In class on Wednesday, we had a discussion on how to convince major corporations to be environmentally friendly at their own expense. Most of our solutions had some serious drawbacks. Depending on the corporations to be responsible is worthless because, in general, businesses are out for profit, and saving the earth won’t save the company. Depending on the government to regulate things is a bad idea because it limits freedom, freaks people out, and probably won’t get the job done anyways. Depending on the individual to solve the problem might work on a small scale, but we’re dealing in billions here. This leaves us with one option: the power is in the people. Consumers control what gets manufactured because if they stop buying, the company will stop producing. If the general population stops purchasing products on the basis that the company is hurting the environment, it’s fairly safe to say that the company would start “going green” in order to boost sales.
The problem is, most people are not aware that the decisions they make impact the world around them on such a large scale. Call me a romantic, but I really do think that the majority of people in the world don’t want to destroy the earth for personal profit or convenience. They just don’t know. I speak from personal experience - I make stupid, selfish decisions on what I’m sure is a daily basis, but I don’t make these decisions because I want to be selfish. It’s just that the world is a complicated place to navigate, and I’m having a hard time just passing my classes without figuring out if the paper I’m buying will cause holes in the ozone layer.
My point (and I have a point) is that this mindset of ignorance, not malice, is the reason books like this are so important. People need to know what’s going on in the world; they need to know that there are ways to make a difference and that a difference must be made. I’ve used harming the environment as an example, but Sachs is spreading the word on a number of vital issues. Is the book idealistic, impractical, unrealistic? Perhaps. But it’s a whole lot better than sticking our heads in the sand and pretending these problems don’t exist. They do. And with books like this, people will be able to start seeing that. It’s just a first step, but every journey needs one.
Well said. Few people act truly out of malice. Rather, the causes are more often ignorance, other priorities and lack of time.
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