Ranga Yogeshwar
Impact

Impact

”Against the tyranny of short-termism!”

Protecting our planet is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Physicist and journalist Ranga Yogeshwar gets straight to the point and explains what action is needed.

Range Yogeshwar
Ranga Yogeshwar

Journalist and physicist

As a science reporter, I have been able to travel to many special corners of the world. Time and time again, I have witnessed a disappearing act. The rainforest was disappearing on Sumatra, as were the ice caps in the Arctic, the rhinos in Africa and the insects in Germany. There is a single explanation behind these tragic phenomena: They are consequences of the human penchant for immediate gratification. While healthy speeds are all nature knows, we are now hurtling forward at an ever-greater pace under the dictum of profit maximisation and exploiting our systems at a tempo that is stretching them to breaking point. In the pursuit of cheap solutions and quick profits, we fail to realise the damage we will do in the not-so-distant future.

This fickle mechanism has been ingrained in our habits for a long time: Everything must be available in any place and at any time in order to be burnt up, devoured or thrown away after a short period of use. But this instant-everything culture not only deprives us of the essential resources that sustain us, but also of our deep relationships with things and with our fellow human beings. It robs us of something absolutely vital: happiness. But that is precisely where I am confident that we will achieve the turnaround for the Project Humanity: a lack of happiness will elicit a longing – and we will come to our senses. Mindfulness has suddenly become a buzzword; leisure time is more important than career commitments for young men; more and more people are insisting on food made from sustainably produced ingredients; 18-year-olds want to travel the world instead of wishing for a car; tattoos are in style in a huge way because they represent longevity rather than a quick fading-away. These are all signs of a change of heart.

”If we want to survive, it is incumbent upon us to talk about time.”

Ranga Yogeshwar

The countdown to destruction is programmed into the system – a system that cannot simply be replaced at a moment’s notice. But as history has shown with great reliability, change has always started with individuals, before being moved forwards by major social movements. Every individual can resist the tyranny of short-termism with their influence, their wallet and the ability to speak their mind to others. After all, if we want to survive, it is incumbent upon us to talk about time and the urgent need for a long-term perspective.

Published on KfW Stories: Monday, 17 September 2018