WHEN finding a way to move forward and seek advancements within this world, there is an endless amount of possibilities to achieve the same end result – a world where we get to enjoy a comfortable and luxurious life. The idea of futurism revolves around two key features – convenience and novelty. We want things to make our lives easier and better for everyone, while at the same time satisfying our desire to have things look new and sleek. What’s most important when inventing and manufacturing products for the future is ensuring minimal cost and maximum efficiency for both the consumer and manufacturer.

These needs are often handled with a lot of shortcuts, especially in ensuring maximum efficiency on the part of the manufacturer. Cheaper materials would be used as long as it can serve the purpose of its creation, with little to no consideration over long-term effects. Not only does this often create products that are dangerous to consumers such as radioactive clocks and toys which used to be found in the western market, but we also get non-degradable single-use products that end up leaving the world blanketed with trash.

This is often seen as the main issue to counter with sustainable development. However, the whole thing actually goes deeper than that.

Awareness on the need for sustainable development did not just suddenly appear today when the Sustainable Development Goals were made in 2015. We began realising about the problem with modern manufacturing such as usages of plastics which can harm the environment as early as the 1900s, and even before that for various other issues. However, the fact very little had been done to combat this problem leads only means that we have a big issue when it comes to our attitude towards others.

Normally, most would only care about their own self and those closely related around them. They lack any form of sympathy in considering the needs and importance of others, especially when they have had their needs met. This on its own has been one of the main reasons for the lack of action from most people in combating climate change and unsustainable life. This is why no matter how much campaigns we make, most would go back to using products that leave plastic waste and refuse to take the extra step to recycle, even after knowing the consequences. If it’s the cheapest way to go, it is the way to go.

This issue not only occurs on the consumer end, but also among manufacturers who, not only want to make products more efficiently, but also capitalise on the consumers’ needs by making sure that the users would pay as much as they can to the manufacturers. An example can be found in the case of the Phoebus Cartel, where major light bulb manufacturers agreed to make light bulbs with a limited life span, despite having the technology for better light bulbs, simply so that people would need to buy them more often. The issue does not go down to light bulbs only, and this is not even the only concern when it comes to this attitude in general.

The reason why this problem begins in the first place is due to the lack of feeling of sympathy towards other people. This all roots down to the issue of humanity, where if one truly has the attributes of a human, they will have a sense of sympathy and care towards others, especially once they know about the problems people are facing. No longer do we need to fight for as simple as SDG 1, No Poverty, and SDG 2, Zero Hunger, for as long as those in poverty can be seen there would always be someone to take care of their needs.

Our main issue is to make sure everyone would grow up with the correct values being taught to them. Currently, most children no longer gain the much-needed proper education from home, but instead the parents simply put all the burden to the schools and the schools only, as if these are the children of the teachers rather than their own. This is actually what’s supposed to be focused on when it comes to SDG 4 regarding Quality Education. A child deserves love and attention not from school, but from their parents and family, and similarly goes to education.

Once these matters are taken care of, no longer do we need to bother about SDGs 10 to 16, as they are matters which any sensible human being would ensure so long as they have the right values and virtues built into them. No longer do we need to preach about inequalities and corruption, as we would simply not conduct any immoral acts due to having the right values in place. There’s no need to campaign for sustainable consumption as people would use their own logic to realise that they need to be responsible over what they do in relation to its consequences. We don’t need to tell people that they should not harm the environment when it comes as part of common sense already once the right values are in place.

This is in fact what Islam teaches us to do, to make sure that everyone around us is in check – for only when we care about others would others care about us, and only when we help other people would we ever receive their help.