We used to think the truth would set us free. Like many who care about the environment, we spent years thinking that information would lead to change.
It is a well known cliche that change is the biggest constant of our lives. Some things changed. Sadly, the big picture didn’t.
For a long time we couldn’t understand why. Now we’ve realized that it isn’t because we don’t have enough data, white papers or experts to tell us we’re in trouble. The problem is we’ve forgotten what it takes to make change, that more than the change itself; it is the nature of the
change that impacts our lives in a big way.
We’ve come to see that we have two parts to ourselves; it’s almost like two muscles – a consumer muscle and a citizen muscle. Our consumer muscle, which is fed and exercised constantly, has grown strong. So strong that “consumer” has become our primary identity, our reason for being. We’re told so often that we’re a nation of consumers that we don’t blink when the media use “consumer” and “person” interchangeably.
Meanwhile, our citizen muscle has gotten flabby. There’s no marketing campaign reminding us to engage as citizens. On the contrary, we’re bombarded with lists of simple things we can buy or do to save the planet, without going out of our way or breaking a sweat.
As we all know, there is no lack of areas where change needs to happen yet, be it the environment, social issues or even attitudes to civic issues. If the common man grows so will the economy.