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Presentation: Wall-E Is poor CSR of Buy N Large (or any corporation) to blame for the state of the earth as seen in WALL-E? Our movie choice is Wall-E The movie WALL-E is set many centuries in the future around a dystopian vision of Earth. The Earth is choked with poisonous gasses, deserted cities with crumbling buildings and obelisks of rubbish making up the skyline. The humans boarded a space cruiser, Axiom, and left the rapidly deteriorating environment of Earth in 2100.
The plan was to return after 5 years once the planet was restored, however, such actions failed and the humans continued to live in space for centuries to come. In this grim setting, begins a love story revolving around two robots, Wall-E and EVE. What role does the government play in the preservation of the environment? The government and such bodies have a highly important role to play when it comes to preservation of the environment. After all, they are the ultimate governing power since they are given the responsibility of setting and enforcing the laws and legislations.
The role of the government entails five main objectives: Defense, national identity, representation, infrastructure and social welfare. However, many would say that the overriding objective of the government is to focus on the rights of the people, both current and future generations. However, in the movie, we can see that BnL becomes the government in the future. They are in a position to dictate the way businesses should be run. The government provides rules of conduct, may it be a new regulation on ingredients deemed fit for children’s food, it provides security and order for its citizens.
The government is also in a position to enforce the law and hold individuals accountable for their actions by establishing appropriate punishment for inappropriate behavior. In relation to Wall-E, where the main themes are over-consumerism and destruction of the environment, the government could very well place stricter regulations regarding waste production and disposal, thus avoiding a situation where the surface of the earth is made up of mounds of waste.
Since there isn’t a governing body looking out for the long-term interest of the society, their actions go unaudited. Naturally, this can’t be good for the society as a whole in the long-run. When it comes to issue with such importance, it is very important to not give the entire responsibility of protecting the environment to private actors since there is a lack of accountability. The world’s most serious environmental problems such as global warming require coordination between governments.
Governments are in a position to prevent and solve the problem of degradation. Government intervention is increasingly being required or else we will face a situation like that seen in Wall-E. There is no absolute way to address the issues without the full support and drive of the federal government, thus a top-down regulation is vital, with sight set on international collaboration. Through government policy, the amount of greenhouse gasses being emitted can be reined in.
An example of this would be the Kyoto Protocol where countries come together to discuss how and by how much they will be reducing the emission of gasses. In relation to over-consumption, governments in Europe have placed strict limits and regulations on advertising to children and the nutrition in children’s food. In Wall-E, the concepts of over-consumption leading to degradation of the environment are not subliminally sent to the audience. They are explicitly stated throughout the movie, if we do not hold actions accountable we will be facing a world where blocks of rubbish replace bricks.