As humans we are not perfect and as a country of humans we are even less so, but despite these imperfections, we still constantly criticize and complain about other countries and seek to change them while being blind to our own problems. This was shown in Doctor Robin Kirk’s talk regarding the United States’ foreign policy and involvement in foreign affairs. The United States government is a big advocate for human rights and has advocated against the use of torture as a means of gaining information, yet despite this open stance, the US has been accused of participating in and administering such forms of torture especially in the years following the 9/11 attacks.
This similar hypocrisy can be seen in the way we have been dealing with environmental issues. Despite being one of the biggest polluters of the environment in the world, the United States has shifted the burden of environmental stewardship to other countries and has taken a back seat in the issue of global warming. The US is still one of the largest consumers of oil in the world and this consumption has drastically affected indigenous populations in both the US and abroad in Nigeria as shown through the Keystone pipeline debacle and Helon Habila’s Oil on Water.
Therefore, in order to better promote global change, the United States must first look inward and reflect on its own actions in order to fix its own problems before promoting global change for climate change and environmental stewardship is not a YOU issue but a WE issue and affects everybody equally regardless of race, ethnicity, or even country.
