Thao Talks

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Environmentalism as a privilege problem

I am quite privileged to spend much of my time thinking about the environment. I don’t have to worry about: having a roof over my head, where my next meal will come from, taking care of a child, or even nurturing a romantic relationship. My basic human rights are not being attacked (most days), I am not subject to policy brutality and racial profiling, the list goes on…

Many of my friends and family are under attacked by Donald Trump’s immigration policies, busy taking care of their kids, working to pay their bills, dealing with medical adversities, …you name it!

I want to acknowledge my blessings and my privileges. I will always have a home, a bed to sleep, and a meal to eat thanks to my loving family. I was lucky I had family support to go to college to earn my bachelors and two master’s degrees. ALL the mentioned privileges affords me the time, energy, and education to invest time in reading, writing, and researching all things related to environment, ocean, conservation, and sustainability.

I day dream about scuba diving and get extremely anxious about the fate of our ocean. I care about the whales dying from ingesting too much plastic, coral reef destruction, coral bleaching all over the world, over all coral reef health, shark finning, marine life dying as a result of by catch……this list could go on for days….