----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Kurtz" <[email protected]> To: "Ed Weick" <[email protected]> Cc: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 5:21 PM Subject: Re: The missing Massey
> Ed, > > I was also interacting with Robert Theobald as he was preparing for the > Massey lectures. Don Chisholm of Gaia Preservation Coalition > http://www.gaiapc.ca/ > was moderating a CBC (I think) website in which Theobald was interacting > with the public on various themes. (I have been on the GPC board for well > over a decade since becoming good friends with Don.) > > We three actually met in Toronto at a small seminar after the lectures > were canceled. It was/is the opinion of many of us involved that he was > judged too radical at that time for U of Toronto, the sponsor/host of the > lectures, and the CBC which broadcasts them. (anti-growth of both > population and economic throughput) >> >> At the beginning of the century, the population of the world was 1.6 >> billion. It is now 5.6 billion. We have moved from an empty world to one >> which is already pressuring space and resources and will do so more >> severely even if the most hopeful assumptions about population growth are >> realized. And yet there are still powerful voices that refuse to support >> the need for decreasing births as rapidly as possible. >> >> >> In this same century, we have moved from a world where natural resources, >> especially air, land and water were relatively abundant, to one where >> shortages loom and are already causing havoc in certain parts of the >> world. >> At the same time, it is clear that the wastes from our technological, >> industrial culture are having severe impacts on the quality of the food >> we >> eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe: many diseases are >> becoming >> more frequent such as cancer and asthma. Nevertheless, many powerful >> institutions still refuse to recognize the need for more intelligent >> development and growth strategies. > > Indeed this document is familiar and I believe it is a draft of his > intended lectures. I knew him as a Futurist more than as an economist. > Funny that some years later the Masseys were given by Ronald Wright whose > book (composed of the lectures) _ A Short History of Progress_ covers much > of the same material that Theobald would have. I love that little book. > > Steve > > ( please post to futurework as I'm not presently subscribed) > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
