Who Rules the Earth? (Steinberg, 2015) serves as an very appropriate conclusion to the ENVS 160 course, exploring many of the big concepts regarding the problems of environmentalism that are also examined to the previous texts in the course, but also giving a hopeful and practical solutions to these problems. If anything, Who Rules the Earth? (Steinberg, […]
Individual Posts
We Rule the Earth?
Who Rules the Earth by Paul Steinberg portrays that our climate is warming and our forests are being diminished. News with ecological crisis are extremely prevalent and seem to be the main focus as we look towards accomplishing sustainability by doing the little things like recycling and composting. While these are important steps, are they […]
Rules Ruling Rulers: Examining Steinberg & Myself
When attempting to understand, explain, and change the world we humans inhabit it can be easy to forget that life and its systems are never simple. Each actor, factor, and player, be it physical or social plays a key role at keeping the system going. Yet, is keeping the system going, business as usual, […]
What Can You Do?
Introduction The main argument I’ve found in Paul F. Steinberg’s Who Rules the Earth is simple: Be extra. That is to say, if you want to achieve anything, let alone anything significant, you have to think about one thousand times bigger than the thing you are trying to affect. Otherwise, nothing will get done. My […]
When Rules Are Meant to Be Broken…or at Least Bent?
In Steinberg’s Who Rules the Earth? he explores the governments that form and develop social rules and regulations (2015). He goes on to explain that our efforts for environmental reform are limited by the current social rules that are in place. He started out by exemplifying this by comparing the two outcomes of the battle […]
How rules perpetuate chaos.
In continuing our search for knowledge and the understanding of various complex environmental issues, the final book which concludes our ENVS160 journey gives more hope to the despair produce by the facts from earlier texts. In our collective quest to find solutions to the various social, economic, cultural and environmental issues that face us people […]
Who Rules the Earth? Those Who Change The Rules.
As I’ve read Who Rules the Earth (Steinberg 2015), the influence of rules in our world has been made very clear to me. Even at times when I feel far away from the influence of social rules, I am under their jurisdiction in some sense or another. Steinberg describes this vey well, stating that “many […]
The Power of Art and Science
I found Who Rules the Earth?: How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives by Paul Steinberg, to be the most enlightening text we read in environmental studies. The most profound overarching theme in this book was the importance of bridging the gap between researchers and activists. With his own personal background in both […]
Rules and Institutions Rule the Earth?
Introduction The last part of ENVS 160 has been devoted to the book, Who Rules the Earth?: How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives, by Paul F. Steinberg. By reading this book, we, as a class, have learned about social rules, institutions, and norms. The main argument Steinberg presents is that to find […]
Who Rules The Earth? A guide to real change.
I’ve always wondered what the best possible solution to solving our environmental and ecological crisis is? There is a lot of talk, promises, and small things being done that don’t seem to have the effect we want. Even so I have remained optimistic and books like Who Rules the Earth fuel that optimism. This book […]
Internalizing Vertically to Alter Mindsets
Who Rules the Earth is a book that tries to, as succinctly as possible, condense many ideals and methods that we can utilize in order to try and find the best way to move forward towards a sustainable future. I believe that the main argument underlying the text is that we must take action by […]
Rethinking Individual Action: Channeling Environmentalism Into Institutions
Paul F. Steinberg’s Who Rules the Earth? (2015) presents environmental theories that challenge the way society approaches and teaches environmentalism. Steinberg’s central argument is that institutional action is far more likely to make positive world changes than an individually focused mindset. In other words, we need to think big. Steinberg provides numerous examples of successful institutional […]
An Unexpected Takeaway
The ideas that Paul Steinberg illustrates in his book Who Rules the Earth? (2015) are controversial to say the least. To many, it seems farfetched to take a social sciences stance within the discussion of climate change, but Steinberg manages to not only defend his ideas, but to even make the reader question their personal […]
Focusing In On Social Rules
Paul F Steinberg the author of “Who Rules the Earth” emphasizes the presence of social rules in relation to current environmental thought and policy. The common trend in environmental thinking today focuses on “the small changes we can make as individuals, which (we are told) will add up to something big” (Steinberg 2015,5), while making […]
Rules Rule the Earth
Rules are everywhere. And, as Paul Steinberg hints in his book’s title, Who Rules the Earth? it matters where those rules come from and how they are formed. For most, we forget that our right to own private property and ability to vote are actually rules drafted in our […]
Steinberg’s “P’s”: Process, Patterns, Property, and Politics.
INTRODUCTION Paul F. Steinberg, the author of Who Rules the Earth, works to underline the extent to which social rules are present and actively forming our individual perspectives on the planet and ourselves. Steinberg situates these social rules as both roadblocks and accelerators within the world of environmental progress seen in sustainable efforts. He examines […]
Learning the Rules of the Game
Paul F. Steinberg explains how those of us who want to make a difference should go about doing it in his book, Who Rules the Earth?. He does so in an enlightening and thought-provoking manner that clearly articulates where we have failed in the past and what we must do now. Steinberg argues that in […]
Up for the Challenge
In Chapter One of Who Rules the Earth: How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives written by Paul Steinberg, he lays out his intention for the book by stating, “This book is an attempt to distill insights from that research and to share the findings with those who need them most: intelligent reader […]
Rules, Conflicts, and Misunderstandings
Following a few overwhelming discussions on classic and contemporary approaches to environmental discussion, Who Rules the Earth, by Paul Steinberg, provides a more conclusive approach. While integrating the contradictions prevalent in environmentally-oriented discourse, Steinberg moved past the bickering of individual researchers and provided, while still opinion-based, offers different approaches in addressing issues such as climate […]
New Rules For a Brighter Future
In Paul Steinbergs book, Who Rules the Earth?, he describes how social rules affect the world around us as well as how people respond to these rules. Steinberg recognizes that in order for the world to progress, social changes are necessary and according to him, there are two things that social change entail- to get […]
Rules Will Always Reign
Paul Steinberg’s main argument in Who Rules the Earth? (2015) is that if we want to create any sort of change for the environment then we must first look towards the social rules to implement this change. The social rules are the rules and institutions that govern our lives, including the laws and regulations as […]
How do we change? Dismissing preconceived notions.
In the last portion of the ENVS 160 course, we discussed Paul F Steinberg’s “Who Rules the Earth.” One of the main focuses of this text is change on the institutional level rather than the individual (Steinberg 2015). Steinberg tells us that this old adage of “think globally, act locally” is not a plausible goal, […]
Institutional or Individual; Why Not Both?
While reading Paul F. Steinberg’s Who Rules the Earth, I have noticed that it often times can be hard to piece together the main argument that he is trying to prove. Steinberg talks about many useful things in varying degrees of detail, and while this can be incredibly useful it also makes the bigger argument […]
We Rule The Earth, If We Decide To
Argument Summary The main argument of the book Who Rules The Earth, written by Paul F. Steinberg is, in my opinion, that institutional change can make a difference. While individual action may seem like the only action that one is able to take, institutional change is the sort of change that can really affect things […]
Exposing the Invisible Web
Paul Steinberg’s Who Rules the Earth addresses a core question that environmentalists have grappled with for decades. What kind of actions and decisions are needed to move the world in a sustainable direction? Steinberg argues that the only way to truly change the world for the better is to change the social rules that guide […]