El Sol

On to day two of of the #InktoberLatinxColectivo2020 challenge. Today’s prompt is SOL/SUN. #LatinxInk20

Just last month, those of us on the west coast observed a phenomenon that many of us had never seen in our lives: a whole week where the summer sun was blocked out by dense oceans of smoke and ash from immense forest fires across the Pacific Northwest. It was an eerie sight straight out of a dystopian narrative; like looking at the sky from the surface of Mars. And all this the result of climate change.

But “climate change” is one of those funny and strange neologisms that while sounding natural and almost innocuous, in reality describes the downward and catastrophic spiral of our planet earth toward complete inhospitality for any life–let alone human life. It’s one of those terms that gives no cause nor seeks to place any responsibility.

Or, when blame is finally attributed, it is the entirety of the human race that is responsible for the forthcoming cataclysm. But while most of us as a society contribute to climate change through our consumption and waste, we can only make environmentally-conscious choices at the individual level–which is at a scale too small to really make any difference.

It is impossible to make positive qualitative changes to heal the planet when we are all coerced by and beholden to an economic system that places profit above the intrinsic value of life. A system that thrives on overconsumption, overproduction, catastrophic waste, and misuse and abuse of natural resources.

How can we heal the planet when we are so focused on the symptoms of its sickness, but refuse to name the disease killing it? Capitalism is a cancer on the planet, and like all cancers, it cannot be reformed.