"Here’s why the environment is so boring"
Kevin Drum asks a very good question, and I have a very good answer.
The reason the environment is so boring is that the premises that underlie environmental thinking are at a bad diagonal to the narrative of American Society defined as a “Consumer Culture” This, of course, is a definition that was CHOSEN, not ordained from the heavens, or even by the Noble Founders of the Republic. And yes, there were some fairly compelling macro-economic reasons to enshrine consumption as a good. And wow did we enshrine it. To live and breathe in this shrine-like mall-world means you have to absorb the message down into your marrow, ie wallet,, that if you desire it, buy it. If it’s for sale, it’s not problematic, almost by definition.
But then along come “the environmentalists” to COMPLICATE THE NARRATIVE. What? There are Other Considerations to factor in??? Bummer! Easier to tune them out. Compartmentalize. Marginalize. Ghettoize. And there, you have solved the problem! And created a larger one. Environmentalism is boring BECAUSE it is seen, and treated as something “else” something “over there,” on the side. Environmentalism gets interesting when it gets integrated into the Main Story. Climate, currently, IS the main story, but isn’t covered that way because it has always been treated and is still treated as a sub-specialty for people “who care about those things,” Boring to everyone else. Until their town burns up and their house blows away. Now THERE’s a story!
The reason the environment is so boring is that the premises that underlie environmental thinking are at a bad diagonal to the narrative of American Society defined as a “Consumer Culture” This, of course, is a definition that was CHOSEN, not ordained from the heavens, or even by the Noble Founders of the Republic. And yes, there were some fairly compelling macro-economic reasons to enshrine consumption as a good. And wow did we enshrine it. To live and breathe in this shrine-like mall-world means you have to absorb the message down into your marrow, ie wallet,, that if you desire it, buy it. If it’s for sale, it’s not problematic, almost by definition.
But then along come “the environmentalists” to COMPLICATE THE NARRATIVE. What? There are Other Considerations to factor in??? Bummer! Easier to tune them out. Compartmentalize. Marginalize. Ghettoize. And there, you have solved the problem! And created a larger one. Environmentalism is boring BECAUSE it is seen, and treated as something “else” something “over there,” on the side. Environmentalism gets interesting when it gets integrated into the Main Story. Climate, currently, IS the main story, but isn’t covered that way because it has always been treated and is still treated as a sub-specialty for people “who care about those things,” Boring to everyone else. Until their town burns up and their house blows away. Now THERE’s a story!
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