In my English class I have been working on a research paper that has been dedicated to the ideas of Howard Zinn. Zinn was an American historian, author, playwright, and above all else, a social activist. Zinn argued that there is an American ideology that controls the majority of what society believes and how we act. For example it is widely known by society that there are two primary political parties and the majority of a citizens ideology will follow either one or the other. It is in this way that the ideology of the public is controlled as most simply settle for the ideologies established by their party and do not venture to discover more. It is also the belief of Zinn that the wealthiest Americans have the biggest influence over American ideology as it is generally the wealthy who are the owners of media and corporations that distribute public belief, and most importantly, they are the lobbyist who have the most influence on our government. The connection I have made with this reading and sustainability in general is the fact that American ideology has still yet to fully accept and encompass the idea sustainability and becoming a sustainable nation. Converting to a more sustainable way of life is continuously being intentionally ignored and thwarted by those who have the power to and desire to do so. Becoming a more sustainable nation would mean that oil companies and other industries who directly benefit from unsustainable methods of life would suffer greatly. The people who own these companies generally have lobbyist who are dedicated to perpetuation the unsustainable lifestyle by which we currently live so that they might continue to prosper. A great effort has yet to be made in order to imbue sustainability into American ideology and make it commonplace as the majority of people remain ignorant to the fact that leading a more sustainable life is progressively becoming more and more necessary if we are to protect our world.This is a direct result of the ability of the wealthy to control what makes up American ideology. Even at George Mason we have been experiencing an example of this occurrence. We are currently dealing with the Coke brothers and their desire to weaken the sustainability program here so that people are less aware which is beneficial to them as owners of a major oil company. Their attack on a college campus could have a detrimental effect on the sustainability movement as college campuses are historically known as breeding grounds for movements that have the ability to change a nation. I remember studying the Civil Rights movement in history and how it was all basically formed on college campuses across the nation which eventually turned into one of the greatest movements this nation has ever seen. This can still be done, which is why the Coke brothers influence can be detrimental to the movement to make sustainability a more important aspect of American ideology. We have the ability to begin a revolution just like was done fifty years ago, we just have to want it enough.