2. The core ideas behind my systems diagram have mainly to do with distracting ourselves from the main problem and how backhanded strategies will lead to further distrust and less action toward the real goal at hand. Since WikiLeaks occurred, now everyone knows what is going on and what to watch out for. Everyone will be on their guard to protect themselves. This makes people even greedier for what they feel they need, deserve, or are owed. Others might even begin doing similar things in order to accomplish their own personal agendas. Through this, appeasement and bribery may even take place and increase, however where would this money come from? Furthermore, even if this money was collected, what is the point in giving it to these countries, when instead it could go toward new technologies and strategies to reduce our emissions and help us to devise ways of adapting to the changing climate? By simply trying to convince other countries to agree to our desired agenda, what is really being accomplished here? This plan can only lead to greater dissent and further distrust among nations, indicating that we still don’t understand the real issues at state. This effort must be a collective action in order to actually do anything, whether that be to reduce our emissions or simply adapt to the situation, we must work as a team to get things done, not as enemies and thieves. This issue concerns everyone on this planet and not only is it a collective effort, but is also not just a question for governments and politics, but for everyone and must also include individual efforts as well.

3. I think that it was probably for the better overall that these schemes have come out into the open. It’s kind of like when a child steals a piece of candy or does something else wrong, if he is not caught, then he won’t learn from his mistakes and will continue to do that wrong things as long as he sees that it works for him. On the flip side, if the young child is caught and warns against doing such a thing again, he may learn from his mistake and refrain from such immoral actions in the future.

In this situation, the US, as well as some other countries it would seem to me, was trying to push their own agenda and make happen what would be solely in their best interest. The US wanted other countries to back them in their agreement and some other countries wanted monetary compensation for “not being as responsible for the climate change as other nations”. This doesn’t make sense to me though because where are these funds going to come from? Where will the US obtain them and if they do not succeed in procuring them, then they have just blatantly lied to these other nations, which can only lead to negative consequences in the future.

Personally, I can’t seem to understand why government officials and politicians can’t simply discuss the issues at hand and work together to accomplish their goals, especially when it may literally mean our survival or destruction if we cannot adapt to our changing environment. I feel that the time spent on such petty problems as personal gain should be put to the wayside and that money ought to be spent on better ways of mitigating the changing climate and/or adapting ourselves and our technologies to the changing environment.