The ecological crisis is a crisis of humanity

In today's world, we are trying to lead a life intertwined with a wide variety of crises. As humanity, we have failed to build a world where we can be happy and lead a peaceful life. We have adorned our world with violence, conflict, and blood. For this reason, we are struggling within life. We are not living; we are clearly struggling with life. Then, we try to cover up our own failures with discourses such as "the world is a lie," "life is a test," "humans are mortal," etc. Life is, of course, temporary for each of us, but it also has continuity. While some are leaving, others are arriving. Therefore, we cannot have the right to look at life solely focused on ourselves. We need to look at it in its entirety. Every value we add and every contribution we make is important on behalf of all of humanity. But we are so insensitive and so selfish that we are not even aware that we are harming humanity while only thinking of our own comfort. That is why we are struggling with a life intertwined with crises. We have no comfort or peace in this world.

Perhaps the most worrying of these crises is the disruption of the ecological balance. We have caused so much damage to nature, of which we are a part, for our own comfort that almost all of nature's balance has been disrupted. We ignored nature, which gives us life, feeds us, and raises us. Forgetting that we are a part of it, we declared war on it. We tried to cope with it by using the technologies we developed against it. We largely achieved our goal. We planted high-rise buildings instead of trees. Preferring gray instead of green, we concreted everywhere. We got rid of dust and soil. The streets and avenues are sparkling. The lights of the buildings and the shimmer of the shop windows reflect on our faces, but they are not enough to revive the spark in our eyes. Because our hearts are filled with sadness. We are all exhausted from the restlessness that fills us to our very marrow. That is why there is no light in our eyes. It did not occur to us that while destroying nature, we were destroying ourselves and our humanity. While fighting with nature, it turns out we were fighting with ourselves. In the end, we disrupted all balances.

Therefore, the root cause of the ecological risk we face today must be sought in ourselves, in the degradation of humanity. The disruption of the ecological balance begins with the disruption of the human's internal balance. The alienation of humanity from the nature of which it is a part also means alienation from itself. The disappearance of the love of nature is the beginning of the disappearance of the love of humanity. Indeed, we see this very clearly in today's world.

From the moment humanity declared war on nature, it began to give signals regarding the disruption of the ecological balance. Over time, it became so fascinated by the technologies it developed itself that it gradually forgot that they were actually the product of its own mind. Consequently, it began to distance itself from itself and ignore its own mind and abilities. While transferring value to the technology and matter that were its own products, humanity did not even realize that it was subjecting itself to value erosion. Thus, humanity began to enter a crisis. This is the real reason for the ecological crisis that has become a major threat to humanity today.

The issue of the ecological crisis was also discussed in detail at an international symposium held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on November 5-6, 2024. Scientists from various countries around the world participated in the symposium, which was held by Western Caspian University within the scope of COP29, and the ecological crisis was discussed from many different aspects. The return of humanity to nature and its reconnection with natural life were addressed. The importance of mountains and the culture of mountain life in terms of ecological balance was emphasized. It was stated that there is a need to protect natural vegetation and ensure botanical balance. The impact of glass-covered high-rise buildings on global warming was discussed. The restoration of the harmony between water and soil was pointed out.

In the paper I presented at the symposium, I emphasized the point that the ecological crisis is related to the disrupted balance of the individual and humanity. The difficulty a person has in maintaining their own mental, spiritual, emotional, cognitive, and physical coordination means that their ecological balance is disrupted. In today's world, especially in the material-focused capitalist world, a person who transfers value from themselves to matter becomes alienated from themselves, their social environment, and the nature of which they are a part. Therefore, it does not seem very possible to expect a person whose internal integrity is disrupted to be sensitive to nature, other living beings in nature, and the general problems of the globe.

After so much destruction, the solution to the problem is not easy at all. However, acting on the principle that "it is never too late to turn back from a mistake," we must make an effort to create awareness without further delay. At least we need to take action to create awareness. It is understood that most people are not aware of the seriousness of the problem. Therefore, we must first start in the direction of awareness. It would be correct to start this by reshaping the discourse space of the media. For this, preferring narratives that will remind people of humanity and nature, and that will remind them of love, protection, contribution, and multiplication instead of destruction, violence, and hatred, might perhaps be a small beginning for the solution of the problem.

We have no more time to lose to reclaim our world, our lives, our humanity, and our nature. The danger is great.