Analysts WorkTo Fold Social, Economic Breakdown Into Models Of Environmental Collapse - Mongabay

[hatrack]

Long, exquisitely disturbing article.

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Analysis of mainstream views of nature and environmental perspectives by capitalists gives a clear and disturbing image of their motivations, ethic and violent applications. A well-documented example of capitalist-centered values applied to nature is that of economist Colin W. Clark's 1973 analysis of the value of Balaenopterus musculus – the blue whale. In the early 1970's the blue whale had been hunted virtually into extinction, with only several hundred individuals in existence. Clark sought to determine "what practice would yield the whalers and humanity the most money: cease hunting and let the blue whales recover in numbers and then harvest sustainable forever, or kill the rest off as quickly as possible and invest the profits in growth stocks." Disturbingly, Clark reported the most profit would be gained if every last blue whale was exterminated from the planet and the money was invested. From the economic approach there is no value of the blue whale as a part of living systems, as an aesthetic benefit for future generations, as a marvel of creation, or as anything other than a means make a monetary profit. If allowed to continue this culture will eviscerate virtually every living creature and ecosystem on planet earth in order to make money..

More recently the economic collapse is driving attention, financing, and support away from environmental causes. Hank Cox, of the National Association of Manufacturers recently stated regarding climate change action, "Right now, I don't think that will be our primary concern…The next thing is getting consumers out of their lairs to start consuming again…carbon emission schemes are a distant concern. If the economy remains in the same suspended animation that it is now, there will be a reluctance to undertake any expensive new legislative regimes." Clean Air Watch's Frank O'Donnell expresses a similar sentiment, claiming, "The state of economic turmoil throws up a whole new question mark over climate change legislation. It was already an uphill struggle and the state of the economy has made the angle of that hill even steeper."

Once again, the insane and completely unsustainable urge to drive consumption before all else is inherent. It is abundantly clear that increased consumption and economic growth from within the existing paradigms will harm the environment. This is a recipe for disaster of unprecedented magnitude.

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These compounding and seemingly overwhelming predicaments actually present humanity with the impetus to strive for solutions to the problem of growth and technological innovation. The tools and social systems we forged in our efforts to appease our desires to colonize, consume, conquer, and "develop" the world around us have left us with a grave existential dilemma: change in fundamental and radical ways or perish. Edward O. Wilson poetically frames the problem in his brilliant work, "On Human Nature," "The first dilemma, in a word is that we have no particular place to go. The species lacks any goal external to its own biological nature. It could be that in the next hundred years humankind will thread the needles of technology and politics, solve the energy and material crises, avert nuclear war and control reproduction. The world can at least hope for a stable ecosystem and a well-nourished population. But then what? Educated people everywhere like to believe that beyond material needs is fulfillment, and the realization of individual potential. But what is fulfillment, and to what ends may potential be realized?"

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[aquart]

1. Gonna be bad.

I'm sorry I'm not older. I'd really like to miss the whole thing.

[hatrack]

2. I'm trying to imagine what it's like being 18 today, and being aware of what's going on

Chilling.

[The2ndWheel]

3. Aww man, did we kill links too?

[hatrack]

4. Doh!

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1113-ryan_king.html

:hi:

Thanks for paying attention - I sure wasn't!

[GliderGuider]

5. Here you go

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1113-ryan_king.html

[GliderGuider]

6. We know what got us here, what we can do about it is less clear

As Charles Eisenstein argues so brilliantly in his book The Ascent of Humanity, the root problem is man's separation from nature -- a profound alienation that causes us to think the world consists of only two classes of things, humans and resources. All our over-consumption, over-growth problems can be traced back to that single issue.

What we will do about the problem depends in large measure on what we can do about it, which depends in turn on what the origins of that attitude are.

There are those (like Jay Hanson of dieoff.org fame) who feel that the origins are largely biological, that our genetics compels our behaviour, and that we have created a world-view that is consistent with, and exists solely to justify, that behaviour. If they are right, we're hooped -- that position says that despite our conceit of sapience we are little more than genetic automata and our program will simply run to its logical conclusion.

That perspective doesn't seem totally supportable to me however, since humans lived sustainably for hundreds of thousands of years, and have only demonstrated this dysfunctional growth lust for the last few thousand years. That implies that at least some of the roots of our trouble are to be found in our cultural narrative, as expressed in myths like the Fall. If the fundamental disconnect is cultural, then we should be able to transcend it through changing our story. It seems reasonable to think that such a change could be precipitated by a close encounter with limits of the worst kind, as appears to be happening right now.

The evolutionary psychologists may have glimpsed at least part of the truth, though, in that our behaviour probably did evolve along with the rest of the organism. In that case the question becomes to what extent we are ruled by nature (genetics), to what degree by nurture (culture), and whether we may be at least somewhat free agents. Given that there is no hope whatever for our species if the biological determinists are completely right, and that there is in fact no proof that they are completely right, I have thrown in my lot with the "cultural narrative" crowd. We are coming up to a tipping point at which the underpinnings of our story are going to be exposed for the death-dealing lies they are. At that point there is a good chance that, like an alcoholic who finally hits bottom, we will take responsibility for our beliefs and actions, and thereby transform ourselves.

Since there is no realistic hope for a technological solution to the converging crisis, this transformation is the last avenue open to us. I accept that it will occur only as a result of the coming events, and so will give us very little buffer against them. However, I also happen to think it's the best avenue open to us as a species, and I have promised to do everything in my power to facilitate the enabling personal transformation in as many people as possible.