Blog 9 - Postscript

Reading the very first section of the postscript where Kohak says not to read this section surprised me, and got me thinking, I wonder what could possibly be in this section that he wouldn't want us to read his thoughts after reading his entire book. Thankfully we were assigned this section because instead of it being straight information about beliefs, I actually liked the personal insight we got from the author of this entire book. He raised more questions in this section that I could personally relate to -- for instance, when he asks if the US is the problem because we are the ones that continue to consume.

Kohak also goes back to his thought on "flannel ecology" and clears some of the confusion up for me at least. Not only is he telling us we have to go out and do something about the problem, but he is trying to educate us about the problem. That is a major thing he is addressing -- the fact that the problem may not be that we are careless and don't want to help, but instead that we are ignorant of the problem and we don't exactly understand it.

In order to solve a part of the problem, Kohak gives us two options -- consume less or produce more. This is where we have to step in and think about what each choice would give us as a result. Obviously the most ethical choice would be to consume less, but that is easier said than done. Even if we make a personal choice to consume less, America (in particular) pushes a consumer society. Because of this, it is hard to consume less while every one around us is telling us we should consumer more. We would be considered the black sheep, the minority, of the states, and just like other races it is hard to stand out against the majority.

However, if we produce more that is making us want to consume more, which is the less ethical option. Also, a lot of problems that people have are the thoughts that, I am only one person, how can I change the world. If we would just forget this problem and think like the person on the beach saving a couple starfish, we would be more likely to try and consume less.