If I Ruled the World...

Everyone’s perception of the world around them differs in many ways, as is assumed through the variety of cultures in existence across the globe. An individual’s culture can explain a lot about how someone envisions a possible future based on their state of existence both in the past and present. Because of this, grasping one universal vision from the massive human race is overwhelmingly impossible. After reflecting on my own capacity for future consciousness, I am able to imagine a world where sustainability is the ONLY “cool” thing to do, and people are undertaking anything and everything they can to be socially accepted.

As a student having studied the apparel industry for the past few years, I feel confident in saying that most of us focus on optimism in how we view the stories and outcomes of life. In Thinking Ahead: The Value of Future Consciousness, psychologist Martin Seligman argues that “the belief that one can positively affect the future is critical to optimistic thinking”. The apparel industry is wholeheartedly about affecting the future in as many positive ways possible, starting with individually impacting consumers. People within this industry also have high self-efficacy, since setting goals and not giving up are crucial qualities to possess. Falling under the optimism category, I am 100% hopeful that we are in charge and capable of impacting our environment in a positive way for the future.

On the down side, being optimistic and hopeful can only go so far when it comes to actually eliciting a worldwide transformation. Even in analyzing my future consciousness for a sustainable future, I realized that there were some things that I would have to change personally in order for my optimism to stabilize. For one, I do believe in a higher external force that also contributes to what is yet to come. While I do not wish to change this belief, I do understand that I will have to incorporate it into whatever ultimately ends up happening to our environment. I do notice that believing in this higher external force however, can bring about more negative emotional states which could put a damper on my positivity for the future. Therefore, keeping these negative states in check in order to continue down my vision’s path is an important change to make. Another mindset that will need some minor adjustments has to do with viewing the human population as a whole. At times, it is hard for me to visualize a hopeful future when I have little to no faith in those around me to also practice optimism and work toward making a change. In Thinking Ahead: The Value of Future Consciousness, increased empowerment is defined by “expanded foresight, goal setting, planning, and goal-directed behavior”. Each of these defining characteristics is without a doubt lacking among people today for reasons beyond what I can understand. Laziness is taking its toll within our society, and unfortunately on my optimism as well. Visioneering: an essential framework in sustainability science points out that a sustainable future will require a “purpose-driven transformation of society”. How can society’s transformation have a purpose and be driven and goal-oriented if we ourselves aren’t? Hopefully these impeding issues will be able to change overtime, making my vision for a sustainable future something achievable.

My first thought when trying to define my vision for a sustainable future was to limit consumption of product users. However as I pondered the idea more, I came to the realization that I am seeking a career in a field that profits from the overconsumption of consumers! My future would not be sustainable at all if my industry was unable to make any profits due to limitations. The reading Limiting Consumption: Toward a Sustainable Culture focused primarily on aspects of overconsumption and how it affects the human race as well as the environment. Apparently, “the percentage of Americans who report that they are ‘very happy’ has been relatively stable since 1957, despite phenomenal growth in consumption”. In my opinion, the reason for this stagnation also has to do with the downfalls of the economy that are causing overall dissatisfaction among product users who are desperately seeking any amount of disposable income. Realistically however, consumption levels are most likely not going to change much within society now or in the future.  In switching my train of thought, I concluded that my vision of a sustainable future resembled more efforts toward creating efficient technology and advertisements. The basic principle of my vision is going to continue to guide consumers down the path of what is “cool”, but this time in a sustainable light rather than the opposite. The concept is simple: make sustainable efforts more mainstream through encouraging the practice of sustainability rather than making it seem like an option that is available if consumers choose to do so. Ultimately, sustainability is the ONLY option. Because technology and advertisements make such strong impacts on generations today, they are prime targets in transforming consumption patterns of people. Making changes in technology was a key topic in the video 2057: The World, where the chemical composition of solar panels was being altered to preserve the limitless use of solar energy.

The “Social Trap” mental mode of ‘everybody else is doing it, so why shouldn’t I’? combined with the “collective action” approach is what led me to formulate my vision. In addition to overconsumption not being likely to subside, the basic human need to conform is also going to be ingrained within society for years to come. For that reason, if sustainability can be enforced more heavily throughout society as something that is more mainstream, people will be forced to follow. In addition to adopting such mental modes to bring about my vision of popularizing the efficient consumption for the future, some will also have to give up the desire to be a unique distinction from others around them. Having this mindset would not benefit my vision, and would ultimately bring us right back to where we are currently. We have to focus on popular group conformation in order make the sustainable footprint that my vision hopes for.

Communicating and engaging others in my vision is going to be the challenge, since my vision is almost the complete opposite of what consumers are practicing today. That is, following a path down the popularized unsustainable road, that suggests more negatives over positives when it comes to adopting ecological practices. However, I do believe that making my vision a reality will be easily obtainable if I am able to educate those within the technology and advertising industries about how they will benefit from creating a new band of followers. Through innovation and fresh ideas regarding sustainability, consumers will be intrigued by what new products are being created and promoted. After all, that is a lot like how our society is today. Now if we can only shift gears toward adopting a more sustainable lifestyle through letting go of historical tradition, taking more risks, and having more faith in others, our complete community will transform into following a path where sustainability is commonplace.