Many people fall into the fallacy that as individuals we cannot make much of an impact or difference, that our own actions or “lived values” are not significant. This could be viewed as illogical since the environmental crisis is, in a sense, the outcome of individual actions and behaviors writ large on the planet.
Leopold argues implicitly that individuals must be the drivers of change, since institutions and governments do not “feel” and thus cannot respect our natural world.
In contrast, Foster argues that we do need to envision change at the level of our political and economic system rather than in terms of individuals, and that the environmental revolution will be a social one based on justice and human rights.
While there is global scientific consensus that humans must act now to intervene in the rapid deterioration of our biosphere, there is much debate over the question, what exactly should we do? where to start? Action must be motivated by a clear sense of what is right and meaningful; otherwise, humans tend to wring their hands and do nothing at all.
Prompt:
Using your conceptual tools from this course–ecological principles, ethical concepts and values, and practical reasons–argue with and convince a reader who feels cynical, hopeless, or disinterested that they can and should make a meaningful difference in the environmental revolution.
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