Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Of Wastage and Accumulation

I just noticed a couple of days back that humanity has two peculiar, and contradicting tendencies. This idea struck me when I got up early in the morning and made my way into the bathroom. One of the taps was open and water was flowing out, no one to care.

On one side, we are big wasters. We waste every possible resource available to us. I have seen a million times how water simply runs out of a tap. Carelessness is the reason. Worse, if water runs out right in front of our eyes, and we do nothing about it. Just see for yourself next time you wash your face. Odds are that your tap runs continously while you actually collect water from it only intermittently. We do this again and again, while brushing or shaving. Is there any figure we can give to the amount of water wasted? Not just water, but electricity. I too am guilty of leaving the fan running when I am not in my room. Food is another commodity.

On the other hand, we accumulate wealth. There is no end to our pursuit to gather more and more wealth. No one is satisfied. A rich man wants to get richer, save more and more money in Swiss Bank.

What I find funny here is that we miss an important point...that every resource is money in a different form. Isn't it really funny that we indulge in two contradicting activities, without realising it?

2 comments:

pisku said...

Its because there is no sense of personal ownership. People assume that if they use a public resource in a fair manner it will only lead to an uneven distribution for the others will not be as discretionary. Thats why we tend to go and splurge when it does not belong to us entirely.

Sugavan said...

That is very well written...kudos! I myself dont care about the running water unless it's the water bill I got to pay, but if I am at a client site and am living in the hotel at the client's expense, I just don't care. Hypocrites is what we are...