Activists help make things look less glum

People are strange. I'm not sure if this is true just of Thai people or all nationalities. They hate it when activists or so-called NGOs make noises about development projects deemed to be harmful to the Earth and her people.

Don't these people have anything better to do than bleat about things not their business?'' they say.

But when calamity strikes as a result of development going wrong, they ask:

Where are the NGOs? Why didn't they do something to prevent this from happening?''

Some people are hard to please.

Obviously, a lot of people simply have no idea what NGOs and their practitioners are, and this has given rise to occasional resentment and occasional apprehension.

They aren't elected. So how can they claim to speak for other people?'' they say.

If they don't want development, why don't they stop using cars or electricity? Why don't they go and live in the jungle like they did in the Stone Age?''

Sarcastic comments aside, most people who are concerned about the environmental and social impact of development are realistic enough. They realise they live in an ever-changing world. Change will occur no matter what. They just want to play a part in shaping the change.

Despite what some might think, social and environmental activists are not anti-development nuts. They are only against the kind of development that they think will harm the environment and the way of life of local communities. They want development that is friendly to the environment and serves social and cultural needs, not that which simply enriches a handful of people.

The difference between activists and us is that while some of us would rather moan and groan about the state of the world, they are willing to forego their own comfort and put their convictions into action. That doesn't make them right in everything they do. But it should give us a basis for thought before we decide to condemn or ridicule them.

Globalisation may seem to some to leave no room for a different mode of development. Most of us feel swept along by the tidal wave of intense economic competition and the allure of consumerism. The world's giants who have long held out for ideological or other reasons _ China, India and the former Eastern Bloc _ have now succumbed.

But the more idealistic among us are not willing to be swept away and in fact are quite alarmed at the turn of events. And if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that the way things are going is real cause for alarm.

Industrialisation has generated great volumes of greenhouse gases that heat up the Earth to the point where it affects the entire global ecology and causes irreversible change. Drug use is rampant everywhere. Crime and corruption are widespread in all strata of society.

Almost all human activity is geared towards creating wealth rather than serving social needs, with the result that poverty has become harder to solve. Income and social gaps are wider than ever, which leads to intractable crimes and social problems. Families are breaking apart. Children are either spoiled or abused, indifferent or alienated.

Competition for natural resources is getting ever more intense because what little is left is dwindling fast. And usually only the wealthy and the mighty have the wherewithal to exploit them for their own benefit.

With the dawn of the new year, I wish I could be more optimistic. But surveying the global and local scenes leaves me with little hope of seeing improvement in the short run. Yet this is also the reason why we need people with a conviction to actively work for a better and more just world.

We need more compassion and less competition. We need less exploitative and more humane development so that we can live in relative peace.

Wasant Techawongtham
(Deputy News Editor for Environment and Urban Affairs, Bangkok Post.)
COMMENTARY, Bangkok Post: January 3, 2003