Chapters 10-12 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 10 - Restoring the Guardian

Upper-income homeowners in the early 1970s began heating pools with solar energy. They could afford to make the changes necessary to gain tax credits for their environmental efforts. This upset those in lower income brackets who felt they couldn't afford luxuries to begin with. For a true environmental movement, there has to be an effort from everyone—poor or rich. Environmentalism cannot be based on the actions of the highly educated. The author proposes that we come up with a way to address the problem that involves both commerce and people.

Instead of focusing on a solution, there should be a focus on change. Jane Jacobs wrote a book entitled Systems of Survival. In this book, she proposes that society can be viewed as encompassing two moral syndromes. One is the "guardian" syndrome...