9/14 Response - Lipschutz

I was very intrigued by many of the issues raised in Lipschutz’s article. While there are many things in the article I would like to discuss, there were three particular points I found most interesting. First, in the preface, Lipschutz writes “…one that is ethically based and rooted in ‘right’ relationships between humans and nature…” (Lipschutz xi). This is an issue that came up in one of our discussions in class last week, where we were discussing how it might be easier or better to have a dictatorship where someone who knows what is good for the environment could enforce rules, rather then the current democratic system. The problem I have with the point Lipschutz raises and the class discussion is how do we determine the ‘right relationship between humans and nature?’
Even in our class, where we are all extremely like-minded especially in terms of the environment, I don’t think we would be able to come up with a ‘right relationship between humans and nature.’ Even if we could, coming up with laws to enforce that relationship would be even more difficult. Moving beyond our classroom and into the world where people have more diverse opinions then in our class, it becomes even more difficult to come up with this right relationship and policy to go with it.
Something which I did appreciate from Lipschutz’s article was the historical materialism perspective he presented. While we have discussed the historical perspective of the environmental movement, we haven’t talked about the history of the issues themselves all that often. As he discussed, understanding where our current problems derive from is essential to creating solutions for them. Additionally, looking far back into the colonization of countries to explain the current problems with global industries is a really fascinating and logical concept.
Finally, I found Lipschutz’s discussion of the institutions of the earth to be a somewhat scary wake-up call to our solutions of environmental problems. The example he provides, of a river that is cleaned up because it’s entirety is possessed by one entity versus a river that is not because it is possessed by two separate entities was striking. It is rather disturbing that often times when it is clear what the right action should be it is impossible to achieve it due to political or other situations.