We own it!
NIMBY means the planet.
You own it. If your actions are largely or even partly the cause, you own the result. That means responsibility. Ignorance is not an excuse.
Consider. The wealth and power of countries like the U.S. have expanded over my lifetime and in what is now, unmistakably, an interconnected world, that means actions taken in the U.S. have serious consequences in all but the most isolated communities in the world. And actually in all of them as climate distortion is an equal opportunity killer.
Oligarchs exploit people in their country in order to live in the wealthiest countries in the world and/or enjoy their wealth. They use our technology and manage our enterprises and utilize our medical facilities and influence our government’s policies toward their countries all to escape responsibilities at home and enjoy their wealth globally.
We own what they do for we are accomplices. The richer we are and stronger, the further we extend our power, the more we are responsible because our neighborhood is the world and when our actions harm our neighbors, we need to own up to it.
We use to say, too many of us did, NIMBY (Not in my backyard). Well, our backyard has gotten a lot larger and we share it with all our neighbors. It is the planet.
Fortune enough to ignore it? Too wealthy to be directly affected? You still owe. Call it a “moral,” a “Christian,” a “human” moral obligation, it’s ours, yours and mind. We own what is happening in the world because, even if in ignorance, we’re “up to our elbows” in it. And the use of “ignorance” to escape responsibility is its own moral choice.