Welcome to Environmental Pollution Guide
Industrial Pollution Environmental Degradation In India Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Environmental Pollution: Pollution Of The Mind
from:We all know about environmental pollution: pollution and its costs, pollution and its causes, and pollution and its terrible effects. We know that environmental pollution (pollution of the air, in particular) causes the death of one in five people around the world every year, according to data gathered by the World Health Organization in partnership with the World Bank. And we know that environmental pollution has slowly made our world less populated with animal species, less safe for ourselves and our children, and less enjoyable for everyone in almost every way. How could this situation get any worse?
The answer: by recognizing a new kind of environmental pollution: pollution of the mind.
Pollution of the mind isn't just what happens when you watch too much TV or read too many comic books at a vulnerable age. Rather, pollution of the mind is a concept discovered by researchers working with the effects of advertising on the public consciousness. The idea is that by placing offensive billboards in unavoidably conspicuous locations within a city or by filling the air with exhortations to buy new products, advertisers are effectively polluting the "mental space" of people in large urban areas.
Environmental pollution--pollution of whatever form--essentially means any damaging product, industrial or otherwise, that makes the world less safe and less pleasant to be in. We can argue that both of these qualities are present in pollution of the mind. Advertising is certainly an industrial product, for the most part, and it certainly makes the world less pleasant--unless you're the type who finds it pleasant to be manipulated by major corporations into spending money you don't have on products you don't even enjoy, of course. And advertising can also make the world demonstrably less safe by stunting people's critical thinking and diminishing the capacity for understanding and for empathy. Manipulating the population into buying products and manipulating the population into, say, starting, supporting, and fighting an endless land war are not as different, in the end, as one might assume.
Because of the problems inherent in this new form of environmental pollution--pollution of the mind--several grass-roots groups are starting to advocate taxing the use of the public's "mental space", much as corporations are taxed (at least in theory) for misusing the public's air and water. This may be a double-edged sword, however, as some critics--notably Joseph Hale, a commentator from the environmental battlegrounds of Texas--have pointed out. To advocate the taxation of "mental space" is to invite the government into our very minds--the one place that, historically, the government has been kept out of.
Whatever the solution, however, it's clear that for this newest form of environmental pollution--pollution of the mind--some solution is necessary. Once we can think clearly, we can begin working diligently on finding a solution to everything else.
Industrial Pollution Environmental Degradation In India Specific links
Industrial Pollution Environmental Degradation In India News
The Issue of Population is More Than a Little Radioactive - Living Green Magazine
The Issue of Population is More Than a Little Radioactive Living Green Magazine By Michael D. Lemonick for ClimateCentral.org Talk to people who care about the environment and you'll hear plenty about pollution, deforestation, sustainability and climate change. What you won't hear is the word “population,” unless it refers to ... |
Kanika Datta: Downers in high places - Business Standard (blog)
<B>Kanika Datta:</B> Downers in high places Business Standard (blog) The board of the Reserve Bank of India, a newspaper informed us, would be meeting in “idyllic Mussoorie” this week to discuss, among other things, the diminishing strength of the rupee. Now, it is difficult to predict whether the central bank will be ... |
Why the Earth Summit failed - International Socialism Journal
 AFP | Why the Earth Summit failed International Socialism Journal According to the 1992 World Development Report, developing countries will need to spend between 75 and 100 billion US dollars annually by the end of the 1990s to stabilise and reduce pollution and environmental damage. This is equivalent to between 1.5 ... What UN's biggest meeting means for Kenya |
Vacation hike leads to campaign for glaciers - Gazette.Net: Maryland Community News Online
Vacation hike leads to campaign for glaciers Gazette.Net: Maryland Community News Online by Peggy McEwan, Staff Writer Mark Hendrix Aaron Hendrix of North Bethesda is pictured hiking near the Gangotri Glacier in India in June 2010. The Georgetown Prep student is sponsoring a walk to raise awareness of the environmental damage done to the ... |
New-age novelty? - Deccan Herald
New-age novelty? Deccan Herald It's because the modern method of meat production is a major contributory factor in global warming and environmental degradation. When global warming is mentioned, most people envisage oil refineries, coal-fired powered plants, cars or smoke belching ... |