This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedantam.
There's a popular inspirational quote, often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, that's made its way onto t shirts, mugs, and posters.
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
It's a noble idea, but the truth is, few of us follow it.
Life gets in the way.
We compromise, we delay.
We put aside our idealism as youthful naivete.
But what would happen if we didn't do this, if we stood fully by our principles?
Plenty of people have tried.
Julia Butterfly Hill spent two years in a redwood tree she named Luna to keep it safe from loggers.
To some people, I'm just a dirty, tree hugging hippie.
But I.
I just.
I can't imagine being able to take a chainsaw to something like this.
And then there was Lavois Finicum, an Arizona rancher who defied the federal government and kept grazing his cattle on federal land after he was asked to remove them.
This fight I'm making, America, is not about cows, and it's not about grass.
It's about the freedom of our land.
This grazing right is my personal property right?
I own it.