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.