Only the Masses Are the Major Roles In Saving Taihu Lake
During the period from the end of May to the early June 2007, water area of Taihu Lake broke out blue algae in a large scale that resulted in deterioration of surrounding water quality. 70% of water supply in Wuxi city is polluted having directly produced effect on domestic water of 20 million people and resulted in a surge of scare buying of citizens for mineral water. The public crisis of drinking water caused by blue algae still continues. The masses living in the areas of Taihu Lake and Wuxi are faced with a radical choice: Will they continue to allow or support the government to try for fast increase of wealth at the cost of ecology and environment or properly restrain the desire for wealth and pay more attention to ecology and environment?
Often, people are inclined to only taking themselves as the sufferers and deliberately neglect their own responsibility. Facing a serious case of environmental pollution, the first reaction of the people is that the government should bear the responsibility and intensify treatment. It seemingly sounds reasonable and right. The government has the right to management and constituting restraint laws and policies, of course, the government also holds substantial resources that can be put into treatment of pollution by approval of it.
However, the problem is whether or not the government has the inclination to do this? As early as 1998, the government has launched “Zero Action” on a grand scale for pollution treatment of Taihu Lake. However, since 2001, blue algae have broken out annually, and it is the most serious this year. The governments at all levels should fulfill the arduous task for treatment of pollution and improvement of ecology around Taihu Lake, but the real motive power to make Taihu Lake recovered to normal ecology in the expected future still lies in the masses.
In all reports on environmental pollution, the masses are the passive sufferers, and the governments are the major roles, whether or not which is the prejudice of media or objective truth on earth cannot be known. However, only the masses are the major roles in the whole pollution case because that although the masses are the main sufferers from pollution, it cannot be denied that the masses themselves are the main producers of pollution at the same time. The purpose of such saying is not to avoid or shift the governments’ responsibility for supervision and control, but, definitely, the pollution by the masses is prior to the supervision and control of the governments.
Polluting activity of the masses cannot be spoken of as an absolute mistake because it is an inevitable result from the individuals seeking for wealth. Environmental protection is not an absolute value, and to the contrary, if the environment needs to be protected is a problem of weighing and choice. As long as the human want to live and improve their situations, creation of wealth will be required, so such activities will necessarily produce negative effect on the environment more or less, and if the negative effect is huge enough, it will conversely counteract the effectiveness brought by the wealth. Therefore, a source of welfare of life is simply a wise choice between economic activities and environment. If blue algae break out annually in this way, then, even if everyone were moneybags, where would be the welfare of life?
Under the existing system, major local officials are constantly transferred at a relatively fast speed, but the overwhelming majority of the masses will live here from age to age. So, the interest appeals of the governmental officials are not all equal to the preferences of the masses. The officials are inclined to short-term action and often obtain good-looking political performances at the cost of ecology and environment. In this case, if the masses want to lead a life of welfare, they must stand out to make a public decision between rapid development of economy and a good ecological environment.
Awakening of a part of citizens has the key significance. Provided that there is a group to launch public debate and arouse widespread attention of the masses, a public domain about the destiny of Taihu Lake can be formed, which can urge the decision maker to utilize existing resources to treat Taihu Lake. If the masses cannot make a definite and wise choice by themselves and can only rely on the government, it would be never possible to find out an ideal imbalance point between wealth creation and ecological quality.
