Blog #4

Introduction to Green Values: "What do you think of 'green values'? Which ones do you most believe in? What surprised you the most about the readings?"

I have come across green values several times before in my interactions with the learning center, so most values were familiar to me, and some just lost in the back of my mind since first being introduced to them.  This is not necessarily to say that I don't already live by a lot of the green values in my own life, or at least attempt to fit them into the often rigid social norms that constitute conventional values. As a business major, although I believe that non-hierarchical, participatory governance is the way to manage our society, in the business world, it is all-too-common to be subjected to a power-hungry, hierarchical environment that does not allow for such open dialogue.  I think that more than likely, a "green" sort of environment will be implemented into the political arena first before it ever reaches the business world, even given the proliferation of "green" initiatives in corporate social responsibility today.  As well, I related to the value of deep ecology.  The way I think is often back to the source when it comes to questioning the way we live, and I believe that it should be in harmony with nature.  When I was in high school for example, I decided not to pursue studying architecture in college for fear that I was contributing more to new building and construction that I did not think would always be necessary, just an addition to human growth at the suffering of the environment or depletion of natural resources.

A value that actually most surprised me was the social wage - intended to pay everyone in society for any productive work including in the domestic sphere.  However, the roots of my surprise were not in the value itself as related to "green" thinking, but my own response and previous thoughts on this value.  I realize that I highly and outspokenly value any positive contribution to society and think that it should be -- if not monetarily -- somehow rewarded in some quantifiable way.  But I also realize that I have been inconsistent with this in my lifetime.  I used to denounce the value of a parent staying at home to raise children, thinking that "paying your dues" to society was limited to working  in the economy and earning money to support the family.  I think that was narrow-minded of me, and it's fascinating at this age to be enlightened by my own contradictions in values (I sure there could be many more, but this is just one learning example today).