We live in a very progressive society where our main goal to ensure that we leave our planet a better place than we found it. A couple weeks ago I was watching a TedTalk that discussed about how profit is not always the point. I was quite interested in this talk because I feel like in today’s society profit is always the point. If it’s not the point, then we would probably question why we decide to endeavor do it.
During the talk, an interesting quote that caught my attention arose. The quote by Adam Smith stated that, “If you continue to operate in your own self-interest, then you will do what is best for society.” When I first heard this, it was quite frightening. My first thought was if the people in society act in a selfish way, then we as society aren’t advancing towards a common goal. As the video continued, I realized that when Adam said self-interest he meant in the interest of the human population. If we put the interest of our community first, then our society will be making adjustments towards a better tomorrow.
While Harish Manwani was trying to reach corporate leaders during his talk, I hope to reach the average, normal person. The person who can make our environment better by adjusting basic day-to-day living. While Manwani was arguing that profit wasn’t the point, I think that profit is the point. See I have a different prospective. Instead of adjusting our lens to believe that profit isn’t the point, why don’t we adjust what our definition of profit is. I truly believe that in a profitable society, we strive to cut down on nonrenewable resources. A profitable society is one where we protect our forests and oceans.
I believe that in a profitable society, we are making this Earth more green- and no I’m not taking about money. Instead of settling for instant gratification, we could make efforts to install plans so that we will leave Earth a better place for future generations. What if we can make it a more profitable society by recycling plastic and composting food. What if our society is profitable by turning the lights off when you leave the room? Well it is. By doing this we are making our Earth a better place. We are contributing to a decrease in fossil fuels. By biking and carpooling we use less gas and less oil which there will be in soon enough. What if we stop littering and contributing to pollution? Instead of making a profit in money, we are saving our planet which is more profitable than all the zeroes in a bank account.
If we make an investment in projects that will make our community more sustainable, which may end up being costly now, but it will contribute to a greener and a better living environment. I believe that we have the ability to make Earth more profitable. By changing day-to-day routines, we can be very profitable.
-Fabby Gonzalez