As I mentioned the other day I was originally planning on being in Austin, Texas this weekend giving a talk called How to change the world in 5 easy steps – for a handful of reasons I’m not there so I thought I’d post some of the discussion points here see what develops. I’ve also created a brand spanking new ‘philosophy‘ category, as I can see this and this and topics spun off from it being used a great deal in the near future. Anyway, the description for my talk was this:
Revolution begins at home, this talk will focus on 5 easy things you can do personally that will actually have an effect on a global level. Go vegan, ride a bike, stop buying crap, visit a different country, do something you love rather than something that pays the bills. Wake up and live.
I should warn you this isn’t a feel good topic at all and I suspect I’m going to insult some people along the way, but that kind of controversy might be what is needed to get their gears turning. The idea behind this was that many people like to pay lip service to saving the environment, being happy and generally making the world a better place but in practice they aren’t actually doing anything that really makes a difference. Not that they don’t think they are, but I’ve found that frequently people approach world changing in a similar way as the TSA approaches airline security – they do a few things that they can wave around so they feel good and pat themselves on the back but those things are like banning nail clippers, they sound good but actually make no difference. That said, there are things we all can do, little tweeks to our lifestyles that have massive ripple effects and can actually make a change.
Anyone can point out things people are doing wrong, hell I do it all the time, but I want this conversation to be more about what can be done right so I’ll try to spend as little time as possible pointing fingers. However, if you are the kind of person who will always buy the product labeled “organic” over the non-organic version next to it, or thinks you know what the rest of the world thinks about you even though you haven’t been to a country that doesn’t border yours in years I probably think you are wrong. Also, as this was meant to be a group conversation rather than a lecture I’ll mostly be giving out my opinion and a few links to back that up but please make use of the comments for any and every thought you might have about this stuff. Over the next few days I’ll address each of these suggestions and we’ll see where this goes. You ready?
Part 1: Go Vegan
Part 2: Ride A Bike
Part 3: Stop Buying Crap
Part 4: Visit A Different Country
Part 5: Do Something You Love Rather Than Something That Pays The Bills
Related posts:
- Changing the world in 5 easy steps – Ride A Bike
- Changing the world in 5 easy steps – Visit a Different Country
- Changing the world in 5 easy steps – Do something you love rather than something that pays the bills
- Changing the world in 5 easy steps – Go Vegan
- Changing the world in 5 easy steps – Stop Buying Crap
ready.
5 – 4 – 3 – 2- 1, That’s how I’d rate your recs in impact. Maybe 5 – 4 – 3 – 1 – 2. Either way, getting out there and doing something you love are great ways to start the business of changing the world.
If we all go vegan, what happens to the animals currently being raised for slaughter?
Also, is it really better to eat a banana flown in from South America than a chicken I raised in my back yard? I think one of the true keys to changing the world is being mindful and paying attention rather than subscribing to an ‘ism without thinking it through.
Not that you haven’t thought it through. I just think the advice of ‘go vegan’ could lead people to make bad choices that end up doing more harm than good.
@soapboxLA – We’ll see about that. I actually think they are all about the same, with veganism probably being the most impactful.
@Greg – There are no absolutes and for any argument there is some way to come up with a situation which makes it ineffective, but we’re talking about practicality here and the majority of people don’t raise chickens in their back yard. That said, actually it might be -the resources needed to raise livestock (including chickens) are considerably more than those needed for plants so on a pure ecological footprint you might be surprised. However, that was my point with the Organic issue above – many people buy organic thinking it’s better for the environment without looking where it comes from. “Organic” is a huge marketing point right now and it’s big business, so frequently an “organic” product will be shipped halfway around the world before it ends up on a shelf for sale. People think they are doing the right thing by buying that instead of the locally produced items right next to them which is not the case. Looking at origins is much more impactful then buying organic or not. local organic of course is the best, but between organic strawberries from South Carolina or non-organic ones from Bakersfield, local wins it.
I remember when you wrote you had submitted this topic for lecture; at the time, I was sorry I wouldn’t be in Austin to hear it. Looking forward to the read-version!
I don’t want to help the earth THAT badly. I like my burgers and steak! Besides, I hate to say it, but every vegan I’ve met has been a pompous, self-righteous, pontificating jerk… some sort of mental illness due to neglecting their meat intake?