Reflection

Throughout this course I have been reminded of the meaning of the term "wicked problems".  Wicked problems are dilemmas in which the requirements continuously change or are in contradiction to one another, as such, there is no answer, no true or false, no right or wrong.  Indeed everything is only a question of better or worse.  During this class we have read about and discussed many of the small infinity of moving parts that make the environmental crisis what it is today, government, economy, and civil society in particular.  We have also been asked to think in terms of action.  Instead of considering environmental problems for their own sake, this class has taught us to engage with problems and evaluate solutions based on their effectiveness. 

From a personal perspective, I am very glad that I waited to take this class until my senior year. Having studied environmental science and policy throughout my college career, I have noticed that students are rarely given the opportunity to step back and take a look at the big picture, where we are forced to grapple critically, philosophically, and emotionally with the challenges we now face.  I have also been reminded of how important it is to truly understand the social, political, and economic context behind the environmental crisis, and the way in which each of the individual problems relate to each other.  Contextual knowledge and big-picture thinking are both necessary if we are to identify what we can aspire to, and hopefully how to get there. 

This class has also shaken some of my most fundamental beliefs about the environmental crisis.  First, studying environmental political history has given me a better understanding of how long to takes to effect significant, positive change; and, conversely, how quickly we can cause irreversible damage.  Being only 21 years old it seems like global environmental problems - climate change, world hunger, etc. -  have always been around, when in fact we have only recently as a species had to deal with problems of such grad scale and rapid rates of change.  I'm often shocked to think that we are still having many of the same conversations about the environment that we were having thirty years ago, but this is also a very new kind of problem requiring dramatically new ways of thinking about ourselves and the world we live in.  While I have come to understand the reasons for our inability to change quickly, this class has also been a constant reminder that the environment does not operate on the same schedule.  McKibben's 15 year prognosis is particularly haunting. 

Secondly, I have been asked to question the basic assumptions I make when trying to develop solutions for environmental problems.  The democracy assumption is probably the best example of this.  Perhaps it's a cultural thing, but a concern for democracy and fairness tend to permeate the American environmental movement.  However, this is not necessarily conducive to effective problem solving.  Maniates echoed this frequently, democratic, individualized change is unlikely to create a movement with sufficient alacrity and weight to confront the mess we've made for ourselves.  What we need instead is well organized, leveraged change, presumably led by experts and political elites.  While I have yet to fully explore what I really think about this, the idea has nonetheless made me think in new ways about political and social change. 

"Intro to Doom", "Despair 101", and other such epithets are all somewhat appropriate descriptions of our class on a day-to-day basis, but I leave invigorated.  As insoluble, heart-wrenching, and huge these challenges are, they are equally important.  It's going to be a long fight, a hard fight, and we're unlikely to see any cathartic conclusion in our lifetime.  Dig in.  Happy Holidays, I leave you with these: