Summary Of Sustainability By Leslie Paul Thiele

In today’s society, we find ourselves overwhelmed with the proliferation of environmental crises around the globe. The trade off between sustainability and economic growth is still of discourse as mankind has the ability to mass produce more than ever before. With that in mind, Sustainability, by Leslie Paul Thiele defines and discusses the topic of sustainability. While Thiele’s text is engaging due to the areas of discussion, I argue that it is not an adequate guide as he fails to provide a thorough explanation of how solutions should be implemented.
Thiele begins his text by offering a definition of the term sustainability as he stresses that it is a contested word. Thiele then moves onto discussing the areas that are important to discuss in seven chapters which include topics such as: time, geography, ecology, health, technology, politics economics, culture and society (Thiele 2). Targeted towards undergraduate students, Thiele
The discussion on human behaviour and our consumptions habits was engaging for me because it offered a different outlook than what we learned in class. It was interesting to observe Thiele’s sympathy towards our environmental actions as he says “The problem is that the future is a far off place, and the present has so many demands” (Thiele 15). UU 101 often forced us to critique our consumption habits. However, the fact that this generation was raised with capitalistic mindsets was often overlooked. Society has constructed norms which pressures individuals to purchase the latest items just to fit in. Due to socially constructed norms, we have reached an era where commodity fetishism is slowly taking over. We prioritize buying items, and disregard how it effects our environment. This is not to say that our bad consumption habits should be excused. Instead, Thiele challenges readers to not only reflect on their own habits, but to also critique the world we live