Jeff wrote: >The Idea Data Bank > >If you have a few days to read about possibly useful ideas >for the future then this is the site: > > http://www.globalideasbank.org/index.html I looked around a little and found this . . . It might get a discussion going. Eric Storm ************************************************ Steps needed for a sustainable society New thinking for a new millennium edited by Richard Slaughter (published by Routledge, London & New York, 1966, ISBN 0 415 12943 5, 242 pages). Here are some recommendations about next steps to be taken to bring about a sustainable society, from this excellent manual for future studies (one which also contains a chapter about the Institute for Social Inventions). These recommendations are adapted extracts from a chapter by Lester W. Milbath, entitled 'Envisioning a sustainable society'. If we could wave a magic wand to obtain the co-operation of people and their governments, the following actions would be effective: - Change the way we think as swiftly as possible. We need to clarify our values and adopt new priorities. In the process we should define our responsibilities so that people see what their part of the overall task is, as well as the necessity to do their share. All of us must learn to think systemically, holistically, integratively, and in a futures mode. Renewed reflection on the true meaning of quality of living should be part of this re-learning effort. - Control and gradually eliminate weapons of mass destruction. - Stop population growth as quickly as possible. With heroic efforts, population rise might be levelled off at 8 or 9 billion. - Reduce material consumption in the more developed countries and use that reserve capacity to help the less developed countries meet their subsistence needs. - Cut back as much as possible on the use of fossil energy: develop and adopt more energy efficient technology; cut out energy waste wherever found; stop using fossil energy simply for thrills, fun, ease, or comfort; convert to use of solar energy. 'Aggressively reduce economic throughput so as to preserve more resources for future generations' - Aggressively reduce economic throughput so as to preserve more resources for future generations and to reduce discharge of wastes into the biosphere. Failure to do so will seriously reduce the carrying capacity of life systems. - Find ways to share employment so we don't need to make unneeded goods just to provide jobs for people. Work should be redefined to become a means of self-realization, not merely a pawn in economic competition. - Emphasise making quality products that can last lifetimes - beautiful things to be cherished and preserved. Products should be designed to be easily repaired and for safe eventual disposal. They should be marketed with as little packaging as possible. - Diligently reuse, restore, and recycle materials that we now throw away. Carefully dispose of the remainder of wastes. - Eliminate use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to allow the stratospheric ozone layer to restore itself. Recapture CFCs from current uses and destroy them (break them down into original constituents). - Stop the release of toxic environmental chemicals into the environment. - Protect and enhance biodiversity; revitalise ecosystems that have been injured by human actions; husband nature and resources so that future generations and other creatures can enjoy a life of decent quality. - Plant billions more trees. - Phase out energy-and-chemical-intensive agriculture so as to develop methods of tillage that are sustainable. - Restore degraded ecosystems to flourishing health wherever possible. - Develop an ethic that constantly alerts people that their actions should impact earth systems as lightly as possible. - Affirm love (caring for others) as a primary value; it should be extended not only to those near and dear, but to future generations, other species, and people in other lands. - Diminish rewards for power, competitiveness, and domination over others. A sustainable society emphasises partnership rather than domination, co-operation more than competition, justice more than power. - Develop a procedure for careful review and forethought regarding the long-term impact of a proposed technology. Bad consequences of new technology are easier to avoid or manage if they can be anticipated from the start. - Redesign government to maximise its ability to learn; then use the government learning process to promote social learning. Develop a new governmental institution to better anticipate the future consequences of proposed policies, laws, and technologies. - Societal learning of environmental thinking should become a national project. Require that every child receive environmental education (it is just as basic as history); institute environmental education programmes for adults; make a special effort to educate media employees about environmental concepts and thinking. 'Don't merely work for a living but work for something that is truly important' - Don't merely work for a living but work for something that is truly important. Keep a sense of humour; sing, dance, affirm love; be joyous in your oneness with the earth. 'Even the decision not to act becomes a moral judgement' We humans are special. Not because of our reason - other species can reason - rather it is our ability to recall the past and foresee the future. We are the only creatures that can imagine our extinction. That special gift of understanding places a unique moral responsibility on humans. Once we have contemplated the future, every decision that could affect that future becomes a moral decision. Even the decision not to act, or to decide not to decide, becomes a moral judgement. We humans, given the ability to anticipate the consequences of our actions, will become the conscious mind of the bio-community, a global mind, that will guide and hasten societal transformation. Those who understand what is happening to our world are not free to shrink from this.
