was. I got even more guilty of every meat I consumed, every unintentional plastic-packaged stuff I own and purchase, every ride I take, and even just being alive in general. The worst was, I hated people for not living a sustainable lifestyle. And when I hate people, I hate myself even more.

I told myself that I need to stop,

and start being forgiving,

to myself.

So, I did.

I’m still trying my best to reduce my impact to environment. The only difference is, I no longer set a too high expectation, pursue perfection, nor judge others. Because I believe, I could do something about the climate change, only if I do take care of my inner self.

What I’ve done for the sake of environment, might not seem that significant. It might be just small changes, such as refusing plastic bags, stop purchasing plastic-packaged stuff, eat more plant-based diet, do more walking than riding my motorbike. There are some days when I feel like in a huge success, and there are other days when I feel like I’ve messed everything up.

But as long as I cherish and forgive myself,

it should be okay,

because only by that,

this journey will last.