Encyclical

I really liked the reading for this week and I think that it was a great way to integrate another way a of thinking to the environmental issues we are facing today. I think it is really great that the reading had a spiritual argument to it which is very beneficial to and can work well with the scientific areas of discussion. It is important to approach the climate issue from different perspectives and I believe that the spiritual side can really hit home for a significant amount of people. When people take the time to stop and think about what their individual consumption patterns look like in comparison with other people around the world that are less fortunate, it becomes clear that there is a problem with the way we approach our daily lives. As the Pope discusses in his writing, we need to care for those in need and work to improve their lives  it is our responsibility as Christians and simply as humans. This particular aspect stuck out to me because it made me think about how greedy we are today, especially in the United States, and how we tend to look out for ourselves more than focusing on the wellbeing of others. This is a serious problem and the idea of interdependence among people is imperative in order for us to work toward a solution to our current climate crisis.

Why Climate Matters

I found the reading "The Collapse of Western Civilization" very interesting as well as eye opening. I really liked the way the book presented a hypothetical future of what our world would look like if we continue to follow our current path. Unfortunately, it does not look good. I always thought that it was important that I do whatever I can to be "green" and eventually others might do the same. After reading this book, I began to think about how irrelevant the little things I do such as buying food locally and recycling really are in the big picture. The actions of one person are not going to be enough to change the negative trajectory in which we are headed. I realize that the only way we are going to fix our current problem is though large scale change and everyone needs to be on the same page with the same objective in mind for anything to be successful. This is something that will be very difficult to do because many people are unwilling to makes changes and sacrifices to their way of life. This is due to the ignorance of people to just how serious our climate crisis is and we need to find a way to make them realize the urgency of our current situation because it will eventually have a significant effect on everyone.