Clever but impractical

The US gives itself so much credit sometimes that it is easy to forget that these days, not only are we Not First at some things, we are not even in the top 5. Environmental care is one of these things. Furthermore, China certainly has no room to brag, I breathed in Beijing for 5 months, I know. When Friedman quotes Liu saying climate change “is a practical discussion on health and wealth. There is no need to emphasize future consequences when people already see, eat and breathe pollution every day.” she is not joking. People everywhere are dying of climate change and pollution in China. In reality, the country is saving itself an enormous (as opposed to just a really really large) national healthcare bill in about 10 years by making a real effort now to green its methods of growth. If China really wanted to deter the acceleration of climate change, the government would enforce pollution penalties, it would cap factory emissions and many other things. I would be interested to hear where the scientific labs used in the developments of these green products are dumping their waste. The Chinese do not recycle- the plastic mines Friedman discusses are other people's garbage landed on the PRC. Finding even one recycling can in Beijing was not only a hassle, but near impossible. Even if there is one recycling can in a neighborhood, I highly doubt that the thing is ever used correctly or conscientiously. This article is right, the Chinese do use greening to create jobs, something that the US badly needs right now. But that doesn't make China environmentally pristine.

The US could do from taking some practical wisdom from China- be practical, accept that which makes you better able to supply for your people and your nation's future. Stability, harmony and ingenuity are quick ways to an easy buck, why would you mess yourself up by getting in your own way? OH THAT'S RIGHT- Democracy. Governance is there for a reason, but in this country somehow that has been interpreted to mean that petty politics are the order of the day. The willfully maintained ignorance of global change will come to find these individuals one day and the best action we can take at this point is the local action that every one of our classes seems to come down to; you cannot count on the powers that be to make decisions that best serve you or the rest of the world. You have to be conscious every step of the day, and once you make environmentally friendly habits- like recycling, writing your congressman, or informing yourself, friends and family about the destruction your way of life could be wreaking on this world- it becomes easier. Ehri said in class the other day that in Japan recycling is a thoughtless process with maybe up to 11 bins to put your trash in. If the people of Japan can chose between 11 bins for recycling, we should be able to, too! The practical implementation of recycling programs needs nothing beyond the initiative of a few anxious people. Authority figures have been anticipating the ruckus about to made over their recycling for ages. It's time to validate those anticipations by aggravating them a bit. In the US nothing gets done until people decide to do something about it- in China there are so many people that if the government did not head up industry and employ people they would still be having farmer's revolutions against their landlords. Such is the nature of these nations.