The Trinity

Well, to be honest, Maniates' trinity was really not big news for me. I think the points that he explains are ones that have been discussed for a long time and maybe the only thing that really shiny new about them is that he has organized them all together and applied them to the idea of environmental change. Not that I disagree with his points at all, quite the contrary in most senses, but I just did not find his notions anything stunning or groundbreaking. I like that he has set up his ideas so that they are seperate but all entertwined. That just makes the argument a little more comprehensible for those of us starting out on our own environmental quests.

I think that people are more likely to be lazy than selfish, especially when it comes to the environment. I mean, based on what we have learned this semester (and in light of our class discussion on Friday, which I found some peoples' responses quite shocking), it is much more comfortable and easy to live a state of denial about certain issues than to take them to heart and actually act. I'm not saying that everyone should be mopey and despressing, but sometimes the people who understand the gravity of the problem and accept it are the ones who are able to get passed their realist understanding to come up with really great ideas.

Anyway, back onto the topic. I agree that a few people are usually the ones who make the difference for a social movement. But I am unclear as to how many is "a few". Is it 35% of a population? Or is it literally a few leaders and such that these 35% put in power? Not sure. Maybe I've just forgotten from Friday. Either way, I also believe that support is needed from a larger population in order to focus efforts on a smaller group. This might not make as much sense out loud as it seems to in my head. But basically, people inspire eachother to become more active and it just depends on whether or not those people will step up and take the bigger sacrifices.