I had traveled to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world - emerald water, rich marine life and a long stretch of fine white sand. I mean, this is also where I live at the moment and I got the T-shirt to prove! I had been on beautiful and isolated islands and had fun on party beaches too. I enjoyed the best of both worlds. But I hear you, there's nothing more annoying than seeing all kinds of rubbish ruining these beautiful beaches. Then I was one of those who always blamed the locals. I blamed them for throwing all their waste into the sea. I even blamed them for their lack of education. I blamed their government. I blamed them for not catering to my special needs.
Back then, I didn't realize that they had enough of this whole blame game. It was easy to pinpoint their flaws and put myself in the upper position. But it doesn't mean I condone their behavior. Now I am also whining about the whiners. After all, we are all whiners at heart.
Aside from the rubbish, there's nothing more annoying than traveling to a country and being with the whiners who are whining that the beach was not too clean for them - awww. There's nothing more annoying than being with those who are whining about the whiners and putting themselves in self-righteous victimhood position. Let's not forget that we are are all responsible here - so we are all annoying ei! No one should feel better than the rest. I know my shit and I know yours. Let's not fool each other anymore. Let's own up to our own shit.
I know how to get to some of those secret beaches and hidden paradise. And there are reasons I don't easily shout out to the whole world about those hidden natural wonders. Those are secret beaches for a reason. Perhaps if I trust you enough, I can take you there myself. I'm pretty sure you would understand.
So where did all the rubbish come from that the locals throw into the sea? Did you mean the fast food plastic cups, Chinese plasticware, broken gadgets, clothes, chocolate wrappers and all other trash that have been introduced to these islands? Why did the developing world accept other people's trash in the first place? It's all about profit. That old dog eat dog kind of thing.
Just because we don't throw trash into the sea doesn't mean we are not contributing to its destruction. It also does not mean we are better than the rest. Let's not wash our hands here, shall we? We buy plastic bottles, we buy clothes, we buy makeup, we buy gadgets, we take the airplane to travel to these beautiful places, we upgrade our gadgets, we take out fast-food, we use toilet paper, we use plastic bags. Oh don't forget - we voted for our presidents that allowed those unreasonable laws, we work in unethical companies, we support unethical corporations. Whether we like it or not -we are all part of the environment's destruction on a massive scale.
Back in the day, the island locals we blame are just used to throwing fruit and vegetable peels, driftwood, leaves, bamboos or anything that decompose. Until colonialism. Until the introduction of capitalism. Until globalization. Who introduced the system and why? I am not going to expand on this topic for now. I'm just going to leave it up to you to do some critical thinking on your own.
Centuries ago, they didn't really need to learn a major language. They have their own writings. But then how can those newcomers make some cheeky negotiations if people didn't understand the language? 2 hectares of land in exchange for 10 sacks of rice would do. Put the land under a local's name. Then there's bribery and marriage. How can foreigners establish these corporations and take advantage of cheap labor? People need to be able to communicate in one language in order to beat each other.
Then the beaches become party places. Foreigners coming and establishing their bars, shopping centers, hotels and other commercial establishments. The system has expanded across the globe - Central America, Asia, and Africa. What do you need to profit more? More production and consumption. Greed. We are taught how to buy our happiness. Hence, the rubbish!
Do we blame the locals' lack of education for throwing all these 'introduced' rubbish to the sea? Do you mean education in terms of keeping up with the capitalist system and consumeristic society? Because we think that if they are not educated enough, then they will buy more stuff and just throw it all into the sea in the end. This type of education has only been introduced to favor the few. There has never been a need for education. People used to live off the grid. People used to be happy with what they have - they never have to keep up with the modern society. They are not used to 'feeling poor' and now they are compelled to have things because the materialistic society taught them to have more in order to be happy!
So before we go travel to the most touristic beaches in the world and whine about what the locals do to the sea, and before we put ourselves in that self-righteous whiner position - let's first analyze the root cause of this whole madness. Remember that we all put this shit upon ourselves. We are all responsible. Let's just do our part in easing the suffering of people and the planet.