Comments on: WorldChanging and the End of Earth Day http://www.mollusc.org/wordpress/worldchanging-and-the-end-of-earth-day/ "If a man thinks that a woman who can ride broncs is too much for him, he's probably right." Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:34:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Blog Action Day: Climate change, a Baha’i perspective – anonymous cowgirl http://www.mollusc.org/wordpress/worldchanging-and-the-end-of-earth-day/comment-page-1/#comment-74872 Blog Action Day: Climate change, a Baha’i perspective – anonymous cowgirl Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:37:36 +0000 http://www.mollusc.org/wordpress/?p=45#comment-74872 [...] between individual and social transformation and a post from almost two years ago, “WorldChanging and the End of Earth Day.” In that older post, we examined WorldChanging’s concept of “the myth of [...] [...] between individual and social transformation and a post from almost two years ago, “WorldChanging and the End of Earth Day.” In that older post, we examined WorldChanging’s concept of “the myth of [...]

]]> By: Negin http://www.mollusc.org/wordpress/worldchanging-and-the-end-of-earth-day/comment-page-1/#comment-32428 Negin Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:26:11 +0000 http://www.mollusc.org/wordpress/?p=45#comment-32428 In some way this reminds me of a lesson I learned about apologizing. When you say, "I'm sorry," is it because you don't want to carry the burden of having done something wrong to someone else, or is it because you are sincerely grieved that the other person has suffered? It is a subtle but important distinction - because where the focus of the apology is makes a great deal of difference in the resulting behavior. Similarly when considering racism and privilege, do guilt-experiencing parties feel distress because they don't want to be racist, or because someone is being harmed by racism? The first implies a focus on the self, an individuals-as-racists view of the world; the second will lead to a more systems-focused view that addresses the injustice, and prioritizes the party who is harmed, rather than simply serving to salve one's guilty conscience without changing behavior. The difference between a focus on the individual and a focus on the system...this was the point of similarity I'm trying to express, in the context of the environmental issues you raise, beloved. The individual is a vital part of the whole system - just as we are all drops of one ocean. But just as the ocean, as a coherent whole, displays phenomena that a grouping of individual droplets would not, so the environmental effects of our institutions/structures are unlike those at our personal droplet levels. What to do next? Everything. In some way this reminds me of a lesson I learned about apologizing. When you say, “I’m sorry,” is it because you don’t want to carry the burden of having done something wrong to someone else, or is it because you are sincerely grieved that the other person has suffered? It is a subtle but important distinction – because where the focus of the apology is makes a great deal of difference in the resulting behavior. Similarly when considering racism and privilege, do guilt-experiencing parties feel distress because they don’t want to be racist, or because someone is being harmed by racism? The first implies a focus on the self, an individuals-as-racists view of the world; the second will lead to a more systems-focused view that addresses the injustice, and prioritizes the party who is harmed, rather than simply serving to salve one’s guilty conscience without changing behavior.

The difference between a focus on the individual and a focus on the system…this was the point of similarity I’m trying to express, in the context of the environmental issues you raise, beloved.

The individual is a vital part of the whole system – just as we are all drops of one ocean. But just as the ocean, as a coherent whole, displays phenomena that a grouping of individual droplets would not, so the environmental effects of our institutions/structures are unlike those at our personal droplet levels.

What to do next? Everything.

]]> By: lev http://www.mollusc.org/wordpress/worldchanging-and-the-end-of-earth-day/comment-page-1/#comment-32079 lev Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:59:30 +0000 http://www.mollusc.org/wordpress/?p=45#comment-32079 Alex points to one <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007800.html" rel="nofollow">example of systems-level change vis. environmental impact</a> in his recent "My Other Car is a Bright Green City." The basic argument seems to be, "Making cars more efficient is great, but building cities that require less driving will have an impact of much greater magnitude, and is achievable right now." "If we spend the next 20 years developing compact neighborhoods with green buildings and smart infrastructure, we can reduce the ecological impacts of American prosperity by jumps that are now somewhat hard to imagine." (Alex Steffen, WorldChanging) Alex points to one example of systems-level change vis. environmental impact in his recent “My Other Car is a Bright Green City.” The basic argument seems to be, “Making cars more efficient is great, but building cities that require less driving will have an impact of much greater magnitude, and is achievable right now.”

“If we spend the next 20 years developing compact neighborhoods with green buildings and smart infrastructure, we can reduce the ecological impacts of American prosperity by jumps that are now somewhat hard to imagine.” (Alex Steffen, WorldChanging)

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