To: letters@guardian.co.uk
Re: WWF report on future of our planet
Date: Wed. 10 July 2002

 

 

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Dear Sir/Madam, 

The World Wildlife Fund study which was reported on in last Sunday’s Observer (Earth 'will expire by 2050', 7 July 2002)is alarming, to say the least, and surely cause for us to pause and take a good long look at the situation in which we find ourselves. The trouble is, immediate concerns loom far larger than things on the horizon – even if it is the equivalent of a gigantic tsunami threatening to sweep away our entire civilisation.

The threat is so massive that the vast majority of people simply refuse to face up to it, just as someone with a life-threatening disease will often refuse to face up to their situation. Many who do recognise the threat, assume that nothing can be done to avoid it, so think they might as well carry on as they are and enjoy life while they can (a tempting, if very selfish, option when the full force of the cataclysm probably won’t strike for another decade or two, or three, by which time they might reasonably expect to be dead anyway and well out of harms way).

I have been aware of the gravity of the situation for some time and given it a lot of my attention. I am publishing my insights into the causes of the life-threatening situation we are in and why we are not facing up to it on my homepage. I also have some good and above all workable – if rather radical - ideas about how we can go about creating a truly sustainable society.

The following,  is just a piece of what I have written. You will find more on my homepage, which, however, is still under construction. Although I have a lot to say on the matter, I'm not particularly good at expressing myself. But I’m working on it.

THE REVOLUTION

The creation of Sustainable Society will amount to nothing less than a REVOLUTION. If not for our own sakes, then for our children's, we must become REVOLUTIONARIES! A reactionary (someone who insists that things remain more-or-less as they are) is condemning future generations to oblivion.

We are all in the same boat when it comes to Spaceship Earth. If it strikes the rocks and capsizes, as it surely will if we continue as we are, many will drown, including the captain, his officers, the crew, and passengers: 1st Class, 2nd Class, and 3rd Class!!

There are many ways to many kinds of sustainable society. Diversity will be one of its essential characteristics. But they must be taken, and the non-sustainable way we are on left behind.

The great thing about Western Society, is the freedom it gives us to create Sustainable Society. At the moment, like sheep, we are following a non-sustainable course. Driven by fear and reward (both generated by an economic system so "successful" at exploiting our primitive, animal nature), we are under enormous pressure to do so. But we are not forced; we will not be shot or put in prison if, instead of aspiring to ever higher levels of consumption and material wealth, we choose to behave with foresight as responsible human beings and pursue sustainable lifestyles that will enable coming generations worldwide to have it as good or even better than we have.

The trouble is, most of us are blind to just how irresponsibly (in fact, criminally!) we are behaving - because virtually everyone is doing, or aspiring to do, the same, which is thus considered to be perfectly normal. The net result is that our planet is being plundered - literally! - and most of us are primarily concerned, encouraged from all quarters, with getting (for ourselves and our families) as large a share of the spoils as possible.

Past revolutionaries, though often motivated by noble intentions, made the tragic mistake of attempting to overthrow the society on which - with all its imperfections - they too depended. Reformers had a more enlightened approach to changing society for the better.  But in our present situation reform would be far too slow. It has to be a REVOLUTION (i.e. rapid and radical change). But instead of trying to overthrow existing, non-sustainable society, the revolution I have in mind will create an alternative Sustainable Society within and parallel to it. Western democracies are ideally suited for the task, since their citizens have the rights, freedoms and resources to take the matter into their own hands - those who can be persuaded of the need and shown how to go about it.

Most people - myself included - will not be able to change from a non-sustainable to a sustainable life-style at a stroke. It will take time (years). But the more established and comprehensive Sustainable Society (communities, companies, cooperatives, societies, etc.) becomes, the easier it will be. What is important is that steadily, year for year, we contribute more to Sustainable Society and less to non-sustainable society. It will take time and the continual renewal of one's faith in what we are doing and why. In contrast to non-sustainable society's rate race for progress, growth and material wealth, the way to sustainable society, like Sustainable Society itself, will be steady and relaxed, guided and sustained by faith and confidence in man's higher, still underdeveloped nature, and in benevolent Providence.

Recognising the need for Revolution may be difficult and frightening and require time to sink in, especially when the majority, many very clever, well-educated and highly situated people among them, insist and assure us that what I am saying is quite wrong, that the world is not heading towards disaster and that there is no need for radical, let alone revolutionary change. It is natural and not unreasonable to believe them - to take the captain's and his officers' word rather than that of the ship's boy about the course we are on.

What I have to offer are my own (inspired) ideas for a sustainable society and of how to get there, as well as some insights into what is non-sustainable about contemporary society, the most radical of which is that many of the values, attitudes and aspirations, which we take for granted and on which our economy, jobs and lifestyles are based and depend, are simply non-sustainable and have to be changed.

There is little point in tinkering with the superstructure of society when the foundations on which it is based are so deeply flawed. That is why it is necessary to create an alternative, Sustainable Society rather than wasting too much time on reform (except were it does make sense). Some elements of Sustainable Society already exist (organic farming and many so-called "alternative" businesses, recycling and the use of renewable resources), but they lack the cohesive framework of a clear moral and economic philosophy, a model and example of which I hope to develop, with a little help from open-source participation, on this website.

Sustainable Society itself will develop within and coexist along side existing non-sustainable society, which, as it grows, it will progressively replace. As individuals, families and communities we will able to transfer increasingly, bit for bit, our activity and dependency from non-sustainable to Sustainable Society. Using the analogy of microbial growth, Sustainable Society is currently in the "lag phase" of development (a lot has happened in the past 30 years, but there is little evidence of it); soon it will (I hope) enter the phase of exponential growth, which will constitute the REVOLUTION I refer to.

Central to the creation of Sustainable Society will be openness and awareness combined with personal and collective responsibility in respect to how we earn, spend, save and invest MONEY. MONEY really does make the world go round. Most of what we do is either for or with MONEY. Its irresponsible use has created most of our problems. Its responsible use is the principal way to solve them.