Upon the conclusion of the radical cartography panel, one thing resonated with me: how can we use this “mapping” technique to push society to a better, more green world? Well, I think we may have found our answer. I recently stumbled upon an article that discussed America’s very first, completely sustainable and renewable energy run town. This town, located on the west coast of southern Florida goes by the name of Babcock Ranch, and is completely powered by solar panels and electrically-charged vehicles. Before this, many people (including myself) have looked at the idea of complete sustainability as a infeasible, utopian goal. Now, in 2018, we are actually achieving such.
I believe radical cartography could be used in this instance to map out which American cities have the capability to follow in the footsteps of Babcock Ranch. This would be the first big step in moving towards a sustainable America. That being said, the difficulty in achieving this cannot be understated. The mapping process would require thousands of people responding to surveys about whether or not they would be able to put solar panels on their roofs, use electric cars, and adopt a sustainable diet, amongst other things.
I guess the take-home message here is that there is hope. Hope that people are beginning to do the right things and take initiative. Hope that our world is actually starting to realize that if we do not change the track that we’re on, we don’t have much longer on this world. The beauty of this mapping of social movements is that it puts movements, goals, and ideas in a presentable way that actually gets people motivated. It’s aesthetically pleasing and that in itself can take you and long way. By applying this technique in order to enact good, even the average Joe will get out of his chair and begin working towards greater good.
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