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 […]
Post 3 (Due Apr 17)
Student posts below addressed the following: "Summarize the main argument underlying the WRE text, with citations/quotes as evidence, and reflect on how it may apply to your scholarly and personal life."
Karma for the Conquerors
An Analysis of Who Rules The Earth The author Paul Steinberg introduces Who Rules the Earth to the reader by discussing who bears the responsibility for confronting global warming. From the perspective of social science the reader is given a greater grasp of how individuals feel alone in tackling the overwhelming concept of global temperatures […]
Who Really Rules the Earth?
The main theme within Paul Steinberg’s Who Rules the Earth: How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives is the difference of impact in relation to incremental individual change compared to change on an institutional level. He encourages individual day-to-day tasks however even though he believes they are good things, he doesn’t believe that individual […]
We Can All Rule the Earth If We are Big Enough
Who Rules the Earth? How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives by Paul F. Steinberg has without a doubt been my favorite book covered in ENVS 160. Partially because of his style and vibrant examples of the material he covers, but mostly because of the take home message he presents, closing the book […]
Who Runs the World? Rules?
In Who Rules the Earth? Paul Steinberg causes us to examine how social rules shape both our individual lives and the state of our planet. As of late, much of the discussion that takes place with relation to environmentalism, often revolves around questions of sustainability, efficiency and economics. We, as citizens and individuals are beaten […]
Who Rules the Earth? Institutions Do.
The main argument underlying the text Why We Disagree About Climate Change by Paul Steinberg is that change at the institutional level is the most effective. He claims that the best way to make real change is through changing the social rules that govern society, and he discusses a variety of ways in which to […]
Changing Mantras to Solidify Change
Social rules are all around us, sometimes they are prominent and in the face of society and sometimes they play behind the scene not noticed by many. In Paul Steinberg’s Who Rules the Earth: How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives, spotlight is brought on understanding the effects that social rules play in […]
The World Revolves Around Social Rules
Paul F. Steinberg’s main argument in Who Rules the Earth? (2015) identifies social rules as the most effective and logical mechanism of change. He defines these social rules as “understood and followed” regulations that “shape interactions among people,” (Steinberg 2015, 26-27). These regulations define the roles, rights, and responsibilities of individuals, corporations, nations, etc. (Steinberg 2015, […]
Who Says Follow the Rules?
Paul Steinberg’s, “Who Rules the Earth,” discusses the rules that both consciously and subconsciously govern and impact our lives. He also asks what the best ways to implement meaningful and lasting change are and how they can be successful for the future. He begins his book by telling the story of how one woman changed […]
Game Changer
“What does it take to bring about social change to protect the environment?” (Steinberg 2015, 13). Prior to this class, I would have been eager to raise my hand and regurgitate everything that I have been taught thus far – reduce, reuse, recycle on an individual scale in order to bring about lasting change for […]
Social Rules: A Walk on the Beach
Throughout my reading of Who Rules the Earth?, my thoughts and ideas about how environmental and social change happens have been challenged. Before reading the book, I was a main believer in the power of individual-level change, believing that if we all recycled all that we could and put our food scraps in the compost […]
Let’s Talk Institutions
By Natalie Casson It’s incredibly challenging to try to place yourself in a globally scaled issue. Finding where you fit into a deeply rooted complex issue can at times make it seem like there is no good way to approach or tackle the issue. Climate change is universal and anthropogenic, and yet we individually […]
Rules That can’t be Black and White or Written Linearly
Any Psychologist would argue that humans are creatures of habit; we develop routines, standardize operating procedures, and follow patterns, generally exemplified as going to sleep at the same time every night, followed by waking up the next morning at an equidistant time to the last morning. Paul Steinberg argues on behalf of humans habitual tendencies. […]
Rules make the world go round
Who Rules the Earth? poses many important questions about what is the best way to approach environmental problems such as loss of biodiversity. Paul Steinburg examines specific examples to show which methods work well and which have had problems. Throughout his book his main underlining argument in all the chapters is that institutional action in […]
Connecting Research and Action
The final text for ENVS 160 is a satisfying read about how environmental policy can actually be implemented. After learning about all mechanisms and products of environmental thought, it is an exciting trip to incorporate these thoughts into implementation. Who Rules the Earth?, by Paul F. Steinberg makes two main points. Firstly social rules, constructs, […]
Understanding the True Source of Change
Rules Rule The argument for biking, reusable grocery bags, and priuses that often fills conversations of what can be done to stop climate change is rooted in the idea that individual actions are the key to controlling our earth. Paul Steinberg, however, exposes and discredits this notion in his work, Who Rules the Earth? How […]
Questioning Childhood Values
Throughout reading Who Rules the Earth by Paul Steinberg I felt that I was constantly questioning all of the values that I have always held strongly regarding what to do about the changing climate. Growing up in an upper middle class politically conscious and fairly liberal minded community people were definitely concerned about the state […]
A Mosaic of Rules
Paul Sternberg’s book Who Rules the World addresses how to confront climate change by taking a step back and focusing on social rules. This piece of writing appeals strongly to the sociological mindset of comprehending social institutions and the role they play in creating lasting change. Sternberg’s reason for writing this book is to share […]
Is There One Power to Rule Them All? Why Institutions Do the Most For Environmental Action
When I first looked at Who Rules the Earth, I was pretty skeptical about it based on just the title. I mean, the idea of looking at all the different rulers of all the land in the world and deciding which one of those has the most power over everyone else seemed ridiculous to me. […]
Complex, Confusing, and Relatively Inspiring
Throughout Who Rules the Earth, Paul F. Steinberg has uncovered many parts of life that influence the way that social rules are constructed. Through hidden barriers and economic markets, large landscapes like National Parks all the way to someone’s front yard are influence in a multitude of ways. These rules are complex and winding. But, […]
How to be the Catalyst for Change
In Who Rules the Earth? How Social Rules Shape our Planet and Our Lives Paul Steinberg tackles the question, what would it take to move the world to a more sustainable path? Steinberg argues the only way to achieve this is to change the social rules that govern our lives. Social rules are the institutions that […]
Beach Walks and Peaches
In the end of the Who Rules the Earth by Paul Steinberg, Steinberg finally addresses the question that the title asks: who rules the earth? “The people who rule the earth are those who leave behind a legacy of rules that shape the actions and opportunities of generations to come” (Steinberg 2015, 264). Although a […]
Understand Your Cause!
Paul Steinberg writes in his book Who Rules the Earth? about how social rules and civic governance affect the environment. Society creates both formal and informal rules that can either protect or harm the earth, affecting natural resource usage, pollution, deforestation, and many more major human impacts. Each of these rules have been debated by […]
Who’s Flying the Plane??
In Who Rules the Earth?, author Paul F. Steinberg argues that in order to make real (and lasting!) environmental changes, we must change the very rules that we live by, as opposed to only making changes at an individual scale. In this sense, as a society, we are governed by social rules that Steinberg refers […]
The Power of the Social Rule
Climate change is an issue that crosses boundaries: whether it be effecting communities across borders, or changing the economy. As it is such a multifaceted issue, climate change can not be responded to like global problems in the past; it requires breaking the status quo and shifting how we think about social rules. In Who Rules the Earth? […]