Yet could "easy" be a start?

I would definitely have to agree with many points that Michael Maniates makes in his article, yet I am not willing to condemn small actions as not being enough. I think that in order to get this "revolution" started we truly need to take baby steps. I really liked his analogies to Paul Revere and the "Lazy Revolution" and other plugs for radical action. Yet I also think that the American Revolution took years to finally come to such a point. So while Paul Revere is not lazy, their were meetings called to order, laws passed, secret societies formed and the Boston Tea Party, all steps that finally pushed Americans over the edge to fight the British. However, I do feel that this is a sad state. I agree with Maniates that it is absurd to sit around and wait while the Earth goes into climatic crisis and that big changes will certainly alter that. Yet, I think that Maniates is too condemning of the American public.

In the United States, there are many people who cannot afford to be environmentally friendly. They are living on welfare, food stamps and are trying to make a living to support their families. In a lot of cases it might be simply bad luck, but often times it is deep rooted structures in our society involving race, class etc. that cast people into these molds. How is someone supposed to care about saving baby polar bears when their own child may be dying of hunger or disease because they can't afford health care? I know, I even feel terrible typing those words, but I also think it's the sad truth. In other parts of the world, people are even worse off and even more uneducated. Many are simply unaware of how the environment works, why their is a crisis, and how humans are involved. Yet this may be ok, since a herdsman in Africa certainly has a much smaller footprint to someone who simply chooses to remain ignorant in a Western nation.

As such, I feel it is truly the responsibility of the government to put some deep rooted structural changes in place, concerning energy use, endangered species, climate change, global warming, overfishing and all the myriad of other environmental problems that are slowly becoming worse. Even though I would like to see smart, sophisticated people inform the American public about environmental change, the truth is, can you blame Al Gore for hosting Live Earth Day? People look up to celebrities, and will listen to what they say. I would rather them hear the message from Paris Hilton than no one at all. This is something in the American consumer culture that I think we would be very hard pressed to change. It simply is. So if it takes Cameron Diaz to tell women to turn the water off in the shower while shaving their legs, and 1,000 women do, I will take that as a small accomplishment.

I believe the reason we may be treated like children when asked about environmental issues is because many people simply have not had environmental education. Our parents and grandparents might even be unsure of the terminology we use to talk about such a crisis. People need time to adjust to these new steps, and for now I think that every little bit helps. While every little bit helps, I think we should only account on the people who truly only desire to do a bit, to just do a bit. We need to balance that out with people who are willing to do 1,000,000 bits. It could be the researchers the social greens, the people who are truly calling for a revolution. Also, although it may be just the idealist ramblings of a college student, I am really looking forward to the November election for some change in U.S. policy. While both candidates have similar environmental policies, I think even more change can be procured once a candidate enters the White House. That is my hope!

But, as in any situation, you can't wait on hope. We do need to do large things, but we also need to do small things. Once we have everyone doing the small things, maybe then we can take the next step. The only way I think that people will be willing to make radical changes is if it comes from some sort of ordinance from the government, which I would not be opposed to. Heck, lets make gasoline even higher priced and see how far it will take for people to truly start biking, walking or using public transportation.

So, while I do agree with many of the points that Maniates makes about the environment, I feel his article is too harsh to the general American public. Not everyone is as educated and privileged as we are at American University, and some people may not even value the environment as much as we do in this class. Others are just ignorant, but hopefully can be taught. I feel that radical action does need to be taken, but I think Maniates article is a little too "social green" for me. I am willing to do as many little things as I can right now to help make a difference, and maybe one day lobby the next president to continue to make good policy decisions about the environment.