Culture needs to change, rather than just trying to change the system from top down, to reduce the carbon footprint.

For many years I have thought that most of the environmental movement has focused on the wrong strategy for making change. The strategy has been fighting government and corporations to try and get them to change. Instead, I think the problem is our culture. It's the consumption and voting habits of the masses.

At the same time, I don't necessarily blame individual people for the problem. One person is just a drop in the bucket so one person, alone, can't make the change either. What it takes is a realization that markets and voting patterns drive the situation.

More emphasis needs to be placed on culture and our mass behavior. The structure of our society, whether it's corporations, governments, or whatever, matters less, but it still does have an effect.

I tend to shift the emphasis back to the people, in mass, but I am not so naive as to think that the power of governments, corporations and wealthy individuals isn't a factor. It is, of course. It's kind of like a vicious cycle, but ordinary people, in mass, is the main factor I focus on.

It is really both, but most people's emphasis, as well as the media coverage, is usually on getting laws changed for trying to reform government and corporate structures from the top down.

Changes from the top down are usually met with populist uprisings over bread and butter issues, for instance the effect of carbon pricing on the cost of driving to work for ordinary people.

Populism tends to swing back and forth like a pendulum. It's almost like a pendulum with no long term vision. It is a floundering pendulum.

Personally, I haven't bought into as much of the consumer fashions of most folks. I seem to be less influenced by advertising, movies and so forth.

My life seems to be as enjoyable, if not more enjoyable, than mainstream consumer culture. At least I think it's less stressful.

There are many deep changes that need to be made in popular culture for us to move toward a greener future.

I think the pendulum does keep swinging, so it looks like it will swing away from Trumpism, now that Trump is the incumbent.

Still the pendulum seems to not have much of a long term vision. It mostly just flounders around trying to figure out who is to blame for the state of the world.

Meanwhile most people are just looking short term at how to survive and feed their families in this culture. Long term visions remain on the back burner.