Paul F. Steinberg’s main argument in Who Rules the Earth?, is that within the social rules that guide us, institutions are the main source of power that will make an impact on our environment as a whole. The idea of institutions contradicts the major current environmental thinking that is emphasized today. This thinking emphasizes that it is up to the individual to make small changes that will inevitably add up to something big. (Steinberg 2015) Institutions on the other hand will create the most prominent and beneficial changes. Furthermore, the invisible social rules that Steinberg mentions effects my own scholarly and personal life. These invisible worlds that institutions have created go unknown in how we in a society act within our environment.
Social scientists have termed socials rules as institutions. Institutions, “are the machinery that makes coordinated social activity possible.” (Steinberg 2015, 11) These social rules, unlike individualism, enable societies to function. These institutions are not limited to government laws and policies, but also to companies and businesses that have large impacts on society. These rules according to Steinberg, “are big levers that will ultimately decide whether we can reconcile the pursuit of property with thoughtful environmental stewardship.”(Steinberg 2015, 12) Steinberg uses examples of such institutions playing a major role on environmental stewardship with the difference between regulations on pesticides in Canada and the U.S. In Canada the institution of government was able to pass laws regarding the pesticide use on public land. This real life example also supports Steinberg’s notion that we need solutions whose power and scope match the severity and pace of the problems unfolding before us. (Steinberg 2015) Placing a solar panel on your home is a positive step, but placing a requirement for renewable energy in government legislation is an outright sprint.
Invisible social rules create an invisible world that we all live in without knowing it. Steinberg wants to help us, the readers, to see these invisible worlds better. He wants us to see the rules that shape our everyday activity, to understand something of the political origin of the rule, and to appreciate why these rules matter for the future of our planet. (Steinberg 2015) The example that Steinberg uses in his book has to do with a place that most of us in the world have experienced before. Beaches are shaped by these invisible social rules. The way people experience the beach differs from country to country because of the different social rules, but in the U.S. we have the ability to enjoy a day at the beach because of a principle known as the public trust doctrine. This is an invisible social rule that a person at the beach doesn’t ever take into consideration. This is because it is “invisible” and has shaped how we perceive a day at the beach. “The fact is that many of the simple pleasures we take for granted today, such as a walk on the beach, are possible only because others before us scrutinized the existing order of things, found it wanting, and changed the rules.” (Steinberg 2015, 21) Most of everything we perceive and due today has been shaped by these invisible social rules in our invisible worlds.
In my own scholarly and personal life, these invisible social rules go just as unnoticed to me as does everyone else. Simply being able to drive my car around town with my friends is due to a social rule. I am allowed to drive because I meet the age requirement, I have insurance, and I have a license plate. All three of these things I take for granted and don’t think twice about. I am not upset about these rules that shape my life, I am in fact happy for them. Why wouldn’t I be? I am happy with how I am able to do most things in my life and that has to do with the invisible world I live in. “Social rules are an indispensable and inescapable part of our existence. Just as individuals can’t survive for long without societies, civilizations cannot function without rules to guide the interactions among participants.” (Steinberg 2015, 25)