In his letter titled "What is more Precious Rampe or Human Life?" In The Island of 25th July ’09, it is commendable that  A. M. M. Abubakar had highlighted the importance of compassion towards our fellow human beings.  Abubakar said that 180 people have died as a result of the dengue epidemic. He also said that rampe plants needed to be uprooted in order to check the spread of dengue. His priority was protecting human lives and preventing suffering rather than protecting the environment at an enormous cost to human well being. I must agree with Abubakar as his comments clearly indicate his compassionate nature towards his fellow human beings.

Uprooting  rampe plants will no doubt have an impact on the environment, however, if we develop compassion towards our fellow human beings, wouldn’t we be better able to show compassion to our environment and hence our planet?

Compassion as defined in the article titled "Reduce Carbon, Increase Compassion" and published in The Island on the 23rd July 09,  is a , "Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it".

I must digress in order to say that the article cited was one of the most sensitive I have read so far regarding environmental issues. Even if one is not an environmentalist, the sensitive, caring and compassionate nature of the article provides for some very informative, thought provoking and enjoyable reading.

If we look at how human beings relate to one another we can say that collectively we are very uncompassionate towards one another. For instance, child abuse, poverty, violence including domestic violence and rape continues around the world. We, including world leaders, continue to cheat on our spouses or partners regardless of the pain and suffering inflicted on them as a result of our behaviour. Not only do our spouses/partners suffer but innocent children too, who of no choice of their own, happen to have parents who engage in irresponsible behaviour.

Next, if we look at our breathtakingly beautiful planet we see it suffering. Suffering from global warming, ozone layer depletion and climate change. As a result, the polar caps are melting, the Eskimos’ way of life is threatened and Polar Bears face extinction. There is drought, there is famine and it is an Inconvenient Truth that our Planet is indeed in trouble and suffering.

If one looks at the main cause of the problem, it is clear that human beings have brought their planet to her knees. How did we do it? Through plundering her resources, cutting down forests, basically through our greed. We suffered and we are still suffering from our -  It’s all about Me syndrome. As a result we have brought about ecologically unsustainable industrial and lifestyle practices. World leaders too appear to feed the It’s all about Me syndrome - at the recent G8 meeting there was no clear commitment to reducing Carbon emissions. In order to maintain a healthy economy we were encouraged and are still encouraged to consume regardless of where it comes from or where it goes.

It could be said that we are deeply aware that our Planet is suffering and yet we continue on our destructive path. We have no wish to relieve our planet of her suffering. It is clear that the human race is neither compassionate to one another nor are we compassionate towards our Planet.

This gives rise to one question - is it possible that if we develop compassion towards one another, we would be better able to show compassion towards our planet?

One may well argue that the converse to be more effective, may I say, at birth it was essential for our survival that our first interactions be with humans and then the rest of the environment. Therefore isn’t it a natural progression that for our continued survival, quality interactions based on compassion should be first and foremost between human beings? Isn’t it possible that these compassionate interactions could then be effectively broadened to encompass our Planet?  

Shouldn’t it be human life first, then Rampe?