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DCL
It ain't always easy being green. You're educating yourself, changing your lifestyle, and spreading the word, and then they go and create a video game that targets environmentalists. While the whole wide wired world marvels at the most recent tabloid TV/Internet-spawned cause celébre, you'd rather curl up with the latest issue of Grist. "Where do I fit in?" you ask in exasperation as you stroll down to the local juice bar for a comforting cup of organic carrot juice. Look no further, my friend, because it is the solace you find in that frothy glass of blessed beta carotene that can help you understand how we're all linked into one cohesive community.
As you carry your cup back to your tiny table--and before you take out that notebook to scribble the beginnings of the oft-sought Great American Novel--take a minute to think about the sustainable farm workers responsible for getting those carrots to your local CSA. Then toss in those human beings who helped create the recycled napkin you're using to wipe up the juice you've spilled or even the musicians who composed the music wafting from the juice bar speakers--yes, total strangers interacting to help you enjoy one of life's simple, healthy pleasures.
But why stop there? The juicer was surely assembled by factory workers (unionized, we hope). The cup was produced by another set of humans, as was the spoon, the table, the chair, the sustainable juice bar itself. Okay, now it's time to add in all the workers who produced and/or delivered all the other things necessary for the everyday survival of those listed above, e.g. food, clothes, and so on. Get the idea? You, by simply ordering a cup of locally grown organic carrot juice, can strip away the alienation of modern industrialism and recognize that you are directly linked to millions upon millions of people across the globe and they are linked in some way to you. Perhaps such introspection can help us attain a genuine sense of solidarity. You know, help us stop discovering differences and conflicts and start focusing on similarities and shared desires? And, just think, it all starts with a cup of fresh, organic carrot juice.
Then, once we feel more connected, we can finally get busy with the important work of creating a greener culture and dismantling industrial civilization, right?
