After our discussion in class on Thursday in which we compared the differing ideals of Habermas’ and Leotard’s theories concerning the curtain roles of modernity and post modernity within our culture, I was reminded of my required summer reading No Impact Man. No Impact Man is a book written by Colin Beavan which documents Colin’s experiences with defying cultural norms. Colin and his family took on the task of saving the planet from their small apartment in New York City. Their goal was to make no environmental impact which means they did not create trash, use electricity, eat non organic food, buy new merchandise, or use any form of motorized transportation. Colin documented this year long experiment by blogging daily and eventually publishing a book. However, the book not only informs the readers of Colin’s experience, it also educates its audience about human’s enormous environmental impact, its consequences, and ways to improve our daily lives. The No Impact Man blog and book exemplifies aspects of both Herbermas and Leotard’s definition of modernity and post modernity. In accordance to Habermas’ definition, Colin’s experiment is a modern piece because it goes against traditional cultural norms, creates a ‘coffee shop’ atmosphere through his blog, and fights against the ‘cult of the new’. The No Impact Man experiment called for Colin and his families to completely re- arrange their lives. His wife, who previously belonged to a culture of consumption, yacht clubs, and luxury, now entered a culture of ‘green’ thinking. Most people in New York take taxis, drive cars, or take the subway. The Beavans rode bikes and scooters. Watching television, eating out to dinner, buying a coffee, turning on a light, using air-conditioning or dishwashers are all apart of out traditional culture. They are culture norms that are not questioned, but accepted as natural in today’s society. However, the Beavans lived without all this, they had a compost bucket, washed their laundry in the tub, they did not wear deodorant, eat food out of season, use their lights, or buy any new products. While reading about a day in the life of a Beavan, I found their routine odd. Their daily cultural norms differ from mine, and a majority of others. They are going against the traditional and therefore are in Habermas’s definition modern. Colin’s project would also be considered modern to Habermas’ standards because it created a ‘public sphere’. By maintaining a blog during the experiment in which he asked for help and readers answered or asked countering questions, Colin created an interaction. He allowed others to get involved in his cause and state their opinions; masses of people communicating in hopes of sparking change not only in Colin’s life but others as well. This type of interaction is related to Habermas’ idea of “coffee shop conversation” in which people were allowed to become involved, thus creating a public sphere. Finally, The No Impact project demonstrated Habermas’ modernity because it fought against the ‘cult of the new’. Because the Beavan family did not consume any new products for an entire year, they did not feed into the ‘cult of the new’. This phrase states that our culture is focused on the newer, bigger, and better thing. The cult of the new directly feeds into consumerism. In our Capitalist society, culture is a means of making a profit. People are told, via advertisements that they need to consume more to be happy; however, Colin’s family went against this popular idea and did not consume. On the other hand, the No Impact Man project could be considered post modern because its main purpose was to inspire political change. The reason Colin and his family were going against tradition so harshly was to make a statement, and spark change. Also, Colin made a profit and attends fame from his experiment. He created not only a popular blog, but a book and a documentary film as well.
On my honor i have niether given nor recieved aid on this blog... Kelsey Hughes
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