1 00:00:05,522 --> 00:00:09,772 Would any sane person think that dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, 2 00:00:09,832 --> 00:00:12,954 or that composting would have ended slavery 3 00:00:12,954 --> 00:00:17,204 or brought about the eight-hour workday, 4 00:00:17,215 --> 00:00:19,515 or that chopping wood and carrying water 5 00:00:19,515 --> 00:00:22,415 would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons, 6 00:00:22,415 --> 00:00:25,188 or that dancing around a fire 7 00:00:25,188 --> 00:00:28,708 would have helped pass the Voting Rights Act of 1957 8 00:00:28,708 --> 00:00:31,538 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964? 9 00:00:32,610 --> 00:00:36,296 Then why now, with all the world at stake, 10 00:00:36,296 --> 00:00:38,309 do so many people retreat into these 11 00:00:38,309 --> 00:00:40,490 entirely personal “solutions”? 12 00:00:49,178 --> 00:00:51,085 Part of the problem is that we’ve been victims 13 00:00:51,085 --> 00:00:53,784 of a campaign of systematic misdirection. 14 00:00:54,470 --> 00:00:56,940 Consumer culture and the capitalist mindset 15 00:00:56,940 --> 00:01:00,877 have taught us to substitute acts of personal lifestyle choices 16 00:01:00,967 --> 00:01:03,552 for organized political resistance. 17 00:01:04,922 --> 00:01:07,581 The same is true for spiritual enlightenment. 18 00:01:08,471 --> 00:01:10,956 This is not organized political resistance. 19 00:01:15,136 --> 00:01:17,563 An Inconvenient Truth helped to raise consciousness 20 00:01:17,563 --> 00:01:18,626 about global warming, 21 00:01:18,978 --> 00:01:21,988 but did you notice that all of the solutions presented 22 00:01:22,038 --> 00:01:24,178 had to do with personal consumption— 23 00:01:24,178 --> 00:01:27,628 changing lightbulbs, inflating tires, driving half as much— 24 00:01:27,661 --> 00:01:30,151 and had nothing to do with shifting power 25 00:01:30,151 --> 00:01:32,011 away from corporations 26 00:01:32,031 --> 00:01:33,758 or stopping the growth economy 27 00:01:33,758 --> 00:01:35,688 that is destroying the planet? 28 00:01:36,334 --> 00:01:38,984 (Al Gore) “Each one of us is a cause of global warming, 29 00:01:38,984 --> 00:01:41,691 but each of us can make choices to change that 30 00:01:41,691 --> 00:01:45,391 with the things we buy, the electricity we use, the cars we drive, 31 00:01:45,394 --> 00:01:50,154 we can make choices to bring our individual carbon emissions to zero." 32 00:01:50,287 --> 00:01:52,877 But even if every person in the United States 33 00:01:52,877 --> 00:01:55,283 did everything the movie suggested, 34 00:01:55,283 --> 00:01:57,493 U.S. carbon emissions would fall 35 00:01:57,493 --> 00:01:59,493 by only 22%, 36 00:01:59,493 --> 00:02:01,733 and scientific consensus is that emissions 37 00:02:01,733 --> 00:02:04,371 must be reduced by at least 75% 38 00:02:05,101 --> 00:02:06,351 worldwide. 39 00:02:07,891 --> 00:02:10,051 Or let’s talk water. 40 00:02:10,051 --> 00:02:11,051 We so often hear that 41 00:02:11,051 --> 00:02:12,738 the world is running out of water. 42 00:02:12,738 --> 00:02:14,838 People are dying from lack of water, 43 00:02:14,838 --> 00:02:17,085 rivers are dewatered from lack of water. 44 00:02:17,969 --> 00:02:19,479 And while this is true, 45 00:02:19,479 --> 00:02:21,902 we’re told that because of this, 46 00:02:21,902 --> 00:02:24,902 we must take shorter showers. 47 00:02:24,902 --> 00:02:26,512 But see the disconnect? 48 00:02:27,571 --> 00:02:28,844 Because I take showers, I’m responsible 49 00:02:28,844 --> 00:02:31,844 for drawing down aquifers? 50 00:02:31,844 --> 00:02:32,844 Well, no. 51 00:02:33,514 --> 00:02:36,494 More that 90% of the water used by humans 52 00:02:36,494 --> 00:02:38,864 is used by agriculture and industry. 53 00:02:39,349 --> 00:02:40,979 The remaining 10% is split 54 00:02:40,979 --> 00:02:42,829 between municipalities 55 00:02:42,829 --> 00:02:45,499 and actual living, breathing, individual humans. 56 00:02:46,989 --> 00:02:50,069 Collectively, municipal golf courses use as much water 57 00:02:50,081 --> 00:02:52,211 as municipal human beings. 58 00:02:53,066 --> 00:02:54,616 That’s insane. 59 00:02:56,991 --> 00:02:59,727 People, both human people and fish people, 60 00:03:00,035 --> 00:03:01,405 aren’t dying because the world 61 00:03:01,405 --> 00:03:03,220 is running out of water. 62 00:03:03,220 --> 00:03:04,060 They’re dying 63 00:03:04,060 --> 00:03:06,140 because the water is being stolen. 64 00:03:11,449 --> 00:03:13,089 Well, let’s talk energy. 65 00:03:13,090 --> 00:03:15,490 Kirkpatrick Sale summarized it well. 66 00:03:15,490 --> 00:03:16,860 “For the past 15 years 67 00:03:16,860 --> 00:03:19,000 the story has been the same every year. 68 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:20,420 Individual consumption— 69 00:03:20,420 --> 00:03:22,810 residential, by private car, and so on— 70 00:03:22,810 --> 00:03:24,500 is never more than about a quarter 71 00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:26,251 of all consumption. 72 00:03:26,251 --> 00:03:29,271 The vast majority is commercial, industrial, 73 00:03:29,271 --> 00:03:31,721 corporate, by agribusiness and government. 74 00:03:31,721 --> 00:03:33,211 [He forgot the military.] 75 00:03:33,211 --> 00:03:35,251 So, even if we all took up cycling 76 00:03:35,251 --> 00:03:36,701 and wood stoves, 77 00:03:36,701 --> 00:03:38,591 it would have a negligible impact 78 00:03:38,591 --> 00:03:40,331 on energy use, global warming, 79 00:03:40,331 --> 00:03:42,141 and atmospheric pollution." 80 00:03:49,671 --> 00:03:51,301 Or let’s talk waste. 81 00:03:51,831 --> 00:03:52,831 In 2005, per-capita 82 00:03:52,831 --> 00:03:55,015 municipal waste production 83 00:03:55,015 --> 00:03:57,645 (basically everything that’s put out at the curb) 84 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,600 in the United States was about 1,660 pounds. 85 00:04:03,263 --> 00:04:04,663 Let’s say you’re a die-hard, 86 00:04:04,663 --> 00:04:06,093 simple-living activist, 87 00:04:06,293 --> 00:04:07,933 and you reduce this number to zero. 88 00:04:08,497 --> 00:04:10,037 You recycle everything. 89 00:04:10,347 --> 00:04:12,629 You bring cloth bags shopping. 90 00:04:12,905 --> 00:04:14,455 You fix your toaster. 91 00:04:14,455 --> 00:04:17,255 Your toes poke out of your old tennis shoes. 92 00:04:17,481 --> 00:04:19,591 You’re not done yet, though. 93 00:04:19,591 --> 00:04:20,591 Since municipal waste 94 00:04:20,591 --> 00:04:22,757 includes not just residential waste, 95 00:04:22,757 --> 00:04:24,327 but also waste from government offices 96 00:04:24,327 --> 00:04:25,597 and businesses, 97 00:04:25,597 --> 00:04:27,227 you march down to those offices, 98 00:04:27,227 --> 00:04:29,347 waste reduction pamphlets in hand, 99 00:04:29,347 --> 00:04:31,987 and convince them to cut down on their waste 100 00:04:31,987 --> 00:04:34,177 enough to eliminate your share of it. 101 00:04:35,163 --> 00:04:37,273 Well, I’ve got some bad news. 102 00:04:37,273 --> 00:04:38,233 The municipal waste 103 00:04:38,233 --> 00:04:39,603 accounts for only 3 percent 104 00:04:39,603 --> 00:04:41,163 of total waste production 105 00:04:41,163 --> 00:04:42,223 in the United States. 106 00:04:49,874 --> 00:04:51,484 I want to be clear. 107 00:04:51,894 --> 00:04:54,664 I’m not saying that we shouldn’t live simply. 108 00:04:55,421 --> 00:04:57,501 I live reasonably simply myself, 109 00:04:58,169 --> 00:05:00,729 but I don’t pretend that not buying much, 110 00:05:00,729 --> 00:05:03,239 or not driving much, or not having kids, 111 00:05:03,239 --> 00:05:05,049 is a powerful political act, 112 00:05:05,049 --> 00:05:07,099 or that it’s deeply revolutionary, 113 00:05:07,099 --> 00:05:08,529 because it isn't. 114 00:05:09,950 --> 00:05:13,060 Personal change does not equal social change. 115 00:05:14,208 --> 00:05:15,208 So how, then, 116 00:05:15,208 --> 00:05:17,988 and especially with all the world at stake, 117 00:05:17,988 --> 00:05:19,388 have we come to accept 118 00:05:19,388 --> 00:05:21,748 these utterly insufficient responses? 119 00:05:25,109 --> 00:05:28,259 I think part of it is that we’re in a double bind. 120 00:05:28,259 --> 00:05:29,589 A double bind is when you’re given 121 00:05:29,589 --> 00:05:31,089 multiple options, 122 00:05:31,089 --> 00:05:32,739 but no matter what option you choose, 123 00:05:32,739 --> 00:05:34,159 you lose, 124 00:05:34,159 --> 00:05:36,329 and withdrawal is not an option. 125 00:05:37,818 --> 00:05:39,968 At this point it should be pretty easy 126 00:05:39,968 --> 00:05:41,688 to recognize that every action 127 00:05:41,688 --> 00:05:43,128 involving the industrial economy 128 00:05:43,128 --> 00:05:44,198 is destructive, 129 00:05:44,448 --> 00:05:45,978 and we shouldn’t pretend that 130 00:05:45,978 --> 00:05:48,398 solar photovoltaics, for example, 131 00:05:48,398 --> 00:05:49,718 exempt us from this. 132 00:05:49,718 --> 00:05:50,788 They still require mining 133 00:05:50,788 --> 00:05:52,788 and transportation infrastructures 134 00:05:52,788 --> 00:05:55,378 at every point in the production process. 135 00:05:55,378 --> 00:05:56,598 The same can be said 136 00:05:56,598 --> 00:05:59,598 for every other so-called green technology. 137 00:06:03,349 --> 00:06:05,369 If we choose option one— 138 00:06:05,369 --> 00:06:06,369 if we avidly participate 139 00:06:06,369 --> 00:06:08,359 in the industrial economy— 140 00:06:08,359 --> 00:06:10,899 we may think in the short term we win 141 00:06:10,899 --> 00:06:12,929 because we may accumulate wealth, 142 00:06:12,929 --> 00:06:14,549 the marker of so-called success 143 00:06:14,549 --> 00:06:16,049 in this culture. 144 00:06:16,049 --> 00:06:17,759 But we lose, 145 00:06:17,759 --> 00:06:20,289 because in so doing we give up our empathy, 146 00:06:20,289 --> 00:06:21,919 our animal humanity. 147 00:06:22,432 --> 00:06:23,812 And we really lose because 148 00:06:23,812 --> 00:06:26,202 industrial civilization is killing the planet, 149 00:06:26,202 --> 00:06:28,202 which means everyone loses. 150 00:06:29,009 --> 00:06:31,609 If we choose the “alternative” option 151 00:06:31,609 --> 00:06:33,009 of living more simply, 152 00:06:33,009 --> 00:06:34,519 thus causing less harm, 153 00:06:34,519 --> 00:06:36,439 but still not stopping the industrial economy 154 00:06:36,439 --> 00:06:38,079 from killing the planet, 155 00:06:38,079 --> 00:06:40,399 we may in the short term think we win 156 00:06:40,399 --> 00:06:42,199 because we got to feel pure, 157 00:06:42,199 --> 00:06:43,359 and we didn’t even have to give up 158 00:06:43,359 --> 00:06:45,199 all of our empathy, 159 00:06:45,199 --> 00:06:47,859 just enough to justify not stopping the horror, 160 00:06:48,429 --> 00:06:50,199 but once again we really lose, 161 00:06:50,199 --> 00:06:51,559 because industrial civilization 162 00:06:51,559 --> 00:06:53,039 is killing the planet, 163 00:06:53,039 --> 00:06:55,279 which means everyone still loses. 164 00:06:59,737 --> 00:07:00,957 The third option, 165 00:07:01,175 --> 00:07:04,355 acting decisively to stop the industrial economy, 166 00:07:04,955 --> 00:07:07,438 is very scary for a number of reasons, 167 00:07:07,703 --> 00:07:10,143 including but not restricted to the fact that 168 00:07:10,143 --> 00:07:11,143 we’d lose some of the luxuries, 169 00:07:11,143 --> 00:07:13,493 for example, electricity 170 00:07:13,493 --> 00:07:16,353 to which we’ve grown very accustomed, 171 00:07:16,353 --> 00:07:18,213 and the fact that those in power 172 00:07:18,213 --> 00:07:20,183 might try to kill us if we seriously impede 173 00:07:20,183 --> 00:07:22,333 their ability to exploit the world— 174 00:07:23,043 --> 00:07:27,043 none of which alters the fact that it’s a better option than a dead planet. 175 00:07:27,722 --> 00:07:30,742 Any option is a better option than a dead planet. 176 00:07:37,011 --> 00:07:39,141 Besides being ineffective at causing 177 00:07:39,141 --> 00:07:40,721 the sorts of changes necessary 178 00:07:40,721 --> 00:07:42,991 stop this culture from killing the planet, 179 00:07:42,991 --> 00:07:44,491 there are at least four other problems 180 00:07:44,491 --> 00:07:47,031 with perceiving simple living as a political act 181 00:07:47,031 --> 00:07:49,161 as opposed to living simply 182 00:07:49,161 --> 00:07:52,161 because that’s what you want to do. 183 00:07:52,161 --> 00:07:54,459 The first is that it’s predicated on the flawed notion 184 00:07:54,459 --> 00:07:56,999 that humans inevitably harm their landbase. 185 00:07:57,895 --> 00:07:59,620 Simple living as a political act 186 00:07:59,620 --> 00:08:01,950 consists solely of harm reduction, 187 00:08:01,950 --> 00:08:03,710 ignoring the fact that humans 188 00:08:03,710 --> 00:08:06,030 can help the Earth as well as harm it. 189 00:08:06,844 --> 00:08:08,554 We can rehabilitate streams, 190 00:08:08,980 --> 00:08:11,280 we can get rid of noxious invasives, 191 00:08:11,404 --> 00:08:13,444 we can remove dams, 192 00:08:13,444 --> 00:08:15,544 we can disrupt a political system 193 00:08:15,544 --> 00:08:16,784 tilted towards the rich 194 00:08:16,784 --> 00:08:19,264 as well as an extractive economic system, 195 00:08:19,790 --> 00:08:22,070 we can destroy the industrial economy 196 00:08:22,070 --> 00:08:24,650 that is destroying the real, physical world. 197 00:08:36,938 --> 00:08:38,288 The second problem, 198 00:08:38,288 --> 00:08:39,898 and this is another big one, 199 00:08:40,275 --> 00:08:42,351 is that it incorrectly assigns blame 200 00:08:42,351 --> 00:08:45,031 to the individual, and most especially 201 00:08:45,031 --> 00:08:48,231 to individuals who are particularly powerless, 202 00:08:48,736 --> 00:08:51,316 instead of to those who actually wield power 203 00:08:51,316 --> 00:08:52,416 in this system 204 00:08:52,416 --> 00:08:54,446 and to the system itself. 205 00:08:59,911 --> 00:09:01,241 The third problem 206 00:09:01,241 --> 00:09:04,391 is that it accepts capitalism’s redefinition of us 207 00:09:04,391 --> 00:09:06,501 from citizens to consumers. 208 00:09:07,925 --> 00:09:09,705 By accepting this redefinition, 209 00:09:10,244 --> 00:09:12,734 we reduce our potential forms of resistance 210 00:09:12,734 --> 00:09:14,754 to consuming and not consuming. 211 00:09:16,776 --> 00:09:18,946 But citizens have a much wider range 212 00:09:18,946 --> 00:09:20,776 of available resistance tactics, 213 00:09:20,776 --> 00:09:22,626 including voting or not voting, 214 00:09:22,626 --> 00:09:25,596 running for office, pamphleting, boycotting, 215 00:09:25,596 --> 00:09:27,666 organizing, lobbying, protesting, 216 00:09:28,165 --> 00:09:32,165 and, when a government becomes destructive of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, 217 00:09:32,441 --> 00:09:35,001 we have the right to alter or abolish it. 218 00:09:40,512 --> 00:09:41,832 The fourth problem 219 00:09:41,832 --> 00:09:43,592 is that the endpoint of the logic 220 00:09:43,592 --> 00:09:45,712 behind simple living as a political act 221 00:09:46,152 --> 00:09:47,322 is suicide. 222 00:09:48,169 --> 00:09:50,349 If every act within an industrial economy 223 00:09:50,349 --> 00:09:51,289 is destructive, 224 00:09:51,289 --> 00:09:53,589 and if we want to stop this destruction, 225 00:09:53,589 --> 00:09:56,299 and if we are unwilling or unable to question, 226 00:09:56,299 --> 00:09:57,490 much less destroy, 227 00:09:57,490 --> 00:09:58,710 the intellectual, moral, 228 00:09:58,710 --> 00:10:00,800 economic, and physical infrastructures 229 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:02,133 that cause every act 230 00:10:02,133 --> 00:10:03,466 within an industrial economy 231 00:10:03,466 --> 00:10:04,800 to be destructive, 232 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,020 then we can easily come to believe 233 00:10:07,020 --> 00:10:08,020 that we will cause 234 00:10:08,020 --> 00:10:09,880 the least destruction possible 235 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:11,080 if we are dead. 236 00:10:13,436 --> 00:10:14,926 The good news is 237 00:10:14,926 --> 00:10:16,796 that there are other options. 238 00:10:16,796 --> 00:10:19,506 We can follow the examples of brave activists 239 00:10:19,506 --> 00:10:22,356 who lived through the difficult times I mentioned— 240 00:10:22,356 --> 00:10:24,963 Nazi Germany, Tsarist Russia, 241 00:10:24,963 --> 00:10:27,093 antebellum United States— 242 00:10:27,093 --> 00:10:28,584 who did far more 243 00:10:28,584 --> 00:10:31,584 than manifest a form of personal purity. 244 00:10:31,584 --> 00:10:33,822 They actively opposed the injustices 245 00:10:33,822 --> 00:10:35,932 that surrounded them. 246 00:10:35,932 --> 00:10:37,272 We can follow the example 247 00:10:37,272 --> 00:10:38,392 of those who remembered 248 00:10:38,392 --> 00:10:39,652 that the role of an activist 249 00:10:39,652 --> 00:10:40,952 is not to navigate systems 250 00:10:40,952 --> 00:10:42,352 of oppressive power 251 00:10:42,352 --> 00:10:43,732 with as much personal integrity 252 00:10:43,732 --> 00:10:45,562 as possible, 253 00:10:45,562 --> 00:10:46,680 but rather to confront 254 00:10:46,680 --> 00:10:48,760 and take down those systems. 255 00:10:55,999 --> 00:10:57,239 Let’s get to work.