Why bother?

In a NTY megazine article with the same title Michael Pollan argued that "The climate-change crisis is at its very bottom a crisis of lifestyle". His solution? Grow your own food!

Some thought gardening was too slow to solve our urgent problem--"It is preponderance, stupid!" But others argue, which I agree, paradigm shift in values associated with gardening is what we are after; carrots are just a buy-product.

I think Pollen did acknowledge this point in his piece, and this is how he put it,

"If you do bother, you will set an example for other people. If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction of behavioral change, markets for all manner of green products and alternative technologies will prosper and expand. (Just look at the market for hybrid cars.) Consciousness will be raised, perhaps even changed: new moral imperatives and new taboos might take root in the culture. Driving an S.U.V. or eating a 24-ounce steak or illuminating your McMansion like an airport runway at night might come to be regarded as outrages to human conscience. Not having things might become cooler than having them. And those who did change the way they live would acquire the moral standing to demand changes in behavior from others — from other people, other corporations, even other countries."

I believe ultimately changes have to come from within and bottom-up. There is no doubt about that. The tricky part is how we get there fast and together. As Al Gore said,

"If you want to travel fast, travel alone; if you want to travel far, travel in group. We have to travel far and fast!"

P.S. Adam Stein argued the difference between morals and values. He was right and wrong. I think morals = value systems, so morals and values are inherently connected. On the other hand, it is a lot easier to change values than to change morals, and people would definitely be offended if they were marked as "immoral". Let's start with changing values then.

PPS. Pollen's piece was part of a Green Issue of the NYT magazine.