As it seems, Dominique has framed the debate and she is right. The true problem facing any environmental movement is not ignorance, is not skepticism and is not lack of will. These can all be remedied through exposure and educated discussion of the issue. No, the greatest problem is the willful and knowing decision not to act. Anyone can be ignorant, and ignorance is not a sin because it is easily fixed. However, it is the everyday bystander who pays lipservice to the cause by buying organic cotton and locally grown vegetables but is unwilling to sacrifice the true luxuries which have caused so much harm to the world about them that is the true problem. Because they know that the envirnment is being damanged and can afford to take the small step to save face for themselves. However, once they have to step beyond their own world and make the sacfices necessary for the betterment of society, they shrink from duty.

Thinking of this problem and reading both Fish's article and Dominique's post reminded me of two things. The first is a rather extreme example but it proves a point. In 1964, a young woman named Kitty Genovese was murdered on her way home in New York City. It was later reported that almost 30 people had heard her crys for help but did not call the police or offer assistence. Those witnesses were subject to the "bystander effect" whereby if a bystander feels there are many people seeing the same problem that "someone" will act and, therefore, they do not. While climate change may not be as dramatic as an urban murder, the bystander effect plays in nonetheless. Because people witness the problem, they assume that some anonymous "other" is handling it and they do not have to worry. They can continue to live their lives unabated and not have to sacrifice the everyday luxuries which have become common to modern American life. Those people on the street who so frustrated Dominique -always in a rush to get on with their lives, pitying the envirnment but not acting- seem to me to be Kitty's new neighbors, hearing the problem and assuming someone else will act.

The second thing that i was reminded of was the opening lines of Thomas Paine's "The Crisis." "The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service" necesary. To me, our worst summer soldiers are those who are in positions of influence and prestige yet do not fully act for the betterment of their world. From celebraties to policy makers, many in power will observe and acknowledge these problems yet only pursue them insofar as they do not inconvenience them or cost them an election. It is in times of crises, which we could be in, that strong leadership is necesary to, if need be, go against the purveiling wisdom and make the hard choices and undertake the sacrifices which must be made.