meretricious
meretricious
based on pretense, deception, or insincerity
We have coated this world in tiny shards of plastic. It is in our soil, our water, our air, and even our organs. Aliens probably call us the Plastic People, and label our rituals around it a self-destructive religion. They’d be right.
For decades, fossil fuel companies have engaged in a propaganda operation misrepresenting the efficiency of plastic manufacturing. Much of what we’ve been led to believe about the production and recycling processes is a lie. Only somewhat recently has the truth cracked the artificial shell of public consciousness.
The same way they did with climate change and smoking, the companies know what the science says about continuing like this. They wouldn’t spend so much money muddying the water if truth was on their side. These soulless organizations find out about a threat to the planet, and file patents instead of warnings. All to secure the spoils of a ruined world.
I don’t want to come across as some kind of anti-plastic zealot. I’m not out here burning copies of The Graduate, (I’m actually pro-plastic straw). I just can’t help but notice that making everything out of this stuff is a big part of the reason we’re in this mess. The Plastic People cast a spell to ensure lines on a chart kept going up. Their incantation worked, just on more charts than they bargained for.
Everything breaks down on a long enough scale. When we reject that basic reality, our hubris tends to catch up to us. This pursuit of synthetic longevity has only poisoned the rising tide.
Life stops being life once you take away the natural cycles of decline. It’s kind of a packaged deal, the sort with cellophane wrapping.
ContextFall
An Octopus Picks Litter at the End of the World by Bex Hainsworth