Trying to cross off one from my to-do list today (sort of):
What is my personal, moral responsibility to the planet? At what point does all the head-wagging and tongue-clucking become hypocritical? Am I morally obligated to drastically change my lifestyle, drop in the ecological bucket though it may be? How much comfort am I allowed? And how much comfort today steals comfort from my children and my children's children tomorrow?
We've built up this world and this society in such a way as to make life about pleasure and not survival. And I embrace that. I am a comfort-seeker. I like to be warm, well fed, and entertained. And when I think about what is right for my children and what I owe them, I generally think in terms of the right instructional activities, the most healthful and acceptable meals, the best books to read to them, and the right amount of cultural exposure. It is too difficult to imagine that this could all be in vain, that the best way to ensure their future happiness (or a future at all) would be to jettison the piano lessons and take up farming and wood work. So I don't imagine it. I selfishly pursue the modern "normal" life, full of Disney movies and beach vacations. Not that those things are bad in themselves. It's just a devotion to capitalism and a fossil-fuel dependency that drives these things in a very unavoidable way.
Some of my friends are, in fact, jumping into an environmentally-sound lifestyle. I applaud them, but I know I could never be them. Which amounts to the best excuse I've been able to come up with: as a single family there's only so much we can do. Any drastic lifestyle change is more hand-washing than anything else. But then again, perhaps there's a certain amount of evangelism that comes with such a move. My friends' move has certainly had that effect on me. Which brings me back to the original question: what is my personal responsibility? Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but I need answers, people.
I'm coming to believe that we have to overcome the pathological fear of scarcity that we live under. The fear that says if we move to try to repair the environment, we have to make great sacrifices to our comfort and well-being. That having more and more is what makes us happy. It's really hard to get clear of those messages because we are bombarded with them. I don't think you have to start using a composting toilet to fix global warming. :-) There are things you could do that would help that wouldn't cost you much, in money, time or comfort, many that you probably already do. (Stop buying coffee with a plastic lid that you will immediately throw away. Commit yourself to never buying another bottle of water - get a nice stainless steel bottle and take it everywhere. Turn off lights you're not using. Drive less. See! You already do a lot of this! And only the coffee thing hurts!) There are messages you can give your kids about what's important, values you can try to impart to them, that will make a cumulative difference over the course of their lives and will be good for them in other ways - messages about delayed gratification, about planning ahead, about cleaning up after themselves, about caring for others and the planet. And there are simple, radical, important things you can do, like writing letters to your congresspeople, like signing petitions, like attending protests, that will help to push the political changes that are necessary to really start fixing this.
ReplyDeleteI'm learning about this myself, trying to believe that there is reason for grounded optimism, rather than despair. It's hard not to despair. This helped, though it's a little old: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/21/al-gore-explains-why-hes-optimistic-about-stopping-global-warming/ Also, I learned today that there is no technological, scientific reason that we couldn't eliminate fossil fuels in the next couple of decades. And in the long run, it will be an economic boon because of the very high cost of continuing down this road. It is the political will that we lack. And that's something you can do something about.
You rely on public transport and you walk everywhere. I envy the moral edge this gives you. I cycle to my Friday job, but considering I've been driving all over Ireland for my other job, this is pretty lame.
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