As part of Blog Action Day, I’m writing on the topic of the environment.
Trade a Redwood for A Raise?
Let’s be honest. In the grand scheme of things, the grand scheme of things isn’t really that important to most of us in our daily lives. Rather than worrying about AIDS in Africa this morning, I’ve been trying to decide what to write about for this post.
But today, I’m offering you a deal. I’m very wealthy, and just to make a point, I’ll give you a $100 raise for each redwood you sign off on to have destroyed. Name a figure, and I’ll make it happen. Sound good?
“I’ll take $1,000,000, please.”
Most people would name a huge number. The thinking being that the promise of escaping the rat race, of having your personal needs met is simply too great to be outweighed by some trees, however tall they may be.
As long as we are culturally teetering on the brink of an ulcer, the environment, along with other big picture items, won’t get our collective and sustained attention, even though it should.
The most immediate, painful needs get our attention. Would you floss to prevent gingivitis if you were on fire?
I’m not saying it’s right, but this is the prevailing human condition. If you want to motivate massive change in the behavior of the population, help them find the freedom from being frantic that enables them to reflect on the big picture enough to be motivated toward worthy causes. With liberty to think comes enlightened action.
Don’t Forget the Planet
What I’m talking about here is that most people are focused narrowly because they feel frantically busy, often by choice.
I think taking time to focus on the environment (for example) might in and of itself go a long way to helping give you the freedom from that feeling of overwhelming busyness.
My point is, as long as people are wrapped up in themselves, big picture items will be neglected. Therefore, we need to focus on getting outside of ourselves and helping others to do the same.
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9 responses so far ↓
1 The Power of Action « Little Red Suit // Oct 15, 2007 at 2:41 pm
[…] is not the point. The point is, I could do more. Everyone could. Everyone should, even if they’re not into the whole “green” thing. Because it doesn’t cost that much to make a difference. Because it’s not hurting anyone to […]
2 Rebecca Thorman // Oct 15, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Hm. Well, you already know I disagree. If you’re so narrowly focused on one aspect of your life, life won’t be any good. It’s a trap I often fall into, and is bad for work, bad for personal, bad for the world (and the environment!). If the only thing I concentrated on last Monday was the fact that my organization’s website was down, nothing would have gotten done, even though that needed my most immediate attention. Life treats you well if you serve yourself first, but often serving yourself first is being good to other people and to the environment.
3 Chuck Westbrook // Oct 15, 2007 at 3:27 pm
@Rebecca– I don’t think we disagree at all, actually. By no means do I intend to advocate concentrating on your job (or anything else) to the exclusion of paying attention to the environment.
What I’m talking about here (and I may need to edit it to be more clear) is that most people are focused narrowly because they are frantically busy.
I think taking time to focus on the environment might in and of itself go a long way to helping give you the freedom from that feeling of overwhelming busyness.
My point is, as long as people are wrapped up in themselves, big picture items will be neglected. Therefore, we need to focus on getting outside of ourselves.
4 elysa // Oct 15, 2007 at 3:47 pm
I think some no matter how busy/not busy they are really are just more self centered and they don’t really care to focus outside themselves, those are the people who need to be told here are the things you can do to help the environment that will also help you by saving money, time, etc.
5 Brad Shorr // Oct 15, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Some people are just as you say, no doubt. But some people think, the problem is so big, what difference does it make what I do? I fall into that trap. I have to keep reminding myself that every little bit DOES count.
6 Jason // Oct 15, 2007 at 10:40 pm
If I wasn’t so frantic and busy, I could probably be President of the Earth.
7 Ashlie // Oct 16, 2007 at 10:22 am
I completely agree with you. Sometimes I think the American Dream has morphed into a “me,me, me, make it faster, stronger, cheaper and I want it yesterday” kinda mentality. We need to step outside ourselves for a minute and look at the bigger picture. Like the (paraphrased) quote says ‘We’re not taking the earth from our ancestors, we’re borrowing it from our children….’
Thanks for the great B.A.D. post! I have a similar and possibly controversial topic on my blog.
8 Chuck Westbrook // Oct 16, 2007 at 11:11 am
@elysa– True, but how many things are there that we know will save us time or money but we just don’t do them anyway! In many cases, it seems like we just plow forward on a set course and very rarely make significant changes because we set our ambitions into overdrive and fear taking any detour. That might sound over the top, but it might make some sense.
@Brad Shorr– Absolutely. I fall into that trap myself, and that’s probably a simpler way to describe most of the problem. Looking at that more closely, what we’re doing there is saying, “I don’t have the time, energy, or money to make this change because it’s not a big enough impact.” We either need to raise our perceived importance of the actions we take to help the environment or lower the threshold of what is worth our time. Two sides of the same coin?
@Jason– Probably, yes.
@Ashlie– That’s how I feel. A thought I can’t shake is that the technology and economies that we have available to us today make acquiring food and shelter a relatively inexpensive thing to do in terms of our time. Our response is to continue to raise our expectations for lifestyle right to the brink of what we can afford, again in terms of time. That’s what I meant by “Culturally on the verge of an ulcer,” or however I phrased it. It’s all about pressing and squeezing every drop for ourselves. I can take 10 minutes to change some lightbulbs, sure, but it requires a greater value shift if I’m going to find time to play with my kid, value my wife, work with the homeless, mentor a younger person, be mentored by an older person, continue to learn and grow wise… etc..
9 Brookster // Apr 15, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I would suggest that a thorough reading of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, by Steven Covey would be in order, perhaps even attending a workshop dedicated to the 7 Habits…
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