Focus the Nation
During the Focus the Nation event at Cal Poly I chose to attend one of the presentations called Climate Change and the Individual. This event entailed three speakers, the third seemingly of little importance comparatively, however. The first two speakers were a psychologist and a religious studies professor. The topic was on how you can change your daily life and also how you can influence others to help solve the problem of global warming. The interesting thing was though the discussion was on this very new and modern problem, it reminded me several times of ideas discussed by Thoreau in Walden and in the Introduction by Bill McKibben. The parallels between the ideas of Focus the Nation and Thoreau will be the topic of this essay.
The first speaker was the psychologist and child development specialist. She first talked about the barriers to getting people to accept and to work towards solving global warming. One of the main barriers is peopleÕs obsession with consumerism, money, and convenience. She mentioned that to get people to change their behaviors to benefit the environment, environmentalism must be easy and cheap. This seems very parallel to Thoreau. Thoreau is the preacher and the voice of reason in this idea, both in his time and can be now. He is the voice of leading a simple life, of not using many resources, and of living cheaply, yet in all this living happily. By using reused and local materials, Thoreau built a house for 28 dollars. Just as the psychologist was saying, if being environmentally friendly is cheap people will do it. The same goes with travel. Thoreau once wrote that if ÒI the train stretched round the earth I think that I should keep ahead of youÓ (traveling on foot, as the other man had to earn the fare for the train). This is the idea of alternative transportation. People will be less likely to drive cars when it becomes easier and saves even more money to walk or ride a bike. The point is to get people to realize this.
However, the psychologist did address that besides making it cheaper and easier, we need to change the average persons view and the countries view on consumerism. The country has become more and more obsessed with buying things. We feel now that to be happy we must have the next cool thing. However Bill McKibben wrote that less people describe themselves happy now than in the 1950Õs, when most people did not even have a microwave. Thoreau also believes that you do not need much to be happy and in fact took joy when he cleaned his house and saw all that he owned could fit in a small area in front of his house. Thoreau used a single set of clothes in the two and a half years he lived at Walden Pond. Part of the solution is that we need to live life instead of buying it. Thoreau wrote, ÒMoney is something we trade our life energy forÓ. McKibben also mentioned a quote saying that kids are too focused on buying and consuming. He also mentions the questions of Òhow much is enough?Ó and ÒWhat do I really want or desire?Ó The idea of these quotes is obviously that we consume too much and that it does not make us any happier.
The second speaker talked about the connection of religion and environmentalist. He talked much about a high up churchman known as The Green Patriarch. This manÕs idea that he preaches is that being an environmentalist and protecting the earth is serving God. The Green Patriarch preaches that harming the earth is a sin and must be confessed like others. He preaches that destruction of the earth is an insult to the one who created it, and anyone who destroys it is showing the hatred for God and for fellow mankind. Since half of the world or more is religious this kind of preaching could have a very good effect on the environmental movement and get people away from the idea that earth is for their use only. Thoreau parallels this as he sees the earth and nature not something to use for his own benefit but to be a part of and enjoy. Mckibben mentions that many spiritual leaders, Buddha, Jesus, Gandhi and many more, teach that the right relationship is through a simple life and then in many ways through nature, which in turn unintentionally helps the environment. And although The Green Patriarch, in at least what I heard, did not focus on simplicity, helping the environment and loving nature goes hand in hand in living simply. On the same note as living simply comes the note of being in tune with nature. McKibben commented on kids that live near a forest, never seeing the Milky Way. I think we get the feeling in both the words of McKibben and Thoreau that as soon as we get into nature and live the rural or forest life, we become much more spiritual and in tune with both our own lives and with God, and will want to protect the earth.
Through the course of these speeches, while new and modern ideas were the topic, the underlying of a general communication and life with nature is always present. The ideas of Thoreau and McKibben gave me hope for the future, that someday people will not be focused on buying to satisfy but instead will turn to nature to see their life and in turn will protect it. I already have been influenced myself, and realizing that I do not need the next great thing, that all I need to live basic necessities and I can be happier in living more simply.