Journal of the mental environment
You on the environment
Last week Lauren and I set out into the open city to gauge the public’s perception on the earth’s current enviro-crisis. This is what it had to say.
- Thu, 17 Jul 2008 2:55 pm — Posted by Trevor
- | 11 comments
Q: The Earth’s Crisis - How Bad Is It Really?
It was good to see that generally everyone we spoke to had some idea of the situation’s severity. To what degree they understand it is the question. As denizens of the western world, it is clear that a sort of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ effect is happening.
Q: What Is Your Greatest Concern?
One thing I can say for sure is that people love animals. Other than that, specific concerns vary from person to person. Maybe that’s the problem. There are so many concerns that it’s difficult to get people focused on a particular action.
Q: Will Humanity Survive?
I found this question to be frustrating. The word, ‘adaptable’, was thrown around quite a bit. Many seem to have this idea that our ‘adaptability’ will save us from any oncoming catastrophes. That sounds like a huge cop-out, an excuse to remain stagnant.
Q: What Needs to Change?
The Earth’s problems are myriad, and so are the possible solutions. I liked what a couple of these folks had to say about the need to change minds. There are things that need to happen on both a personal and governmental level. So now that we know what needs to be done, it’s time we moved away from this theoretical discussion phase, and moved into one of serious action. We need to act.
What do you think?
Here. Do SOMETHING. dosomething.org
Comments
Far and away the most irritating part of "global climate change" is that it is so frequently rendered as a question of human responsibility for the planet. Seriously -- it's not the planet that needs C02 levels to stabalize, it's the people who cause the C02 levels to increase. Maybe it's a question of individual people looking for a global morality tale, but if human beings screw up the environment, the earth will perservere. It was around billions of years before humans and will continue for billions of years after them. The planet doesn't care if humans live or die.
The climate change issue isn't about the environment anymore. Maybe once before, decades ago when it was called the Greenhouse Effect, but now its politics. The lines are drawn and it's absolutely about the human microsystem and not the planetary macrosystem.
We are going to be up to our asses head first in an ice-age and the people on snowshoes are going to be fighting the people on snowmobiles. And the leaders of the snowshoers are going to fly around on snowmobiles because thats the ecotone.
There's an ecotone between classes and cultures (economic systems) just as there are between two ecosystems (ecological systems).
Any macrosystem change, like climate, makes two ecosystems within it go into conflict even though they share the smae macrosystem. Like when Caribou move north into Moose country, they get to fightin.
Lets just start paralleling ecology with economics, quick. And sprinkle a little insanity on it.
Your mind is recordable media.
I don't even necessarily think it is a question of politics, I think it's a question of paradigm. People have eternal faith in their economies to respond to impending disaster, consequently few people see ecological crisis as such. When hurricanes increase in frequency and intensity, oceans rise, sea life changes as some species survive while others die of -- those are seen as isolated incidents that can be corrected through market action. The result are "green policies" like putting limestone in the ocean in the hopes of reducing C02 emissions...a policy which allows for the "correction" of "mistakes", without actually addressing the more serious question of over consumption of certain specific resources.
Command economy countries have the capacity to make grand political and economic plans for correcting this damage, but they are also far less efficient at generating responces because all policy must be directed on a national level. Ultimately if the government simply allowed energy prices to increase at the absurd rate they presently are -- it would provide more incentive for change then any command policy of any authoritarian economy. People would simply have to find a way to adjust.
The problem is that people don't like to adjust. For a lot of people not driving a car is interpreted as downward social mobility so even if they have a conscience, they appease it with a hybrid car and thus protect their ego. The same thing applies to meat consumption, house size, clothing, you name it. The enviro-crisis is a crisis causes by maladaption, hands down. This would be a topic of abnormal psychology but because its a common delusion of the culture, it defines sanity.
Just as individuals with abnormal psychology are a threat to themselves and others so too are entire afflicted societies.
Your mind is recordable media.
The point made about individuals in our society "greenwashing" is entirely too accurate. It has almost become trendy one could say to be eco-aware, but how many truly make an effort to make a difference?
The whole of the western mentality seems to be a pollutant in itself. We are highly selfish, and only minimally concerned with the effects of our hording natures. Sure if there is an "eco-friendly" version to a product, and it is within a fraction of a price difference it may be considered as an alternative. But how many individuals are willing to spend 30 dollars on a US made toaster when they can get a China-made one at a bigbox for 8.99?
One issue I didn't hear any mention of from the street folk is the mass importation of goods to countries like Canada and the USA. Anybody who purchases products made in China, India, Japan ect. is supporting environmental and human exploitation.
Whether it be that cute little knick knack you pick up off a dollar store shelf, or that wicked tent you got for a ridiculously good price at shop-o-rama... if it is imported you're contributing to the earth crisis. We're not only supporting environmental contamination and slave labor, but helping to further cushion the pockets of our beloved corporate superpowers. When did witty pens and cheap accessories become more imperative then world wide ecological disasters?
We as individuals need to step up to the plate and hold ourselves accountable for our actions. Stop expecting governments and corporations to take the initiative... boycott protest and riot if need be, anything more then we are doing now... give the 60's a 21st century revamp. Remember kids, revolution doesn't come cheap... or everybody would be doing it. :)
If the human family proves unable to maintain our self-sufficiency on Earth, we will have to trade for necessary resources in the Greater Community, making us vulnerable to outside political influence. The future of human freedom is at risk.
I don't know about the state of the environment but the state of fashion with that guy in the deep v striped shirt is in the toilet.
T-shirts come in three varieties these days: crew-neck, v-neck, and douchebag.
No way, mimes are stylin.
Your mind is recordable media.
Fear the coming years, for they will bring famine and drought. Devastating storms and floods as polar ice caps melt. Media outlets pushing the lie that there is a general consensus ostracizing any scientist who speaks out with dissenting evidence.
It makes sense when climate science is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Without a problem a massive constituency would be without a salary.
Your lightbulbs are out of date. now EVERYONE must change EVERY bulb to higher efficency... wish l invested in lightbulbs.
Do you think when the ice age came people were concerned how to stop it? there is no fuckin problem its being blown way out of proportion go waste your money on green appliances and organic honey... if there even is such a thing ahaha
I like what he guy said about people getting their fat-asses out of cars.
Do people not see that it's not just a petroleum issue? It's a land use issue, a suburbia issue, a safety issue, a resource consumption issue, an existentialist putting yourself in an isolating shell against the world issue, an anti-bike issue, an anti-communities issue, and industrialization issue, a urbanization issue, a mechanization issue, its a psychological issue, its also an economic issue because of all the money we spend on keping our cars alive while people starve and die, just FUCK THOSE THINGS!!
Your mind is recordable media.
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