God's Last Offer (book review)
When the Editor of "World Watch" writes a book about
sustainable futures one would expect to see some
good information. Here is a person who is constantly
immersed in information about the world. The book is
called "God's Last Offer" by Ed Ayres. Published in
1999.
The first part of the book points out how bad things
are and then it goes into the information problem. I was
pleased to see information given this much emphasis. If
we are going to shift culture it has to start with good
information.
The next section of the book points out that nations are
changing and power is shifting. Corporations, World Bank,
World Trade Organization, United Nations, NATO, and many
others are emerging. The nation states are no longer the
only players and may soon be in the back seat. This creates
a new problem for ecological policy.
Next, the book talks about how individuals will be impacted
by future problems and suggests we act as follows:
Energy efficient products.
Increased recycling.
Borrow and share.
Know your bioregion.
Try to produce sustainable end products
Reduce transportation by fossil fuels
Reduce consumption
Eat less meat
Avoid using money to buy rewards for self
The last chapter is more philosophical and suggests we
do the following:
See the scale of things. (small acts can be important)
Understand the connections.
Accept cultural diversity (many solutions and tolerance)
Know the sources and bias of information.
Avoid todays fictional worlds. (stay grounded in the real world)
Live by the precautionary principle. (science and industry products
assumed to be unsafe until proven
safe.)
Look beyond technology (it is only a tool, not and not an answer)
Begin material and energy accounting
Include the earth in financial accounting. (value everything)
Improve global information systems
Move control of resources back to governments.
Revise economic systems to make restoration possible.
Reconsider growth and development as a goal.
jeff's comments..
I can't disagree with any of this but wish the scope was even
bigger. Most of the items mentioned are structures or things.
I see very little recognition of the need to revise cultures,
educational changes, ethics, small community building, and
quality of life.
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7, http://www.teleport.com/~kowens
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
