Social Trap
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Social Trap, Textbook p.483
Last year, I visited one of the African nations where we were to spend a week holiday with my friends. We learnt firsthand the dangers of neglecting the environment. The consequences are dire. We visited one of the suburbs where mountains of litter scattered the place. A very unpleasant stench robbed the air and we almost were forced to wear mask to seal it off but we endured so we could not disappoint our guide, DK, who had been very friendly to us.
DK explained to us that a few years back, this place was the most beautiful with clean air and thriving plantations of coffee and green trees. The murky rivers clogged with all forms of waste including polythene bags with clean water and one could drink it untreated. This was before people settled here.
When people started settling in this suburb, they cut down the trees as they constructed houses. They started disposing litter with reckless abandon. The litter piled up, the clean water changed color as the plantations, and trees disappeared. The community that lives here is now facing the consequences of their own actions. The short-term gains brought about by settling in a new area and disposing of waste from their homes have now caught up with them. This is a true case of social trap (Myers, 2012).