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WHAT WE NEED YOU TO DO
As its title implies, one of the purposes of this blog is to lay out a specific
action plan to restore ecological balance to our planet. This entails
dealing with the fundamental cause of the imbalance (i.e. the behaviour of
our human culture) in a multifaceted and comprehensive way, instead of just
dealing with the ever-more challenging symptoms of it.
If you agree this is a worthwhile (if somewhat ambitious) objective, I would
ask you to please do four things:
- Read
The Third Way
. This summarizes the philosophy behind the 17 projects in the action plan
I propose as a starting point..
- Read
How to Save the World
. This is a longer (30 page) explanation of how, an increasing number of
us believe, our planet and humanity got to where we are, and how we can fix
it. Better yet, read the books listed in the bibliography, which are much
more eloquent than my attempted synopses. And please help me improve this
document.
- Spread the word. Take what you like from the above documents,
throw out what you don't like, and create your own story, a story of What
Needs to be Done and Can be Done, that works for you. Then tell the story.
Evolve the meme and pass it on.
- Select one or more of the 17 projects listed below, as identified
in How to Save the World (and explained in the post below). Go do them.
If you buy this
systems chart
(and so far it's received very positive reviews from 'systems thinkers')
, the collective success of these projects will go a long way to changing
human behaviour, and hence our culture, and therefore restore the ecological
balance of our planet. If you know of others working on these projects or
variances, or of there's something missing, please tell me. I'm working on
P1 and P6 myself.
Momentous changes in human behaviour have been achieved before. Dare to
believe: It's too easy and too late to say this is all too idealistic and
can't work. Each of us doing diligently what we do best on these projects,
and persuading others to come on board, can do it. We can change the
world.
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(this is reference material for the post immediately
above)
Primary (Big Hairy Audacious) Goals:
G1
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Healthy Communities, Healthy World, End
to Suffering: Both physical and emotional health for all of Earth's creatures;
Well-being not Wealth
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G2
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Stability & Diversity of All Life on
Earth: Return to the law of limited competition (no destruction
of creatures that eat the same food we do, or their food supply); Greatly
reduced human population to allow a return to diversity of life on Earth
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Indirect (G3, G4) and By-Product (G5) Goals:
G3
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Reduced Human Impact: Less use
of land and natural resources by humans and human enterprises
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G4
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Natural Habitats & Rights for Non-Humans
: Restoration of most of Earth to natural ecosystems, to a state unimpacted
or only marginally impacted by humans; Basic rights to life, freedom from
persecution (other than for food), freedom from suffering, and an end to treatment
as human 'property'
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G5
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Peace, Security, Economic & Political
Stability, and Emotional Health: All these long-time human goals
would be achieved as a by-product of attaining Primary Goals G1-G2 above
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Technology & Innovation Projects:
T1
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Self-Sufficiency Technologies & Innovations
: Examples: Solar energy, advances that allow all communities to be
energy self-sufficient; Other innovations that allow each community to supply
and provide as many of its basic needs as possible (food, clothing, building
materials, transport & communication), so that only luxuries need to be
imported or exported outside the community
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T2
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Anti-Aggression Technologies & Innovations
: Therapies, herbs and pharmaceuticals that make humans less violent,
since the aggressive impulses that we required for survival in our early evolution
are no longer necessary, and are in fact destructive
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T3
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Biological Technologies & Innovations
: Within ethical limits (i.e. without exploiting any animal species
for the benefit of another), development of pharmaceuticals & materials
that reduce suffering of all life, or allow more to be done with less resources
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T4
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Networked Computers & Collaborative
Focus Group Solutions: Redeployment of computer power to develop
additional solutions leading to attainment of Goals G1-G4; Use of the Internet
and other collaborative communication tools to produce thought leadership
and develop additional solutions cooperatively across disciplines
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T5
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Anti-Polluter Technologies & Innovations
: Development of online lists of polluters and tools that allow citizens
to lobby for action against polluters and organize boycotts of offending companies
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T6
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Anti-Fertility Technologies & Innovations
: RU486 and other innovative technologies that reduce human fertility
painlessly, equitably and, to the extent possible, voluntarily
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T7
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Inter-Species Communication Technologies
& Innovations: Linguistic and other technologies that aid in
deciphering other animals' communications and allowing us to communicate with
them
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Social & Educational Projects:
S1
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Re-learn How and Why Communities Work
: Development & teaching to all ages of curricula that explain
the logic and efficiency of community-based businesses, governments,
schools, regulations, economic systems, and other institutions, compared
to large, centralized organization models
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S2
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Educate & Foment Dissatisfaction &
Critical Thinking: Revamping education to make critical thinking
the #1 core skill; Publishing magazines & books, and organizing
groups to foster dissenting ideas and dissatisfaction with the existing political,
economic, social and religious dogma that are causing our current crisis
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S3
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Voluntary Food Production Reduction:
Encouragement of programs to produce less human food as a means of stemming
human overpopulation and excessive human land use (read Story of B
for rationale for this)
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S4
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Voluntary Fertility Reduction:
Support for ZPG and other organizations leading the fight to get humans to
reduce our population voluntarily
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Economic, Legal & Political Projects
P1
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Anti-Waste and Anti-Pollution Laws &
Taxes: Elimination of subsidies, revamping of regulations and tax
laws in order to prohibit or tax waste, high resource use and pollution, and
encourage clean, employment-producing and efficient businesses that promote
reuse/reduce/recycle principles
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P2
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Decentralization of Political and Economic
Power: Banning of corporate involvement in the political process,
including lobbying and political funding; Elimination of trade regulations
and other laws that limit national & local governments' ability to minimize
environmental damage and exploitation of employees within their borders;
Devolution of authority over land & resource use, industry, energy, health,
education etc. to local community level, and allow taxpayers to vote on how
they want their tax dollars allocated (which government departments and programs)
when they pay their taxes
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P3
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Laws & Taxes Limiting Human Food Production
: Elimination of subsidies and enactment of laws and tax penalties
to reduce food production levels to that needed to support the local community
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P4
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Ban on Ecologically Damaging Technologies
: Examples: nuclear plants, dams, animal testing procedures, some
agricultural genetic engineering
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P5
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Stringent Conservation Laws: Prohibition
on taking more out of the land than is put back; Remediation of much of Earth
to a 'natural' state free from significant human occupation or interference
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P6
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Animal Rights Laws: Basic rights
to life, freedom from persecution (other than for food), freedom from suffering,
and an end to treatment as human 'property', for all Earth animals
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© Copyright 2003 Dave Pollard.
Last update: 02/05/2003; 1:47:16 PM.
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