This sentimental interpretation of Thanksgiving is what we as Americans would like to associate with our national holiday, but it denies the reality of the American Holiday Spirit: money spending. We buy a turkey, get a deep frier, we watch football, and the next day we rush the Malls of America- looking for the best deals for Christmas. There are many variations of how we spend Thanksgiving all over the country, indeed the diversity that every American family brings to their table is a point of pride for many. However, the big failure of Maniates' article is to address the role of corporations and business in changing the ethic of American's attitudes towards greening. Time and time again we have seen that Americans do not react to the top-down mandates of politicians as effectively as the impetus of spending money.
Look at Maniates' examples of inspiration: Paul Revere, a man who did not want to be taxed unfairly by the government for his silver work. Roosevelt opposed fascism and created jobs for a nation in unemployment crisis. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the Civil Rights Movement calling for the integration of buses, businesses, schools, public works, all financially consolidating operations for institutions. No, these were not easy changes, and No, the change to move towards environmentalism is not an easy change either. Americans need to be called upon for a greater role in the end of environmental degradation, its true. However, without the change towards environmentalism in business ethics we will see very little real change in American behaviors.
Alternately, I would like to also take a look at when this article came out, in November of 2007. It's true that since that point we have seen an acceleration of publications alerting the public as to the true sources and effects of environmental degradation. Since 2007, we have seen some of the largest environmental disasters in human history. This article in and of itself is not enough as an answer to this seemingly overwhelming conundrum. "The glorification of easy" is not such a bad first step if we see it in conjunction with a change in the purchasing decisions on the part of Americans. If it became easier to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving that had not been injected with hormones that are environmentally harmful, or cranberry sauce derived from all locally grown ingredients, these are all relatively easy resolutions of environmentalism on the part of Americans. If awareness is the next step to change purchasing decisions, the environmental movement would do well to provide more effective answers that may also be easy as well. By dedicating more of Americans' attention to their environmental impact, we would see a deepening interest in environmental health. If we force corporations to have environmental objectives, and environmental consciousness in their processes- these are where real changes with real efficacy can be seen.
Thanksgiving comes down to the American rhetoric of Consumerism- let's not kid ourselves. In order to go green you have to find the greenbacks to do it. Replacing Easy with Cheap would not be such a bad thing. By demonstrating the environmental price of your environmentally-damaging "cheap" option, changes could be better effective and just as easy as promised. We live in a Recession, where many families struggle to feel the benefits of a rich harvest, with rising unemployment, and a low country-wide morale. Making green profitable is going to be the easiest way to encourage Americans to have frank talk about ways for confront the planetary emergency before us.
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