Over the break I talked to my parents about the environment and the situation we are in at this time. I started the conversation off by stating that consumption is a real problem in today's society and that we should try and limit ourselves. My parents grew up with not a lot of money at home and my dad worked really hard to get to where he is. Despite his rags to riches story he is not much of a consumer in terms of material things. He likes to have his nice comfortable house and such but he was never one for fashion or fancy cars. Although he cuts himself off in that way, I told him it was more about saving money than preserving the environment. He is like that with the water running or air conditioning as well, but what he doesn't realize is the amount of energy that goes into building the house he lives in or in extracting the materials that are needed to build the house. I agree that it is not necessarily fair to ask someone who has worked hard all their life just to live in pure simplicity, but at the same time it is the awareness that counts most. My mom does not agree that the more money people have the more they will consume. I thought, after discussion in the classroom, that the cycle of stuff was a really interesting and accurate way of putting things. The more money my dad saved or made the bigger house he was going to have. So either way, richer people have and want nicer things in order to show their status in today's society. That is what I said to them and they eventually agreed with my point of view and they started looking at things in a completely different manner. It was civilized and ran through just like any other conversation.