The Citarum River is the longest and largest river in West Java, Indonesia.Today it is known as the most polluted river in the world. When a group of journalists went to find out how this happened, the textile industry was found to be the culprit. The river water was severely polluted because the textile factories were mindlessly releasing their waste without any treatment. The amount of lead found in the water could permanently decrease the IQ of young children. Yet the same water was used to cook, clean and even water the paddy fields. This is what we call systemic poverty.
Let’s talk about india. India’s solid waste management system has two main factors causing the corruption & tipping fees and truck fee.Because of both these factors the people involved in this system do not want it to change. In fact they want the opposite. More garbage means more money for them.There is no incentive for change and betterment.From both these stories, what I want to highlight is that our system is poorly designed and is just a tool for people to profit off of .
Individual action is important but it’s also limited. I often see Greta Thunberg receive a lot of flak for protesting so much. But these people have failed to notice how she has started the biggest grassroots movement in climate history. Big companies are forced to change their ways and their unethical ways are exposed. Of course they are changing not because they are concerned about the planet but because they are concerned about the customers,but that is okay. We need systemic change and that is of utmost importance. We must hold our representatives accountable for these changes and not let them gaslight us into thinking that this garbage catastrophe is only taking place due to citizens.
The reason why citarum is the biggest example of systemic poverty is that despite major brands like H&M , Zara being responsible for the destruction , none of them are facing any charges. The innocent children are.
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