Hawthorn Hill

May 08, 2008 11:06 am

— By RICHARD J. deROSA
Individualism

There is a lot of talk about change these days. We hear it from presidential candidates and we read about it in the papers and hear about it on radio. I do not know about anyone else, but I have never altered the way I conduct my life because of what a politician has said. The people who have influenced me are friends, family members, teachers, and writers. What has not changed is that individuals make the most lasting differences.

If we are to reverse the effects of global warming, we will do it not because governments decree we ought to, but because of the cumulative effect of individual thought and action. Top down pronouncements are all well and good. Ultimately, as JFK so presciently put it many years ago, the individual’s obligations trump those of government. All too often, we focus our being a government “of the people” while ignoring the “by the people” phrase, the one that reminds us of our communal obligations to one another.

As despairing as things can be from time to time, anecdotal evidence appears to indicate that many individuals are changing their habits because they are convinced that climate change is real, that fossil fuels will not last forever, and that the harm inflicted on the planet as a direct result of oil and its byproducts will be nigh impossible to correct or reverse unless we act now. These are abundant signs that give one reason for optimism.

As has always been the case, individual action has a radiant and immediate effect far more infectious than a thick tome that few have the time or inclination to read. When it comes to reading, what is better for the soul — and the intellect? A thousand page bill or a well-written novel or poetry collection? Actually, I would rather read a manual on raising chickens. It makes much more practical sense. For that matter, the nature poems and many books and essays that I have read over the years have done more to enliven my environmental consciousness than the words or writings of any politician. Speaking of chickens, I did attend a workshop on backyard poultry management the other day. We are going away for a few weeks. When we come back, I will build a coop of sorts and then order half a dozen pullets.

When asked why we were there, most indicated a commitment to a more sustainable lifestyle, as well as a taste for fresh eggs and organically raised chicken in the stew pot or on the barbecue. When the question of where to get chickens came up, one person indicated that a local farm store was experiencing an exponential increase in chicken orders.

Why? Well, because more and more people want to raise their own poultry and vegetables and generally reconfigure their own lives so as to reduce their dependence on external sources. This is not an isolated phenomenon. Over the past several months I have attended several workshops where I have either learned or relearned the basics of backyard fruit and berry production, tree grafting, the value of high tunnel gardening and, because I see it as wholly compatible with a commitment to self-reliance, a hunter safety course. The fact is each of us does hunt. Some do it in the woods; others do it is the supermarket.

In conversations with people at all of these workshops, it appears that most are motivated by a genuine concern for the environment. Not everyone has jumped on the bandwagon, but the numbers increase daily and that is very encouraging. We heard a lot of grumbling about the price of fuel. A news report earlier this morning indicated a drop in SUV sales. That is a good thing, as least from my vantage point.

The price of a gallon of fuel is high, and likely to increase. I know quite a few people who have opted for small, fuel-efficient cars not because of fuel costs, but because of a firm commitment to planetary healing. Whatever the reason for the demise of SUV’s, it is a good thing.

The good news is that individuals countrywide are making changes and looking for ways to live self-reliant lives that contribute to a healthy, regenerative environment. The sports section of The New York Times recently did a feature on a burly Major League Baseball player who has become a vegetarian. In light of the scandals of the past few years where bulking up with steroids, hardly a healthy or morally defensible practice, has scarred baseball for years to come, perhaps this one individual will be the first of many to choose garbanzo beans over diet supplements. Finally, despite my often being characterized as a liberal, it seems to me that liberalism of the kind I espouse, one that sees government’s role as that of ensuring the durability of individual freedom of thought and choice constrained only by the curtailment of specific liberties (Mill said it all years ago), envisions a society wherein individuals make the lasting differences, not politicians.

There is a place for thoughtful, concise, and coherent law in a civilized society. But in the end it is all up to us, you and me, one at a time.