0:00:05.522,0:00:09.772
Would any sane person think that dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler,

0:00:09.832,0:00:12.954
or that composting would have ended slavery

0:00:12.954,0:00:17.204
or brought about the eight-hour workday,

0:00:17.215,0:00:19.515
or that chopping wood and carrying water

0:00:19.515,0:00:22.415
would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons,

0:00:22.415,0:00:25.188
or that dancing around a fire

0:00:25.188,0:00:28.708
would have helped pass the Voting Rights Act of 1957

0:00:28.708,0:00:31.538
or the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

0:00:32.610,0:00:36.296
Then why now, with all the world at stake,

0:00:36.296,0:00:38.309
do so many people retreat into these

0:00:38.309,0:00:40.490
entirely personal “solutions”?

0:00:49.178,0:00:51.085
Part of the problem is that we’ve been victims

0:00:51.085,0:00:53.784
of a campaign of systematic misdirection.

0:00:54.470,0:00:56.940
Consumer culture and the capitalist mindset

0:00:56.940,0:01:00.877
have taught us to substitute acts of personal lifestyle choices

0:01:00.967,0:01:03.552
for organized political resistance.

0:01:04.922,0:01:07.581
The same is true for spiritual enlightenment.

0:01:08.471,0:01:10.956
This is not organized political resistance.

0:01:15.136,0:01:17.563
An Inconvenient Truth helped to raise consciousness

0:01:17.563,0:01:18.626
about global warming,

0:01:18.978,0:01:21.988
but did you notice that all of the solutions presented

0:01:22.038,0:01:24.178
had to do with personal consumption—

0:01:24.178,0:01:27.628
changing lightbulbs, inflating tires, driving half as much—

0:01:27.661,0:01:30.151
and had nothing to do with shifting power

0:01:30.151,0:01:32.011
away from corporations

0:01:32.031,0:01:33.758
or stopping the growth economy

0:01:33.758,0:01:35.688
that is destroying the planet?

0:01:36.334,0:01:38.984
(Al Gore) “Each one of us is a cause of global warming,

0:01:38.984,0:01:41.691
but each of us can make choices to change that

0:01:41.691,0:01:45.391
with the things we buy, the electricity we use, the cars we drive,

0:01:45.394,0:01:50.154
we can make choices to bring our individual carbon emissions to zero."

0:01:50.287,0:01:52.877
But even if every person in the United States

0:01:52.877,0:01:55.283
did everything the movie suggested,

0:01:55.283,0:01:57.493
U.S. carbon emissions would fall

0:01:57.493,0:01:59.493
by only 22%,

0:01:59.493,0:02:01.733
and scientific consensus is that emissions

0:02:01.733,0:02:04.371
must be reduced by at least 75%

0:02:05.101,0:02:06.351
worldwide.

0:02:07.891,0:02:10.051
Or let’s talk water.

0:02:10.051,0:02:11.051
We so often hear that

0:02:11.051,0:02:12.738
the world is running out of water.

0:02:12.738,0:02:14.838
People are dying from lack of water,

0:02:14.838,0:02:17.085
rivers are dewatered from lack of water.

0:02:17.969,0:02:19.479
And while this is true,

0:02:19.479,0:02:21.902
we’re told that because of this,

0:02:21.902,0:02:24.902
we must take shorter showers.

0:02:24.902,0:02:26.512
But see the disconnect?

0:02:27.571,0:02:28.844
Because I take showers, I’m responsible

0:02:28.844,0:02:31.844
for drawing down aquifers?

0:02:31.844,0:02:32.844
Well, no.

0:02:33.514,0:02:36.494
More that 90% of the water used by humans

0:02:36.494,0:02:38.864
is used by agriculture and industry.

0:02:39.349,0:02:40.979
The remaining 10% is split

0:02:40.979,0:02:42.829
between municipalities

0:02:42.829,0:02:45.499
and actual living, breathing, individual humans.

0:02:46.989,0:02:50.069
Collectively, municipal golf courses use as much water

0:02:50.081,0:02:52.211
as municipal human beings.

0:02:53.066,0:02:54.616
That’s insane.

0:02:56.991,0:02:59.727
People, both human people and fish people,

0:03:00.035,0:03:01.405
aren’t dying because the world

0:03:01.405,0:03:03.220
is running out of water.

0:03:03.220,0:03:04.060
They’re dying

0:03:04.060,0:03:06.140
because the water is being stolen.

0:03:11.449,0:03:13.089
Well, let’s talk energy.

0:03:13.090,0:03:15.490
Kirkpatrick Sale summarized it well.

0:03:15.490,0:03:16.860
“For the past 15 years

0:03:16.860,0:03:19.000
the story has been the same every year.

0:03:19.000,0:03:20.420
Individual consumption—

0:03:20.420,0:03:22.810
residential, by private car, and so on—

0:03:22.810,0:03:24.500
is never more than about a quarter

0:03:24.500,0:03:26.251
of all consumption.

0:03:26.251,0:03:29.271
The vast majority is commercial, industrial,

0:03:29.271,0:03:31.721
corporate, by agribusiness and government.

0:03:31.721,0:03:33.211
[He forgot the military.]

0:03:33.211,0:03:35.251
So, even if we all took up cycling

0:03:35.251,0:03:36.701
and wood stoves,

0:03:36.701,0:03:38.591
it would have a negligible impact

0:03:38.591,0:03:40.331
on energy use, global warming,

0:03:40.331,0:03:42.141
and atmospheric pollution."

0:03:49.671,0:03:51.301
Or let’s talk waste.

0:03:51.831,0:03:52.831
In 2005, per-capita

0:03:52.831,0:03:55.015
municipal waste production

0:03:55.015,0:03:57.645
(basically everything that’s put out at the curb)

0:03:57.840,0:04:01.600
in the United States was about 1,660 pounds.

0:04:03.263,0:04:04.663
Let’s say you’re a die-hard,

0:04:04.663,0:04:06.093
simple-living activist,

0:04:06.293,0:04:07.933
and you reduce this number to zero.

0:04:08.497,0:04:10.037
You recycle everything.

0:04:10.347,0:04:12.629
You bring cloth bags shopping.

0:04:12.905,0:04:14.455
You fix your toaster.

0:04:14.455,0:04:17.255
Your toes poke out of your old tennis shoes.

0:04:17.481,0:04:19.591
You’re not done yet, though.

0:04:19.591,0:04:20.591
Since municipal waste

0:04:20.591,0:04:22.757
includes not just residential waste,

0:04:22.757,0:04:24.327
but also waste from government offices

0:04:24.327,0:04:25.597
and businesses,

0:04:25.597,0:04:27.227
you march down to those offices,

0:04:27.227,0:04:29.347
waste reduction pamphlets in hand,

0:04:29.347,0:04:31.987
and convince them to cut down on their waste

0:04:31.987,0:04:34.177
enough to eliminate your share of it.

0:04:35.163,0:04:37.273
Well, I’ve got some bad news.

0:04:37.273,0:04:38.233
The municipal waste

0:04:38.233,0:04:39.603
accounts for only 3 percent

0:04:39.603,0:04:41.163
of total waste production

0:04:41.163,0:04:42.223
in the United States.

0:04:49.874,0:04:51.484
I want to be clear.

0:04:51.894,0:04:54.664
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t live simply.

0:04:55.421,0:04:57.501
I live reasonably simply myself,

0:04:58.169,0:05:00.729
but I don’t pretend that not buying much,

0:05:00.729,0:05:03.239
or not driving much, or not having kids,

0:05:03.239,0:05:05.049
is a powerful political act,

0:05:05.049,0:05:07.099
or that it’s deeply revolutionary,

0:05:07.099,0:05:08.529
because it isn't.

0:05:09.950,0:05:13.060
Personal change does not equal social change.

0:05:14.208,0:05:15.208
So how, then,

0:05:15.208,0:05:17.988
and especially with all the world at stake,

0:05:17.988,0:05:19.388
have we come to accept

0:05:19.388,0:05:21.748
these utterly insufficient responses?

0:05:25.109,0:05:28.259
I think part of it is that we’re in a double bind.

0:05:28.259,0:05:29.589
A double bind is when you’re given

0:05:29.589,0:05:31.089
multiple options,

0:05:31.089,0:05:32.739
but no matter what option you choose,

0:05:32.739,0:05:34.159
you lose,

0:05:34.159,0:05:36.329
and withdrawal is not an option.

0:05:37.818,0:05:39.968
At this point it should be pretty easy

0:05:39.968,0:05:41.688
to recognize that every action

0:05:41.688,0:05:43.128
involving the industrial economy

0:05:43.128,0:05:44.198
is destructive,

0:05:44.448,0:05:45.978
and we shouldn’t pretend that

0:05:45.978,0:05:48.398
solar photovoltaics, for example,

0:05:48.398,0:05:49.718
exempt us from this.

0:05:49.718,0:05:50.788
They still require mining

0:05:50.788,0:05:52.788
and transportation infrastructures

0:05:52.788,0:05:55.378
at every point in the production process.

0:05:55.378,0:05:56.598
The same can be said

0:05:56.598,0:05:59.598
for every other so-called green technology.

0:06:03.349,0:06:05.369
If we choose option one—

0:06:05.369,0:06:06.369
if we avidly participate

0:06:06.369,0:06:08.359
in the industrial economy—

0:06:08.359,0:06:10.899
we may think in the short term we win

0:06:10.899,0:06:12.929
because we may accumulate wealth,

0:06:12.929,0:06:14.549
the marker of so-called success

0:06:14.549,0:06:16.049
in this culture.

0:06:16.049,0:06:17.759
But we lose,

0:06:17.759,0:06:20.289
because in so doing we give up our empathy,

0:06:20.289,0:06:21.919
our animal humanity.

0:06:22.432,0:06:23.812
And we really lose because

0:06:23.812,0:06:26.202
industrial civilization is killing the planet,

0:06:26.202,0:06:28.202
which means everyone loses.

0:06:29.009,0:06:31.609
If we choose the “alternative” option

0:06:31.609,0:06:33.009
of living more simply,

0:06:33.009,0:06:34.519
thus causing less harm,

0:06:34.519,0:06:36.439
but still not stopping the industrial economy

0:06:36.439,0:06:38.079
from killing the planet,

0:06:38.079,0:06:40.399
we may in the short term think we win

0:06:40.399,0:06:42.199
because we got to feel pure,

0:06:42.199,0:06:43.359
and we didn’t even have to give up

0:06:43.359,0:06:45.199
all of our empathy,

0:06:45.199,0:06:47.859
just enough to justify not stopping the horror,

0:06:48.429,0:06:50.199
but once again we really lose,

0:06:50.199,0:06:51.559
because industrial civilization

0:06:51.559,0:06:53.039
is killing the planet,

0:06:53.039,0:06:55.279
which means everyone still loses.

0:06:59.737,0:07:00.957
The third option,

0:07:01.175,0:07:04.355
acting decisively to stop the industrial economy,

0:07:04.955,0:07:07.438
is very scary for a number of reasons,

0:07:07.703,0:07:10.143
including but not restricted to the fact that

0:07:10.143,0:07:11.143
we’d lose some of the luxuries,

0:07:11.143,0:07:13.493
for example, electricity

0:07:13.493,0:07:16.353
to which we’ve grown very accustomed,

0:07:16.353,0:07:18.213
and the fact that those in power

0:07:18.213,0:07:20.183
might try to kill us if we seriously impede

0:07:20.183,0:07:22.333
their ability to exploit the world—

0:07:23.043,0:07:27.043
none of which alters the fact that it’s a better option than a dead planet.

0:07:27.722,0:07:30.742
Any option is a better option than a dead planet.

0:07:37.011,0:07:39.141
Besides being ineffective at causing

0:07:39.141,0:07:40.721
the sorts of changes necessary

0:07:40.721,0:07:42.991
stop this culture from killing the planet,

0:07:42.991,0:07:44.491
there are at least four other problems

0:07:44.491,0:07:47.031
with perceiving simple living as a political act

0:07:47.031,0:07:49.161
as opposed to living simply

0:07:49.161,0:07:52.161
because that’s what you want to do.

0:07:52.161,0:07:54.459
The first is that it’s predicated on the flawed notion

0:07:54.459,0:07:56.999
that humans inevitably harm their landbase.

0:07:57.895,0:07:59.620
Simple living as a political act

0:07:59.620,0:08:01.950
consists solely of harm reduction,

0:08:01.950,0:08:03.710
ignoring the fact that humans

0:08:03.710,0:08:06.030
can help the Earth as well as harm it.

0:08:06.844,0:08:08.554
We can rehabilitate streams,

0:08:08.980,0:08:11.280
we can get rid of noxious invasives,

0:08:11.404,0:08:13.444
we can remove dams,

0:08:13.444,0:08:15.544
we can disrupt a political system

0:08:15.544,0:08:16.784
tilted towards the rich

0:08:16.784,0:08:19.264
as well as an extractive economic system,

0:08:19.790,0:08:22.070
we can destroy the industrial economy

0:08:22.070,0:08:24.650
that is destroying the real, physical world.

0:08:36.938,0:08:38.288
The second problem,

0:08:38.288,0:08:39.898
and this is another big one,

0:08:40.275,0:08:42.351
is that it incorrectly assigns blame

0:08:42.351,0:08:45.031
to the individual, and most especially

0:08:45.031,0:08:48.231
to individuals who are particularly powerless,

0:08:48.736,0:08:51.316
instead of to those who actually wield power

0:08:51.316,0:08:52.416
in this system

0:08:52.416,0:08:54.446
and to the system itself.

0:08:59.911,0:09:01.241
The third problem

0:09:01.241,0:09:04.391
is that it accepts capitalism’s redefinition of us

0:09:04.391,0:09:06.501
from citizens to consumers.

0:09:07.925,0:09:09.705
By accepting this redefinition,

0:09:10.244,0:09:12.734
we reduce our potential forms of resistance

0:09:12.734,0:09:14.754
to consuming and not consuming.

0:09:16.776,0:09:18.946
But citizens have a much wider range

0:09:18.946,0:09:20.776
of available resistance tactics,

0:09:20.776,0:09:22.626
including voting or not voting,

0:09:22.626,0:09:25.596
running for office, pamphleting, boycotting,

0:09:25.596,0:09:27.666
organizing, lobbying, protesting,

0:09:28.165,0:09:32.165
and, when a government becomes destructive of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,

0:09:32.441,0:09:35.001
we have the right to alter or abolish it.

0:09:40.512,0:09:41.832
The fourth problem

0:09:41.832,0:09:43.592
is that the endpoint of the logic

0:09:43.592,0:09:45.712
behind simple living as a political act

0:09:46.152,0:09:47.322
is suicide.

0:09:48.169,0:09:50.349
If every act within an industrial economy

0:09:50.349,0:09:51.289
is destructive,

0:09:51.289,0:09:53.589
and if we want to stop this destruction,

0:09:53.589,0:09:56.299
and if we are unwilling or unable to question,

0:09:56.299,0:09:57.490
much less destroy,

0:09:57.490,0:09:58.710
the intellectual, moral,

0:09:58.710,0:10:00.800
economic, and physical infrastructures

0:10:00.800,0:10:02.133
that cause every act

0:10:02.133,0:10:03.466
within an industrial economy

0:10:03.466,0:10:04.800
to be destructive,

0:10:04.800,0:10:07.020
then we can easily come to believe

0:10:07.020,0:10:08.020
that we will cause

0:10:08.020,0:10:09.880
the least destruction possible

0:10:09.880,0:10:11.080
if we are dead.

0:10:13.436,0:10:14.926
The good news is

0:10:14.926,0:10:16.796
that there are other options.

0:10:16.796,0:10:19.506
We can follow the examples of brave activists

0:10:19.506,0:10:22.356
who lived through the difficult times I mentioned—

0:10:22.356,0:10:24.963
Nazi Germany, Tsarist Russia,

0:10:24.963,0:10:27.093
antebellum United States—

0:10:27.093,0:10:28.584
who did far more

0:10:28.584,0:10:31.584
than manifest a form of personal purity.

0:10:31.584,0:10:33.822
They actively opposed the injustices

0:10:33.822,0:10:35.932
that surrounded them.

0:10:35.932,0:10:37.272
We can follow the example

0:10:37.272,0:10:38.392
of those who remembered

0:10:38.392,0:10:39.652
that the role of an activist

0:10:39.652,0:10:40.952
is not to navigate systems

0:10:40.952,0:10:42.352
of oppressive power

0:10:42.352,0:10:43.732
with as much personal integrity

0:10:43.732,0:10:45.562
as possible,

0:10:45.562,0:10:46.680
but rather to confront

0:10:46.680,0:10:48.760
and take down those systems.

0:10:55.999,0:10:57.239
Let’s get to work.