11 July 2010

Article roundup!

Interesting article on personal responsibility and effect on the environment.

5 comments:

  1. "Personal change doesn’t equal social change." this statement is overreaching, si?

    i dont disagree with the guy. everyone should be reasonably mindful however, and we shouldnt give too much credit when it doesn't deserve it (like i didnt use a plastic bag today, yay im awesome), but theres still a good part of the population that isnt mindful about the objects around them.

    to say that the individual isnt responsible, .. that just seems so out of place to me.. because collectively we created this situation before us, and to say that we can rectify it the same way, one by one, slowly the whole..

    it seems like culture needs to be retaught. to seek things they only need, not just want
    it reminds me of the sixitemsorless project im participating in
    we want to look flashy, attractive, etc etc. but we really dont need to
    but we buy more than we need, for whatever reason and we have houses filled with stuff we cant keep track of

    its not just certain luxuries (like electricity) that we cant actually give up
    but the luxury of indulgence that we dont want to give up
    because we think some of it is a given right, others earned

    my brain hurts.
    right now, i can say for myself, i am going to try to be mindful of my environment
    because i cant ask an industry to clean up its act if i am not, besides being hypocritical, the need for the industry will not have dropped and it couldn't even clean up its act because theres still a demand for its services (whatever it is, examples examples, like the need for oil wont drop unless we're more mindful of our usage)


    one shirt can have so much garbage to it.
    like forever 21, an indiviual garment can have a sheet of plastice around it, as well as the whole bunch as well as the bunches in the box. and then the box and tape and it being shipped from china, etc. its a lot of garbage for one garment. not to mention the bag one buys it in
    but okay but with what that guy was saying... so i dont go shopping for a whole year or until i really need to, but does that mean theres less garbage. no, i understand that. i understand that the cheap products are still be made and sold at such high rates that that particular store is expanding. that for any real change to happen we would all need to decide to "waste not" and practice it and thats going to be very difficult, but thats no reason for me not to keep practicing that, and not to encourage others? and maybe that percentage will rise, it will be a cultural norm, the industry will suffer a little, and then.. then.. i dont know.. le sigh .. should i hang up my cloth bag now and go all plastic.

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  2. I think he was just pointing out how the problem is so much bigger than any individual, in fact, all individuals, when acting as individuals. There is a culture of personal responsibility and freedom in this country that is perfectly adapted to building industry and serving the needs of individual consumption. It does it so well that that is how most people view themselves through the spectrum of what they have and how much they make. And though it is good to be responsible with the amount of waste you do create, it simply can't address the problem fully. Changing the culture is of course necessary, but everything I read about climate change says that it is getting way too late for small, slow steps like changing the culture one person at a time. We simply don't have the cultural tools for engineering the sweeping changes required. And by the time we reach an actual crisis and people will be willing to elect leaders who will take drastic steps, it will likely be too late. This article doesn't propose any solutions, it merely details a problem.

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  3. then i think he was a little presumptuous and speaking on behalf of other people when he really shouldnt have. i think theres a huge movement and lots of groups trying and making a difference individually and as a group.
    this whole individual vs the community, i think we're failing to recognize this individualized shift in our culture and why its happening and that its destroying us while building us up.
    we would have to recognize it on all levels really.
    we're actually asking people to be more aware of one another and considerate, and i think it would surprise the best of us how that good energy would radiate out to all aspects of our lives.
    to state simply that we dont have the cultural tools to create change, well its everyone believing that, thats stopping from even giving people the chance.
    this guy is kind of an ass for making these assumptions instead of trying to challenge and instill proactivity

    i think we know the problem, anyone with a mouth can be a critic (i know that for sure all i do is complain) but really detailing the probleming but not asking for answer (because i think it might be too much to expect from him to know it) or asking others to help change this..
    he really just seem like a negative nancy and presumptuous ass for speaking for other people. it was published and everything, it had a great reach and an opportunity to earnestly reach out/ask out for an action. i dont know what about his style that just really rubbed me the wrong way. i felt the words being put in my mouth or something

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  4. I'm going to have to agree with Olek and the article here.

    People should have personal responsibility and understand what that their actions play a role in what goes on in the world, but that's on a different level than simply what they do day in and day out. The average human being doesn't consume that much, it's mostly industry that consumes because that shit runs day and night, going through a million times more resources than any human being could.

    That said, conserving water or trying to help the environment by changing the way you live is nice and symbolic and allows you to live with yourself (I'm obviously totally into doing this, being a vegetarian after all), but it's not going to change EVERYTHING. And EVERYTHING is what has to change. One person being a vegetarian doesn't do anything because one person only really has control over themselves. Corporations and government, on the other hand, have control over everything, so they're the things you have to change. The problem is figuring out a way to force them to change when they so often are the dominant force.

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  5. im not sayin it isnt industry
    but you cant ask industries to change if individuals dont change and dont recognize their impact
    like oil, you cant demand oil to clean up its act if we keep on insisting on cheap oil and guzzling it up
    we can clean up our individual acts, demand our companies to do it too.
    but if we dont clean up our acts, keep demanding cheap things in excess how can we expect our industry to change?

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