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Fix the source

21 June 2026
Adarsh Gopal

Fixing the source of our problems is always harder than treating the symptoms. Especially when the solution is complicated and everyone involved refuses to take responsibility and is unwilling to be held accountable.

This attitude of 'it is what it is' and let's just solve this issue downstream happens with every aspect of our life.

Let's take garbage and waste management. The solution is less consumption and producing less waste. No amount of compacting, biomining, recycling, generating power from incineration or composting can solve the problem. The easiest waste to manage will be the waste we did not generate in the first place.

Let's take crowded urban settings. Everyone argues let's build taller buildings to accommodate more people in less land. But how about water for this building? How about managing the sewage and waste this building produces? How do we make this building liveable? It needs more energy. If you suggest maybe more open spaces, smaller houses with more ventilation and more catchment for water and less demanding on aquifers might be the solution, you are told urbanism does not work that way. Well, why can't we rethink things for our circumstances and resources? Why not make sprawl, less massing and more independent clusters work for us?

Same goes for our health. The easiest fat to burn is the fat not packed on from food you never ate to a calorie surplus you were never on. The easiest way to feel stronger and more nimble is the muscle you gained from consistently being active and lifting for 30-40 mins a day for decades. No bootcamps or crazy 6 month transformations.

There are solutions to problems and there is managing symptoms. The latter is convenient but not permanent. People build markets for managing symptoms: water, food, fast fashion, international schools, tutors etc.

The former requires change and is inconvenient. There is less money to be made by solving problems. Solving what kills us results in less commerce.


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