Thanksgiving Conversations

Over Thanksgiving, I engaged my older brother in a conversation about the environment. I kind of went into it knowing that he would be the one that would be the most interesting to talk to, because while the rest of my family is pretty liberal and generally sympathetic to the environmental movement, my older brother is very conservative. So as I sat down to eat my Tofurkey for the first Thanksgiving ever, my brother asked me why I was a vegetarian. "Mainly for the environment," I said. This sparked a short discourse that covered topics such as organic food, climate change, and other issues pertinent to environmentalism. I found that my brother's views are mostly driven by one principle: self-interest. When I brought up the threat of rising sea levels for island states, he simply said that was their problem. He also said he refused to buy organic or natural foods because they were too expensive. So what do I think this says about try to present a convincing argument about environmentalism? In my case, I began to frame my argument in a way that emphasized government and corporate responsibility. I said that the government should subsidize green consumer options so they are more affordable. It was apparent to me that I could never convince my brother to become vegetarian or do anything intensive on the personal level. However, if I could convince him that we needed responsible policy, he would perhaps be more interested in the cause. When I mentioned increased business responsibility, he also had a hard time agreeing. His self-interested principles guided comments like, "well, a business needs to make as much profit as possible, and organic methods are more expensive." Again, I tried to convince him that the state needed to make these options that are currently fiscally unfavorable become a reality.

I think that when confronting someone about environmental issues, it is easy to become annoyed or angry, especially if they are seemingly ignorant about the issues. But I think what we need to do is make sure we take into account what kind of person we are dealing with: how do they feel on certain issues, what is their overall guiding ideology. This can better prepare us to frame a meaningful argument that makes environmentalism seem practical and compatible with their views. Don't offend or become defensive, note each one of their points and try to respond to it constructively. My conversation with my brother showed me that I could have an intelligent conversation on issues that I don't think he had ever even considered before. This is good news because we need to engage people, no matter what their political views, on the most important issue of our time. I think I am learning how to do that constructively and effectively.