A Hard Won and Seldom Seen Victory

When i went home for thanksgiving I was excited to see my family, eat massive amounts of turkey (Which I am proud to say came from a local farm near my house free of the Industrial food chain), and generally do nothing. Yet, in the face of my potential laziness, I was charged to bring up environmental politics to my family in Kentucky -this wasn't going to go well.

First, a little backround. I come from a conservative legal family. My father has voted republican for over twenty years, he is a true small government idealist. Also, he is one of the smartest people I know. He gradutated first in his class at Georgetown, first in his class at U of Cincinnati Law School, and has over 25 years of legal experience. Needless to say, the man knows how to argue.

So, when I confronted him about the possible ramifications of human interference and overuse of the environment, he certainly had something to say. He gave me a whole slew of arguements from the idea that whats going on now is a natural phenomena, to the idea that regulation is fruitless because it would necesitate a government expansion. However, despite all his ability to manuever, I, for the first time in quite a while, was able to confront him with a range of counterarguements. From the I=PAT equation, to the idea of sustainability as defined by Cradle to Cradle to Maniates' feelings on consumption and responsible individual action.

And a remarkable thing happened, for the first time that I can remember, I changed my fathers mind, at least a little bit. He was very taken with Maniates' idea of systems of social change. I think it appealed to his logical, analytical mind to believe that a change in structures would lead to a change in action. He also seemed to like it because it minimized the role of government in regulation and replaced it with the concerted effort of indiviuals.

He was more conflicted with the idea of fivolous consumption. He has always prided himself on thrift. However, he felt that the kind of indictment that Maniates was laying out was too general an indictment of modern american capitalistic culture. He was fundementally unwilling to critique the system through which he has succeeded.

The conversation was truely eye opening. Firstly because it reinforced the idea that environmental responsibility is the only logical choice. But moreso because of the limitations my father represented. One of the major dificulties is convincing a population that has made its wealth through the American capitalist system that it is that very system that will lead to dramatic problems in the future. While he is a logical, reasonable man and is very willing to change his beliefs if they can be proved wrong, he was not willing to, in his eyes, betray the system that has brought him prosperity. That was very interesting.

So, my thanksgiving was not completely without an education. Though, I didnt bring up the idea of an industrial food system, I figured that may be too much for Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving

I found it pretty difficult to bring up environmental issues at Thanksgiving because the conversation didn't head anywhere near global issues (except for the terrorist attacks in Mumbai) and this year, no one was really fighting I didn't want to ruin a good thing! Anyway, I found my chance later in the night, when my little sister was telling me that I need to eat meat to get some protein and iron. After telling her for the 100th time that I have energy and that my iron is high enough to give blood, I realized I now how a perfect opportunity to talk about the environment.

So I turned our conversation to industrial farming. I tried my best to get a discuss going, but she just kept nodding her head and saying.. "well..... i like meat..... it's good for you." I even tried the bit about methane gas from cow excrement polluting the air. It pretty much fell on deaf ears. My sister actually kind of makes fun of my mom because she is 100% insistent that our family use all organic cleaning products and reusable grocery bags. I'm always standing up for my mom in this case, because I don't think those things are a waste of money/energy, like my sister and dad. Long story short, my attempt to start a conversation about it kind of went badly, because my sister really didn't want to discuss it.

Thanksgiving Conversation About the Environment

So I didn't get to spend too much time at home, but when I did, I brought up the environment quite a few times, and I actually referenced a lot of what we've talked about in class, like the "Cradle to Cradle" paradigm, the "Trinity of Despair," etc. Most people in my family and circle of friends, as I suspected, agree with the majority of my environmental views. They believe that we are facing an environmental crisis, that many things have to be done quickly on various fronts to prevent the worst of the damage and that the Bush administration has been a complete abomination when it comes to environmental policy making (and when it comes to most other issues as well). I feel lucky to be surrounded by environmentally conscious people.

There were a few instances, though, where someone didn't quite agree with a specific point or action. For instance, when I was talking about drastically enhancing public transportation to wean the U.S. off of our car fix, my sister said something to the effect of, "but we're so spread out and we live in cars." I told her that I thought this was unnecessarily defeatist and that we can work on revamping the auto industries at the same time, to tackle the problem from two angles. After that the pie was served so our conversation inadvertently kind of ended there...

Also, throughout the weekend I made it a point to remind my mom to turn out the lights and unplug her appliances. Although it was kind of nagging, I tried to explain to her why this is important to remember. (I still think its worthwhile for us to do the simple stuff when we can.) She is environmentally aware at heart and she was receptive to these suggestions.

So basically, since I didn't really have the opportunity to get into any sort of friendly debate/exchange with someone who drastically disagreed with me, I thought of people that I know who don't believe in global warming. My dad's best friend doesn't, and, although I didn't see him over the break, I can imagine how our conversation would go. He apparently doesn't believe in global warming because, as he says, "God promised that He wouldn't flood the earth twice." I think this is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard - not because of the religious connotations (I consider myself spiritual/religious and I believe in God), but more because I think it's completely impractical. I obviously wouldn't say this to him, though - I'd say, "You know, I'm sure that God wants us to be good stewards of the land as well so that we can be more at peace with the world. Also, a better environment improves human relationships as well. To be good stewards means that we should not only recycle, but also campaign for policy changes, support homegrown food, take the metro, etc." Maybe I'll subtly broach the subject over winter break...

I love to talk about this stuff and I'll continue these types of discussions when I'm home again in two weeks and also while I'm in Thailand. (That is, if the protesters ever allow the airport to open again...)