Thanksgiving (of knowledge..,?)

So, I decided to talk to m sister. She has said to me that she feels she's a very involved person. she cares about politics, civil rights, human rights, laws, injustice, etc. She calls herself an activist. However, I have heard her say that while she feels adamant about almost every problem in the United States, she doesn't really feel or care much for the environment. She laughed when I asked her about it, and admitted with something like pride that the environment was the one thing she just didn't care about. Really, this happened.

I spoke with her for a while and I came to understand two things. Katie, my sister, didn't want to sacrifice. What turned her off about the environment was the idea that she, as a consumer, should have to sacrifice her comfort for some distant problem that isn't hurting her or anyone else for hundreds of years. I also came to understand that she had never considered the connections between the environment and other social problems. I tried to explain the environmentalism wasn't only about the earth, or animals. I admitted I myself am not truly affected by those sad dying polar bears.

I explained to her that human rights and environmental activism were the same thing, I tried to explain how every problem, every solution, is somehow connected to the environment, and she could not claim to care about one problem without first gaining an understanding of the environment, and the challenges we are facing today. I also told her that she was not alone in her fear of sacrifice, and invoked for her the argument of consumer verses citizen. I told her that if she herself did not want to change her ways perhaps she could instead demand that her government change its ways. Instead of giving up her comforts she could demand that these comforts become greener and more environmentally-effective.

I showed her Cradle to Cradle as an example of a better future, where we as humans do good instead of simply trying to do less bad. I also pointed out that this was a book she could read in the shower (Katie has read and ruined many a traditional paper-back book, in the shower). I felt this was a perfect way to demonstrate how green could not only be better for the environment but also better for her. She was impressed.

After explaining to Katie the ways the environment affected all those issues she did care about, and showing her the ways she could care about the environment, and enact change without having to sacrifice the life she has grown accustomed to I felt better. I hoped she had at least begun to understand the far reaching implications of environmental apathy. However she came up with a new reason to ignore the environment. She pointed out that if the government started to control what we consumed based on its environmental income then it was really playing big brother. She told me she worried environmental laws and policy could mean that the human rights and liberties, the very core of her activism, could be endangered.

I was frustrated, she was poking holes in my argument just so she had an excuse not to care. WHY couldn't she just admit that she was being lazy and silly and should change her ways; should care. Still, I stayed calm and tried to understand. I suggested that instead of denying people their liberties, or denying them the basic goods and services which they want, the government should be required to find new and better ways to provide these things. That way everyone wins, I assured her it was possible, pointed out the shower-ready book once again. Still, she didn't seem convinced. What I realized was that people won't care; will find reasons not to care, until they see the effects themselves. Perhaps if she was more afraid of environmental degradation she would stop making excuses? All I know is, I had run out of patience and arguments, she would feel the way she wanted to.

I tried professor! But I'm just not sure I changed her mind!
-Tess