A civilization heedless of its own impending doom

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Linnea
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A civilization heedless of its own impending doom

Post by Linnea » 07-11-2008 05:25 AM

Ever since civilization began, some 6,000 years ago, it has been based on the paradigms of growth and the exploitation of Earth’s resources. Over the past two centuries of industrialization, the appetite of civilization has grown exponentially – putting our life support systems under increasing stress. As our consumption of resources continues to accelerate upwards, the capacity of the Earth to produce resources is declining evermore downwards. Global warming and peak oil are only early symptoms of the inevitable total collapse that awaits us – if we continue as we have for the past six millennia.

As a civilization we are in denial of the fact that the Earth is finite. It may have seemed infinite to us when we first left the Garden of Eden, going forth to take dominion over all things, but we should know better by now. Nonetheless, governments all over the world show no signs whatever of responding to this imminent crisis. The fixation on growth and the denial of finiteness are so deeply embedded in how our societies operate, that governments cannot conceive of any other way to proceed. Asking them to change how our society does things – due to environmental concerns – is like asking a pilot to turn off his engines in mid flight because they are too noisy.

People at the grassroots level, however, are generally not in denial. All over the world people are recycling, changing their light bulbs, installing solar cells, turning their heat down, bicycling, car-pooling, using public transport, and in general trying to adjust their lifestyles in order to use resources more wisely. Unfortunately, these kinds of life-style changes – even if everyone joined in and did their best – can make very little difference. Most of civilization’s waste is built into the infrastructures: the production, processing, distribution, and transportation systems. It is the very systems we depend on to live that are the problem.

Our challenge: to identify wise and intelligent responses. If humanity is to survive, we must somehow begin transforming our societies so that they operate sustainably. In order to understand how that might happen, there are three major problem areas to be faced, three questions to be explored.

First of all, we need to understand what we are aiming for: What would a modern sustainable society look like, and how would it operate? What kinds of infrastructures? What energy sources? What agricultural methods? Would cities shrink as rural areas are rejuvenated? Would we become less globalized and more localized?

Second, we need to get a handle on a transition strategy: What would be a good conversion approach, technically speaking, to begin moving toward sustainable systems? Which projects would it make sense to undertake first? Which yield the greatest resource savings the soonest? What is the scope of the conversion project?

Finally comes the most difficult question: What would it take to make a beginning on the conversion project? Is there some form of political organizing that might wake up our governments? Do we need a rejuvenated Green Party or environmental movement? Would some kind of public education program help? We do know that there is massive grassroots energy in support of sustainability, as evidenced by the efforts millions of people are making at a personal level. If governments are unmovable, would it make sense to explore a grassroots strategy for moving toward sustainability? Could people organize at the local level and begin transforming their infrastructures from the bottom up? Is the localization movement, for example, on the right track, with their agenda of ‘produce locally for local consumption’?

These are all challenging questions, but there is no reason why we cannot make a good start on seeking answers to them. And we will by no means be starting from scratch. Many of us who will be in the gathering have been thinking about various of these questions for years, and have published books and given lectures presenting our vision and analysis of how the problems might be addressed. A wide spectrum of expertise and perspectives will be in residence, so that wherever our discussions may roam, our dialog will be well informed by the ‘latest good thinking’. Those of us who think we have all the answers will find out that we have only a piece of the answer, but an all-important piece. Each of our perspectives will be broadened in the course of our dialog. We will begin to identify synergies among our visions, and I fully expect us to come up with breakthrough outcomes that surprise us all.

The Phoenix Project:
http://www.wakingthephoenix.org/2008/01 ... igent.html

Linnea
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Post by Linnea » 07-11-2008 07:26 PM

Any comments on this Phoenix Project? Haven't had much time to really study what it is all about. Sounds promising, though - even if the coming battle is powerfully weighted against the common people. We are much larger in numbers. There is that.

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Shimmering Auro
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Post by Shimmering Auro » 07-11-2008 11:31 PM

Just wanted to mention this new network

Planet Green

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/

The site alone is worth a look. A lot of innovative ideas and suggestions about going green. Many ongoing projects, etc.

I'm not much for TV programs but plan to give this network a look-see one of these days.

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This is a very interesting blog.
Living Plastic Free

http://plasticfree.blogspot.com/

This girl has dead serious plastic issues. :) Definitely innovative.

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A friend recently mentioned something called "The New Alchemy Institute". I have not taken the time to look into this - though it definitely sounds interesting.

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Great topic, Linnea. Thank you!
:)

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