Fake “Sustainable”

 ”Sustainable”

 Over the past few years, when I hear the word, I feel empty and often angry.

 In 2015, the United Nations Summit unanimously adopted the SDGs, which include the word “sustainable.” This is an abbreviation for Sustainable Development Goals, which are goals set for the entire world by 2030. These goals include 17 major themes to be addressed: 1. poverty, 2. hunger, 3. insurance, … and so on. In short, they are a call to “share in plain language the things that must not go wrong for people to live as human beings, and to work together around the world to solve these problems.” The word “sustainable” in this call to action should sound pleasant to the ear.

 So why do the supposedly pleasant-sounding word sounds so empty to me, and sometimes even provokes anger?

 I will explain why by looking at a few of the 17 themes.

 These themes include 1. Poverty, 10. Inequality, and 16. Peace.

 1. Poverty-related issue;

 In January 2025, the gap between rich and poor in Japanese society is not narrowing, but rather continuing to widen, and the number of people suffering from poverty is increasing. While a limited number of people enjoy a more financially fulfilling life, many citizens are suffering from high prices that make them hesitate to buy even food that was easily available until recently. I am not a person who denies capitalist and competitive societies, so I think that if the gap between rich and poor is the result of equal competition, it should be accepted to a certain extent.

 10. Inequality-related issue;

 However, this is not acceptable if the majority of the disparity between the rich and the poor is not due to equal competition. In fact, a large part of the current disparity in Japanese society is created in large part by the heavy taxation and exploitation of money that is necessary for many citizens to live a simple life, and the unfair redistribution of that exploited money to a few people (as evidenced by the consumption tax hike and corporate tax cuts). In other words, the current gap between rich and poor is by no means the result of equal competition. (Large companies are posting record profits one after another, but can you think of any recent new inventions or technological innovations that these companies have made? At least, I can’t. This means that they are achieving record results without doing anything particularly impressive.) For a long time, the money that has been extracted from us has been redistributed to a limited number of people and companies under various cleverly fabricated “pretexts,” and this inhumane system is one of the main causes that continues to widen the gap. This reality is far from the concept of “equality” contained in the “SDGs.” What’s worse, the words “SDGs” and “sustainable” are widely used to fabricate further pretexts. In other words, the limited people and companies that enjoy a rich life through unjust redistribution cleverly use the word “sustainable” to create new “pretexts” and act as if they are contributing to society, while behind the scenes they continue to line their pockets with the money they have extracted from the general citizens. 

 16. Peace-related issue;

 In such an unreasonable society, many citizens who are struggling to lead even a simple life cannot possibly continue to live in peace, or at least with peace of mind. Yet, the people and corporations who have unjustly enriched themselves never correct such an unequal and unjust society. Instead, they seek to exploit the weak and vulnerable more, as if this were the natural thing to do. (They are in favor of increasing the consumption tax, while never revisiting the tax breaks, tax exemptions, subsidies, and other benefits for themselves.) In other words, they have no intention of correcting the unequal and absurd society that is incompatible with the SDGs. Such people are proud to use the word “sustainable” and talk about “sustainable ” and so on. Is there anything more ridiculous than that?

 Unfortunately, many of the “sustainable” heard in Japanese society today are false. The word sounds hollow and sometimes even provokes anger.

 So, can we ignore the SDGs?

 The answer is no.

 The society we live in is connected to the society of people who will live in the future. What we should do is not to uncritically agree with their false “sustainability”, but for each of us to take truly “sustainable” steps to create a truly “sustainable” society.

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 Next English article is ~ Illusion Named AI ~

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 Wish you beautiful days!

from Japan

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