CAT 2023 Reading Comprehension — Previous Year Question

Corporations continue to ignore the threat of global warming, probably because global warming is a hyper-object, very difficult to touch and feel. Because hyper-objects have much wider time-space boundaries than human beings, we tend to consider hyper-objects as given and non-existent. Therefore, it is very difficult to deal with hyper-objects as their common understanding is lacking. Some of us continue to believe that global warming is blown out of proportion—it is not a serious threat. Even those who understood hyper-objects have yet to figure out the right response to them. The lack of understanding and response from corporations to 'climate change' is evident from the fact that most businesses have remained largely human-centric. Some businesses have adopted green practices voluntarily or involuntarily. These efforts attempt to reduce emissions through better energy efficiency. Though laudable, the efforts have failed to make any significant dent at the global level; the planet continues to get warmer. Moreover, most of the efforts are still in the sphere of 'business as usual' and 'what is good for us.' Business as usual, the current model of economic production and distribution, is deeply flawed as it is based mainly on the capitalistic ethos of free-market legitimized through private property, competition, and unlimited consumption. The word 'free' has come to mean that there are no constraints on individuals, and the word 'market' has come to mean that buying and selling are the primary mechanisms, and everything is a transaction. Private property gives individuals/nations a chance to create legal rights to own more and more, subject to very little constraints. It is evident in income inequalities witnessed across the world. The very notion of ownership is control-oriented and human-centric, promoting unlimited extraction from the environment, hyper-nationalism, and hyper-individualism. The extraction and exploitation of the environment have served our economic interests and led to the growth and survival of businesses. However, it has also led to the destruction of the environment. Global warming is the response of nature to human actions driven by businesses operating on the principles of surplus, predictability, control, hyper-rationality, linearity, and quantification. In other words, 'business as usual' has yet to dance to the rhythm of nature.