--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [The Maldives] they've become deeply…" description: "\"[The Maldives] they've become deeply politically engaged - just for instance, the president taught his whole cabinet to scuba dive so they could hold a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/bill-mckibben-1057_cabinets_the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-polit_2785669.jpg" --- # \[The Maldives\] they've become deeply politically engaged… ![“[The Maldives] they've become deeply politically engaged - just for instance, the president taught his whole cabinet to scuba dive so they could hold an underwater cabinet meeting along their dying coral reef and pass a 350 resolution to send to the U.N.” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/bill-mckibben-1057_cabinets_the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-polit_2785669.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/bill-mckibben-1057_cabinets_the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-polit_2785669.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/bill-mckibben-1057_cabinets_the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-polit_2785669.jpg) > “\[The Maldives\] they've become deeply politically engaged - just for instance, the president taught his whole cabinet to scuba dive so they could hold an underwater cabinet meeting along their dying coral reef and pass a 350 resolution to send to the U.N.” [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Political leaders may adopt extreme symbolic actions to draw attention to environmental crises, risking spectacle over substance. **In simple terms:** Leaders use dramatic gestures for climate. Key Takeaway Prioritize substantive policy over theatrics. Themes activism environment politics Mood critical concerned Type political environmental When to use this quote - government meetings - environmental campaigns - public awareness Key Concepts symbolic acts policy advocacy Questions to Reflect On - Are symbolic acts effective for change? - How can you ensure actions have impact? A Different Perspective Gestures may distract from real solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cabinets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cabinets/) [Coral reefs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coral-reefs/) [Deeply Politically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeply-politically-3342925/) [Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) [Engaged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engaged/) [Instance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instance/) [Maldives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maldives/) [Meetings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meetings/) [Politically Engaged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politically-engaged-1859593/) [President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president/) [President Taught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president-taught-3342924/) [Reefs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reefs/) [Resolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resolution/) [Scuba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scuba/) [Taught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taught/) [Underwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underwater/) [Underwater Cabinet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underwater-cabinet-3342926/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) ## Related quotes > [One of the thing about being President - that can't be taught, you have to experience, is - there is the sheer weight of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/one-of-the-thing-about-being-president-that-can-t-be-taught-you-have/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [One of my favorite places is the Maldives, an all-Muslim nation in the Indian Ocean with a culture that stretches back 5,000 years. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/one-of-my-favorite-places-is-the-maldives-an-all-muslim-nation-in-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We've lost half the summer sea ice in the Arctic. We've wiped out an enormous percentage of the world's coral reefs. We see huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-ve-lost-half-the-summer-sea-ice-in-the-arctic-we-ve-wiped-out-an/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [There are people that grandstand and seem to be publicly politically engaged because they like the attention, more than because they're genuinely concerned about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viggo-mortensen/there-are-people-that-grandstand-and-seem-to-be-publicly-politically/) [Viggo Mortensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viggo-mortensen/) > [The question for me is not are we political, but how are we political? We need to be politically engaged, but peculiar in how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-claiborne/the-question-for-me-is-not-are-we-political-but-how-are-we-political/) [Shane Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-claiborne/) > [Art can be engaged in the world without being specifically politically engaged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-anderson/art-can-be-engaged-in-the-world-without-being-specifically/) [Laurie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-anderson/) > [Individuals in a university - students, faculty, staff - can choose to become politically engaged, and a free university should foster a climate in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/individuals-in-a-university-students-faculty-staff-can-choose-to/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Im happy to be a part of the conversation, if more young people are talking about fracking instead of twerking were heading in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/im-happy-to-be-a-part-of-the-conversation-if-more-young-people-are/) [Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/) > [My European constituents are among the most politically engaged people I represent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-thornberry/my-european-constituents-are-among-the-most-politically-engaged/) [Emily Thornberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-thornberry/) > [The so-called resistance is very broad and we don't agree on everything, but there's a moment of opportunity when people are paying attention. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-so-called-resistance-is-very-broad-and-we-don-t-agree-on/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Personally, I am uneasy about the notion of "a politically engaged university," for reasons I wrote about over 30 years ago, at the height…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/personally-i-am-uneasy-about-the-notion-of-a-politically-engaged/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [We need to be politically engaged, but peculiar in how we engage. Jesus and the early Christians had a marvelous political imagination. They turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-claiborne/we-need-to-be-politically-engaged-but-peculiar-in-how-we-engage-jesus/) [Shane Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-claiborne/) > [I don't find most people to be as politically engaged as I am. I do find people that appreciate eye-opening events and words, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serj-tankian/i-don-t-find-most-people-to-be-as-politically-engaged-as-i-am-i-do/) [Serj Tankian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serj-tankian/) > [I have been to beaches in many parts of the world, but Maldives is amazing. The country is very small, people are simple, each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milind-soman/i-have-been-to-beaches-in-many-parts-of-the-world-but-maldives-is/) [Milind Soman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milind-soman/) > [I often take off with my friends for a beach break in Maldives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananya-birla/i-often-take-off-with-my-friends-for-a-beach-break-in-maldives/) [Ananya Birla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananya-birla/) ## More by Bill McKibben > [I try not to be either optimistic or pessimistic. I try not to think about outcomes on that scale. My job, it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-try-not-to-be-either-optimistic-or-pessimistic-i-try-not-to-think/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Oil companies are radical because they're willing to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/oil-companies-are-radical-because-they-re-willing-to-alter-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Whenever anyone challenges anything, the powers that be try to paint them as extremists or radicals or whatever. And I think that's actually nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/whenever-anyone-challenges-anything-the-powers-that-be-try-to-paint/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [My guess is that liberating the fossil fuel industry to frack anywhere they want will drive down the rate at which we're converting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/my-guess-is-that-liberating-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-frack/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [What makes us different? We're the creature that can decide not to do something that we are capable of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/what-makes-us-different-we-re-the-creature-that-can-decide-not-to-do/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“The snow was coming down so hard. It looked like the flakes were hurrying to get out of the sky so the next ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-snow-was-coming-down-so-hard-it-looked-like-the-flakes-were/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Most of the men and women who vote in Congress each year to continue subsidies have taken campaign donations from big energy companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/most-of-the-men-and-women-who-vote-in-congress-each-year-to-continue/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“I’ve sat behind a microphone and listened for decades as Americans learned to stop talking with each other and start shouting instead. No discussions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-ve-sat-behind-a-microphone-and-listened-for-decades-as-americans/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [People in low-lying countries like Bangladesh with almost 140 million people who are managing to feed themselves, whose carbon emissions can't really be calculated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/people-in-low-lying-countries-like-bangladesh-with-almost-140-million/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the atmosphere can absorb. 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One who is adjusted to the world never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/a-man-who-is-ill-adjusted-to-the-world-is-always-on-the-verge-of/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) [Browse all 308 Cabinets quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cabinets/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[The Maldives] they've become deeply politically engaged - just for instance, the president taught his whole cabinet to scuba dive so they could hold an underwater cabinet meeting along their dying coral reef and pass a 350 resolution to send to the U.N.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill McKibben" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-politically-engaged-just-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cabinets" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-politically-engaged-just-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/bill-mckibben-1057_cabinets_the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-polit_2785669.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/bill-mckibben-1057_cabinets_the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-polit_2785669.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/bill-mckibben-1057_cabinets_the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-polit_2785669.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[The Maldives] they've become deeply politically engaged - just for instance, the president taught his whole…” — Bill McKibben", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bill McKibben", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "[The Maldives] they've become deeply politically...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-politically-engaged-just-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-maldives-they-ve-become-deeply-politically-engaged-just-for/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```