'Checking out at the store,

[love_katz]

166. I get a little peeved, and a little puzzled when...

some younger generation folks try to blame all the greed or our current society, and all of the environmental degradation on those of us who were movers and shakers back in the 1960's.

They seem unaware that the "Green" movement began as a movement during the Sixties. I was in high school when the first Earth Day happened. A lot of what the Sixties was about was to stop mindlessly being part of the consumerist, war-mongering, Earth polluting and destroying, sexist, racist, classist society. That's why we referred to it as "dropping out"!

And, yes, many people had an awareness of needing to live what would now be termed a 'green' lifestyle. J.I. Rodale, the founder of Organic Gardening Magazine was promoting organic gardening and the avoidance of chemicals as long ago as 1949. Aldo Leopold, who died in 1948, wrote the quintessential manifesto for an environmentally conscientious land ethic, "A Sand County Almanac". I could go on, and on.

None of this was widely known until the environmental movement took off in the 1960's.

I would apologize for not single-handedly saving the Earth for future generations, while earning my living from low-wage, working class jobs...but, that would be absurd.

Believe me, if I HAD been in charge of the world, and had that kind of power given to me, things would be VERY much different!

And, yes, I DO live in a very old home (1920's vintage - I do NOT own it - don't earn enough to buy any home)...it has far fewer electrical outlets than newer homes. I haven't had a dryer for @ 7 years. Not out of some 'moral' superiority...it is due to lack of income! I hang my clothes on an old clothesline in the basement or on a couple of drying racks, or put the drying racks outside when the sun shines and its warm enough to dry them. I work outside the home (split shifts)...it is a hardship...towels come out like cardboard when dried this way. This practice, along with many other similar things I do, helps me save $ and precious natural resources, but it is very time consuming. I don't think I could manage this stuff if I had a family.
Making real change can be both difficult and expensive. We ALL need each other to make it through...and the Earth and the children of the future need us to work together on this stuff, as well.
I wish people would stop the snark towards each other, because I think the 1% laughs all the way to the bank when we tear at each other.