Lanya's notes:

Frog story - a frog will jump out of boiling water but if you put him/her into a room temperature pan of water and very gradually increase the heat, the frog will not notice the increasing temperature and will boil to death.
Environmental degradation
-- big choices: live close to work, buy hybrid car, buy small house, eat less or no meat;
-- small actions - carpool, recycle, insulate your house and turn down the thermometer.

Widening gap between rich and poor
-- big choices: decide how much money you really NEED, and then work less and/or donate any extra money to poverty-fighting charities; sell your house to someone with fewer resources and take less profit; send your kids to public schools.
-- small actions: participate in the political process; pay people more than what you can get away with (for yard help, etc.).

Lack of critical thinking! Seen in the disconnection from suffering of others both domestically and around the world. [Egocentrism of U.S. (# of Americans killed, but not much attention paid to others killed), Deterioration of rights] Large-scale ingestation of media pablum.

big choices -
support alternate media oulets, do not subscribe to cable, talk to young people & encourage them to question.
small actions -
media activism - write to cnn and other media when offensive, ask them to cover the whole story. give to FAIR.

Overall: participate in the political process! Vote, write your reps, talk to people OUTSIDE your close circles (example: earthlink guy). Advocate for campaign finance reform and voting reform.