change your thinking, change the world?
In a recent article on earth-stream.com, Frances Moore Lappé, author of the famed 70s cookbook Diet for a 
Small Planet, makes a pretty bold claim. Lappé says we already have the tools to solve world hunger and climate change, we just need to readjust assumptions we have about the world.
Here are the five mental roadblocks she cites as barriers to a successful future.
1. Going green means a drastic reduction in energy consumption.
2. Sustainable living marks the end of economic growth.
3. Humans are by nature selfish and greedy.
4. As a society, Americans dislike rules and rebel against structure.
5. Our environmental and social problems are so urgent, there isn’t time for a democratic solution.
We wholeheartedly agree that sustainability doesn’t necessitate a drastic reduction in consumption—just reliance instead on renewable energy. And we know green technologies will open up an entirely new industry and grow—rather than shrink—the economy.
We also tend to agree that humans crave structure (every freelancer who’s gone from power suits to sweats in one week flat can attest to this).
But Lappé lost us at number five. Who is advocating we forgo democracy to solve climate change or water scarcity? We certainly recognize the urgency, but would never propose undemocratic means to achieve our goals.
What do you think? Is she right—will a paradigm shift alone solve our problems? Or is a more nuanced approach—one of thinking coupled with action (perhaps in the form of legislation)—a smarter path?
photo credit: yeowatzup
