Month: April 2019

Q: Can moral obligation alone be the sole motivator in pushing people to fight against and care about climate change?

A: Climate change is real and it’s happening right now, and its effects reach everyone’s lives whether they choose to believe it or not. Moore discusses how “Moral arguments appeal to what is hopeful and good in the human spirit… [they] speak to all people” (9). She’s stating that people cannot ignore moral arguments. She brings into discussion right and wrong and the way our world has normalized destroying the Earth we live on is indisputably wrong. The problem with morals is that everyone holds different ones to different degrees of importance in their lives. Moore provides the example of running shoes, saying that we know we’re destroying the Earth and contributing to climate change when we chose to buy the shoes our materialistic society attempts to shove down our throat, even though we know that it’s wrong and we care about the environment (6). So clearly people can ignore moral arguments, this alone isn’t enough motivation to get people to actually change the way they live. While this might appeal to some people, it’s not enough to get everyone on board. Other people might be more receptive to seeing the facts broken down in a way they can easily comprehend them; because the numbers alone can be daunting. McKibben states “…we’re going to have an ecologically sustainable economy for everybody or, ultimately, we won’t have one for anybody” (12). This kind of almost scare tactic can jolt people and wake them up to the realities of climate change and the impact it has on our Earth and in our lives. Cold hard facts and a harsh reality along with a moral obligation to save our Earth should be motivation enough for people to wake up and really do something to change their lives for the better and push to fight against climate change.

The best formula for social change when it comes to climate change is a combination of both having strong and weak relationships and changing the ethic and culture of society while prioritizing political activism. In his article Duhigg states, “Strong ties, or close relationships, combined with weak ties, or distant connections, have the power to mobilize large groups toward a singular goal” (85). This is an important part to mobilize the climate change movement because without mutual acquaintances that extend throughout various societal groups there are no ties in society and people won’t be moved to do anything. This strategy won’t work alone though. In the article “If Your House is on Fire” Moore states, “If the culture forces us to live in ways we don’t believe in, then we have to change the culture.” Changing the culture is important to change what society sees as norms. Having both weak and strong ties and changing the culture is the best formula for societal change regarding climate change.

Naysayer:

Yet some readers may challenge my view by insisting that this approach is too simple or that these strategies have been being used and nothing about climate change has shifted. While it is true that climate change has been a battle that society has been taking stabs at for a while, society hasn’t been doing this aggressively enough. Moore states,

“We haven’t tried massive protests and civil disobedience. We haven’t tried boycotts. We haven’t harnessed the power of global religions. Somewhere near half of us don’t even vote. Here and there, sure, we’ve tried nonviolence, but not on the scale we need. Let’s give it a go.”

Although I grant that we have tried fighting against climate change I still maintain that we haven’t tried hard enough.

In “If Your House is on Fire” by Kathleen Moore she introduces a new method for social change. Moore suggests that if we can articulate a new ethic and change our culture this will change our society and the way we live/think. Moore states that, “If the culture forces us to live in ways we don’t believe in, then we have to change the culture.” She’s suggesting that nothing is being done about climate change because the culture we live in has normalized treating the Earth poorly and depleting fossil fuels and other things contributing to the downfall of our world. If we were to change our culture and find a new ethics, then all of this would change, and better practices would be normalized. Moore also states, “Every act of refusal is also an act of assent. Every time we say no to consumer culture, we say yes to something more beautiful and sustaining.” By standing up for what is right and healthy for our world and our bodies we’re creating a new culture and ethic that is positive and doesn’t have adverse effects on the Earth. Moore also discusses how we’re so wrapped up in material wealth and selfishness that we need to shy away from that and think about our children’s future and make political activism a priority. She calls to be civilly disobedient in large numbers and have protests because America really hasn’t done any non-violent stances against climate change at all really and that’s why it’s not working.