The Sins of Industry

By: Bryan Taningco

“Alas, Marvel in the state of Industry that our world have achieved”

“Doubt now”

Industry provides us with almost all the goods we use in our daily lives; cars, phones, computers, food. You name it; they’ll make it; an almost god-like provider of the needs and wants of mankind. The birth-child of the Industrial revolution, an event which enabled man to materialize their potential for production; a catalyst for the development of our civilization. Indeed, we cannot deny that Industry provided the chunk of convenience that we enjoy today but have you ever wondered and dared to ask, “At what cost?” Surely something as grandeur and convenient has an equivalent hefty prize.

That prize, as many analyst and historians would say is the devastation of Nature. For all we know, behind the mask of a helpful patron is a face of a parasitic capitalist. Industry as much as it helped us, also ruined us. Perhaps the greatest sin of Industry is the plague it has spread upon nature, the one we call “Pollution”. How did this happen? You may ask; the production of goods also produces waste, it may be in forms of toxic and other chemicals. And what happens to their disposal? Have you ever wondered why factories are located near bodies of water? The Industry dumps their waste on Rivers and Seas, an act which threatens not only marine life but also humans. In time, these accumulated wastes in the bodies of water will participate in the water cycle; thus explaining the phenomenon of acid rain. The threat is not limited to water; factory exhaust produces carbon dioxide and other unwanted air pollutants, resulting into smog or in extreme conditions; “complete darkness” by blockading the light of the sun. Also, through are industrial efforts of seeking materials; we have relentlessly destroyed the very shield that shelters us from this plague, the forests. We have nowhere to hide and no one else to blame. 

What actions should we take? Should we abolish industry and return to the medieval way of life? The answer is “No”, as much as we may hate the sins that industry brings; we cannot live without it. An inconvenient truth Indeed, yet we could still aim for something sustainable; maybe I have looked upon it the wrong way. Maybe industry is not the mask of a parasitic capitalist. Perhaps, it is our own mask; a mask that hides our lack of concern and care for nature, a mask that let us abuse our resources in the guise of a false future; a mask that hides us from the shame that we have brought upon ourselves. Let’s face it, we are the one responsible.

'Dare to prove me wrong.'