The 'Feeling' of Making an Effort is Destroying the Earth

— The Branches of SDGs and the Absence of the 'Question' That Goes Unasked —

It has been a long time since the word 'sustainability' became completely familiar in our daily lives.
However, have you ever felt a sense of unease when faced with paper straws or reusable bags, wondering, 'Will this really change anything?'
Wrapped in the 'feeling of doing something,' have the structures and values that should be questioned actually become invisible?

This note is the 5th installment of the series 'Is There Still Anything AI Can Do?' (scheduled for 7 parts in total). It is fine to start reading from this piece.

Vol.1 'Only Now, Only Money, Only Me' is Destroying Society
Vol.2 In an Era Where Wars on the Other Side of the Earth Kill Us
Vol.3 A Society That Gave God's Tools to Stone Age Brains
Vol.4 The Trump Show - When Desire Devours Democracy
Vol.5 The 'Feeling' of Making an Effort is Destroying the Earth
Vol.6 Why Does the Power to Feel Connection Become 'Ethics'?

Introduction: The Spell of the 'Feeling' of Making an Effort

Everywhere you look, the words 'we are working on it' are lined up.
Paper straws, reusable bags, SDGs badges.
Companies, local governments, and individuals all appear to be behaving in an 'earth-friendly' way.

But does that really have the 'power to change the future'?
Or are we just satisfied with sharing the 'feeling of doing something'?

It is not that everyone is bad. I do not want to deny the effort.
It is just that where that effort reaches and what it changes—
has become far too difficult to see.

Before we knew it, had 'what we are working on' become the goal, and the 'structure that should be changed' become invisible?
What is truly needed is not effort, but a gaze that determines where that effort is directed is it not?

Chapter 1: 'Sustainability' for Whom?

'Aiming for a sustainable society'—
An era where such words dance in advertisements and presentation materials.

But for whom, exactly, is that 'sustainability'?
For the Earth, for future children, or—for oneself to be evaluated?

Companies list 'environmentally friendly things' as a brand strategy, local governments as evaluation indicators, and individuals to protect their 'blameless selves'.

Is there really a will to 'change' there?
Or are only the mechanisms that make it 'look' like things are changing becoming more sophisticated?

If we truly want to change things, wouldn't it be overwhelmingly more effective to work with the countries that are placing the greatest burden on the environment and change their ways?

Specifically, countries like China, the United States, and India come to mind. China, in particular, stands out.

Destruction progresses in places we cannot see, while effort is consumed in places that are visible to the eye.
When we talk about 'the future' without looking at this structure, we may be prolonging the life of things that should not be sustained.

Chapter 2: 'Goodwill' and 'Effort' as Performance

Carrying a personal bottle. Choosing locally grown vegetables. Posting on social media.
These are good things. But right now, what is important is not 'the act itself'.

Rather than focusing on 'what kind of relationships these actions are part of and where they are headed,' the emphasis is on 'how easy they are to understand and how easily they can be empathized with.'
Goodwill and effort have, without us realizing it, turned into 'things that must be communicated.'
That is not necessarily a bad thing.

However, we are being integrated into a social structure where performance precedes action.
What algorithms spread is 'effort that is easy to understand and feels good.'

Silent practice and support in places that are hard to reach go unnoticed.
Eventually, goodwill and effort become a proof of belonging, and they begin to function not as 'means of change,' but as 'tools for reassurance.'

Chapter 3: Superficial Goodwill and Effort

Both goodwill and effort are forces that support society.
But when both are used in exchange for 'not thinking,' they can become a form of oppression rather than change.

Why are situations that require goodwill being created in the first place?
Where is the path to changing that structure?
When these perspectives are missing, goodwill becomes a substitute for the status quo, merely brushing over the root of the problem.

Effort is the same.
If it becomes an act to confirm 'the self that is doing something,' what lies there may not be a 'will to change,' but a 'stability of not changing.'

What we should re-examine is not the action itself, but the perspective of what that action is making invisible.

Conclusion: 'Seeing What Needs to be Seen' Changes Society

I do not wish to deny those who work hard or act out of good intentions.

However, right now, when the Earth cannot sustain itself, what is needed is not piling up 'things we are doing,' but the ability to discern where we are heading.

Focus on the structure, not the volume of action.
Notice when you are using kindness or righteousness as a shield to find reasons not to change.

You cannot change the essence of things unless you address the roots, not just the branches and leaves.

What changes the future is not more action. Whether or not you can turn your eyes toward
the questions that have been overlooked, the relationships we chose not to see, and the discomfort we turned a deaf ear to—that attitude itself becomes the starting point for change.

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▼ This is a magazine that compiles this article series.