I believe it is time for a change. It is time we stepped up as humans and made progress not in technology but in way of life. People these days are so self-involved that they don’t care about the environment, the socioeconomical barriers. No longer should there be social standards and norms, no longer should people with different lifestyles be discriminated against. It is time we moved towards a change, started trying to bring about a world of peace and understanding.
Many would think it is not possible, but I beg to differ, change is eminent, It is time we all participated in making the world a better place to live in, better for my generation and generations after me. My generation [I believe by what I have observed] is the one generation that is going to cause change, my generation seems to be more open-minded to different lifestyle choices, they don’t have the same views as generations before us, they believe in equal rights, that everybody has a right to be and that nobody should be denied their rights because of their religious affiliation, sexual orientation, social status, economic status, they are starting to let go of the social norms and are realizing that people are different, people are individuals and not everybody is the same.
My generation has the job of making way for the future of our world, but I say let the previous generation start fixing up their mistakes. Let them pave the way for us, let them set an example for us, let them show us that we can make a difference. I say don’t leave all the work up to my generation, if you truly care about bringing peace then do it. Everyone knows there has been a certain amount of up rise against authority, against the rules of society, people are starting to wake up and realize the mistakes that are being made. I think everybody should begin contributing to the revolution, so that my generation and generations after us can take the final steps in bring about world peace. If change does not occur we will be repeating history and the fall of our civilization will occur, so I say LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!!!
I agree with you. I believe change begins with every individual making the necessary changes to the way he or she thinks. To change mere thoughts and how we think about the world and perceive reality, we create changes in our behavior and as a result we affect the world around us.
~Native Pride~
jlovessin,
In so many ways the revolution has begun. Things that were impossible before are now reality and our dreams are becoming possibilities.
I believe I am part of the generation before you. I have two daughters aged 15 and 20 and even in their short life so much has changed for the better.
In the early 80's as I entered my teenage years to be gay was to be ridiculed, to be beaten, to be treated like a second class citizen. To be handicapped in any way was a social faux pas. To believe that big business may not be doing the right thing for both the ordinary citizen and the environment was to be termed a "commie".
Now to be gay is almost totally socially acceptable. To treat the handicapped and disabled with respect is almost the norm. To question big business on their practises is now not only socially acceptable but we also have legal authorities who's sole job it is to do just that. We are beginning to see how valuable a resource a good clean environment is, rather than just judging it on the volume of crops we can grow from it, the dollars of minerals we can dig from it and the tonnes of timber we can cut from it.
So much has changed in the last quarter of a century. BUT my generation can not accept the credit for all of these things. The generation who came before us started the wheels in motion by making some small concessions, my generation has merely continued and expanded the work.
As my generation hands the torch of responsibility over to your generation our hope is that you continue the good work without succumbing to the temptations of greed and prejudice as so many of the generation before me did, and sadly as have some of my generation.
This is rapidly becoming YOUR world. You CAN make a difference, you CAN improve on what we have done, BUT, you MUST make a mark in areas that my generation have not been able to touch. In this way when it comes time to hand on the torch to the generation after you they can continue the fight.
Yes the revolution is already here, but in the words of Gil Scott-Heron, immortalised by Michael Franti (IMHO), "The revolution will not be televised". Time is the key and to change attitudes and opinions takes a LONG time. Never give up hope and never lose sight of the long term goal that my generation, and perhaps even yours, may never live to see.
Cathii
-------------------------------------------------------
Those who know everything have learned little from life.
I knew somebody was gonna say and I was actually thinking the same thing its just all these things have been around for years and yet we are barely getting to the point where we are doing something about it. And plus it wouldn't have sounded right saying the revolution has begun lol. but yeah I know.
Yes, I do believe my generation has the responsibility of not succumbing to the temptations, I for one want to see change, I am going to make a difference one way or another. I for one plan on being a world leader, a doctor of alternative medicines specializing in homeopathy [I think conventional medicine is too expensive for too many side-effects] and a humanitarian.
I believe for change to occur each individual must be willing to change, luckily my generation is very open-minded, even the very religious have a greater degree of open-mindedness [lol i dont thats even a word but oh well] than their parents and grandparents. Oh and yeah I'm still wondering at what point it became wrong to be gay, wrong to care about our environment, wrong for wanting equality. In the beginning participating in homosexual activity was the norm, caring about the environment was religious, and wanting equality was what got us where we are.
Change is emminent lets face it the world is in for a serious awakening
Some people do believe that they are doing things to change the world, and I'm sure that most of them are... but when it comes down to it, we all take from this earth and it's only fair to give back. EVERYONE needs to help out and "go green" some how in their lives to give back to the earth that they take from everyday. The hardest part is getting through to the thick headed people who believe that they don't need to do anything, but we can do it.
EVERYONE needs to help out and "go green"
Well that would be good, BUT it isn't the only solution. Essentially the human race is a lazy and greedy creature. They will take the path of least resistance or the path of greatest profit EVERYTIME irrespective of whether the end result is good or bad for someone else or not.
The hardest part is getting through to the thick headed people who believe that they don't need to do anything, but we can do it.
Actually you only need to appeal to Mr Apethetic's sense of greed and laziness. Make the solution easier than what they are doing now, OR cheaper for the consumer, OR more profitable for the business and... Hey Presto! Instant change......
Now here is the rub..... Politics...... It is at the political level that things need to change. Let me give you an example of what I mean:
In Western Australia, a state that has a sheep station (farm) that is 1.5 times BIGGER than the entire state of Texas, there were two proposals put forward to the state government for a new power station for the far North West of the state.
One was a tidal power station, using the natural flow of the HUGE tides in the north west to drive turbines to charge monstrous batteries to provide electricity to half of the north west. The tide comes in every day and goes out every day that will not change.
For backup and peak load times a natural gas turbine would be used. Natural gas is plentiful in WA, cheap and one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels.
Sounds ideal right???? Cheap clean, only burning fuel in times of huge demand..... never ending source of power (as long as the earth and moon remain locked together with gravity and lets face it if that ever goes wrong then we have more problems than just a power station not producing electricity!!!!!!)
Sounds Ideal???..... Well no! WA happens to be one of the biggest producers and exporters of coal in Australia and for most of the Asian region. Problem is demand for coal is dropping. Lower demand equals lower prices. Lower prices equals less profit. Less profit means more miners are out of work. More miners that are out of work in a marginal electorate that is vital to the seat of power in parliament means a potential loss of government for the party that holds that seat if they lose it at election.
The decision was made to go for the coal powered option because in the end it would mean that the government would prevent the loss of jobs in a marginal electorate and there by firm up their chances of winning the next state election to be held in three years time........
So now we mine coal in the state's south west, and we ship coal via diesel trains that deliver ONLY coal to the power station. So now we burn ALL that diesel transporting coal so that we can burn the coal to make power.
The scoreboard:
Environment = 0 -- Big business and government = $billions
Fighting at the political level is the best way to do something positive. Putting your paper into a recycling bin, fitting low energy bulbs, buying a smaller car are all good things to do. BUT ultimately they don't mean a thing unless our governments and business leaders follow the same path.
No I don't see Mr Apathetic as the cause OR the problem OR the solution. Mr Apathetic will still leave lights on, drive a HUGE SUV and throw his rubbish out the window..... but nothing he ever does will compare to burning thousands of tonnes of coal each year to make the same electrical energy that nature could have provided us cleanly AND cheap.....
Cathii
-------------------------------------------------------
Those who know everything have learned little from life.
If large amounts of individuals did go green, the companies would realize that there is no longer profit it harming the environment and whatnot, they would realize in order to make money they need to appeal to the consumer. Many people don't realize that the companies are trying to meet our needs.
Change is emminent lets face it the world is in for a serious awakening
If large amounts of individuals did go green,
Yep *IF* they did.... and there is the killer to the argument, that one word "if". Being the cynical yet realistic person I am I will give you odds of 1000:1 that in a blind test in a supermarket that the overwhelming majority of people will go for the cheaper environmentally unfriendly product over a product of the same quality that is environmentally friendly yet more expensive.
If they were the same price and received equal marketing exposure then the story might be different.
Value judgements when you are young and free are vastly different to value judgements when you have a mortgage, two kids, a partner, a dog and an income that barely covers all your debts!
Consumer demand drives the market place and the consumers demand cheap effective products, hence my argument that all you need to do is appeal to the natural instinct of greed.
*********
Alternatively you could appeal to their laziness and market the environmentally friendly product effectively. Even if the product is more expensive and is only of the 'same' quality people might associate that product with good value. Want an example of how it works? There are thousands, ask a marketing major.
Sadly in the realm of household products big companies like Proctor and Gamble find more profit in making and marketing environmentally unfriendly products. Put simply it makes them more money and that is what business is there for, making profit. Marketing budgets are enormous and smaller companies find it hard to compete, not because their products are inferior, not because their products are more expensive, but simply they can't appeal to the lazy shopper that is prone to brand recognition/brand blindness because of marketing. "I saw it on TV.... it must be good!" Ahhhh good old intellectual laziness, one of the human being's biggest downfalls.
*****************
Put simply, if you want people to turn green you have to be able to answer their biggest question "what's in it for me?". That answer *must* satisfy one of the two biggest factors in the market place, price (basic human greed) and brand recognition (natural human laziness).
So I see four choices:
1) You can either set up in competition to companies like P&G
2) You can lobby companies like P&G to 'turn green'
3) You can lobby government to make factors more conducive for environmentally friendly products to succeed and replace non environmentally friendly products.
4) Bash your head against the wall trying to get Mr Apathetic and Mr&Mrs Mortgaged-to-the-eyeballs to change habits.
The first three are viable alternatives, although number 1 might be a bit tough to achieve. Number 4 is close on to a dead cause unless you have billions to throw at it.
Maybe you have a 5th option which is one I have been mulling over for a while.....Lobby the bigger organisations such as GreenPeace, WWF etc to brand and sell environmentally friendly products in competition to companies like P&G. In that way the organisation is supporting manufacturing companies that support them, whilst using their massive collective pool of resources to fight big business at its own game AND providing profit to help their respective causes. Maybe that is a solution to shift public opinion and to cause a shift in business practice. Maybe it has been tried before and failed, I don't know, but it certainly worked for the Body Shop..........
One thing I know for sure, causing an attitude shift in Mr Apathetic, Mr&Mrs Mortgaged-to-the-eyeballs and Joe Schmuck is an uphill and un-winnable battle by itself.
Cathii
-------------------------------------------------------
Those who know everything have learned little from life.
I realize that you know people prefer the things that they can afford, so instead of talking to the adults I talk to the children who they buy stuff for. These days children are alot more spoiled than they used to be [I know I'm one of them lol] Like I have friends who I talked to and everything and they all decided to try and be a little bit more environmental friendly, some even became vegetarians, and seeing as how we are all spoiled the parents had to make the change too. So instead I appeal to the children and the teenagers. They don't care much about money they just care about the want. I figure if I can start changing the minds of my peers then that will lead to some adult changes and well you know with children especially me I have alot of friends, and well you know children have this social network instead of using so that somebody across the country will know that "Sally cheated on Bo with Bo's Brother, but the baby is actually Bo's Fathers" They would know that we need to make changes. Children are a lot more open to helping the world.
Change is eminent lets face it the world is in for a serious awakening
Ahhhhh to be young, idealistic and not jaded with the socio-economic/political realities of the world :)
Now if my daughter demanded that I buy environmentally friendly dish washing detergents at $3 more a bottle, then I would demand pay back in the form of her doing the dishes more often. Her interest in protecting the environment would plummet as would most if not all 15yo's. Her interest might overcome my 'greed factor' and I might pay the extra $3 a bottle. This is where my 'laziness factor' kicks in and I see an opportunity of not doing the dishes 3 nights a week instead of only 2 nights a week, worth the $3 I think.........
BUT....... just because she has no greed factor because she isn't paying for the bottle monetarily, she certainly has a laziness factor and would try everything to escape that extra night of dish washing. After a while the moaning the complaining etc would get on my nerves and she would get out of it.
So what happens the next time I go to the shops to buy detergent?????? I buy the cheaper environmentally unfriendly one cause it certainly wasn't worth the $3 to hear her moan and complain about having to do the dishes..........
A one time deal does not save the environment anything. In fact it costs the environment!!!! How can it cost the environment I hear you ask...... Well I have now tried the environmentally friendly version of the detergent, because of the complaining this product now has a negative image in my mind. Because of the negative image of ONE product I am now MORE reluctant to try other products that boast "Environmentally Friendly" on the label. Now everything that has those words conjures images of my 15yo complaining.
This is called associative image and marketers can use it VERY effectively when for instance they launch a new product..... In fact it is used extensively by the marketers and advertisers of film. Ever hear the phrase; "From thew Director of [insert grossly successful movie name here]"??? So what happens if you hated that move? Would you go to see the new one, or would you avoid it?
Think on that for a while and think what your parents might do in a similar situation and not just with environmentally friendly products either. This works for EVERYTHING you do in life. It even applies to you! People have an image of you and once an image is set it follows you around for a LONG time. Think of a teacher that constantly gave you a hard time in high school no matter how much you tried to impress them it never worked because they had a negative image of you......
Do you see what I mean?
Do you see how this can affect a product adversely?
Now you have to decide if *harassing* Mum and Dad is a good method to employ in promoting a product or type of product in the long run...........
-------------------------------------------------------
Those who know everything have learned little from life.
My mother doesn't ask me to do anything for what I want and my friends parents dont ask them either [at least thats what they say] and well I am actually very well-liked by both my peers and my teachers even the adminstators that dont like me still do anything that is in my best interest [I happen to be a valuable asset to my school =D] and well when you are given as much power as I am given because of who I am at school people do whatever I tell them to do, they may occassionaly complain but they do what I tell them to do because they know better, I tell them not to litter so they don't the ones that do I tell them to pick it up and they do it. I know you're problem thinking well at school maybe but when they go home they don't care. Wrong, you see I know to many people for someone to try and get away with going against me, they know that I always find out what I need to know no matter what. People love me because I love them, I take care of them when they need it, so in return they do what I ask of them.
Change is eminent lets face it the world is in for a serious awakening
I can't resist telling you that I'm working on a new poiltical fiction novel (and graphic novel) whose sole focus will be the revolution of our country and the role of our generation in it.
It really is time for a revolution. A call to war, really- for morals, for family, for values, for logic, for simple honesty, and for the right thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Raven
STAND for SOMETHING.