Tessa Slaby

People with more economic privilege need to be responsible for consuming and owning less because they have to means to. They have the money and the knowledge to live with less of a carbon footprint, and that means they are also responsible for educating people with lower incomes on that topic. People with lower incomes can still reduce their carbon footprint, it will just be slightly more difficult because they have less means to do so. The people with more income need to educate and figure out a way to help every person produce and use less, and then the Earth will be better.

I agree that gratitude leads to a sense of moral obligation because when you take time to know what you are grateful for, you are more aware of what you have. When you are more aware of what you have, you then notice more when others do not have what you do. This means we feel morally obligated to help them which makes us even more grateful for what we have, and the cycle continues. That is how we cultivate gratitude as individuals, and as a society we come together through volunteer organizations. The volunteer organizations create a sense of community where individuals come together and create a sense of gratitude.