I am heartened, challenged, and stimulated by the interesting and engaged discussion that has emerged around my short piece, “I Will Simply Survive.” It’s always so interesting to see the ways in which I have managed (or not) to be clear in what I am trying to say.
My aim was not to cast blame on anybody (except mostly myself, I think), but rather to encourage critical self-examination of what spurs each of us to attempt simplicity, simplifying, eco-whatever. Furthermore, my aim was to expand thinking to embrace those whose choices are constrained by poverty. Of course pro-environmental choices aren’t bad: I have a worm box, I buy organic, and my child has virtually never worn a piece of clothing that came new from a store. Even so, despite whatever environmentally friendly and thrifty things I do — consciously and with enthusiasm — the bald truth is that I, like most people in the U.S., have a ridiculously outsized environmental footprint compared to the rest of the world’s population. The worm box isn’t bad at all, but there’s no doubt it’s a drop in the bucket.
Because of my research and politica... Read more
