DEPAVER
3rd February 2004, 23:30
I've been thinking lately about this chicken and egg business of human
society and its relationship with the non-human world.
As is evidenced in these discussion lists, we have a tendency to view
capitalism as the cause of environmental destruction and socialism
(non-capitalism) as the cure. Thus, "we must replace capitalism with
socialism" and "Ta-Da!" we have a sustainable society.
This ignores a couple of things:
1) Capitalism does not destroy anything, people do. Yes, capitalism
rewards people who engage in environmental destruction, but it is the people
who do the clearcutting, the oil dumping, the overfishing, the house
building and the road construction. We are sentient beings, it says here,
who are allegedly capable of understanding the consequences of our actions.
What is there about humans in a non-capitalist society that would prevent
them from engaging in such destructive behavior?
2) We tend to approach solutions to problems in a top-down manner: get
rid of capitalism, replace it with non-capitalism and all will be well. This
is not how problems start, so I seriously doubt that we can find a long-term
solution by changing the overriding social system, even if that were
possible.
Social systems derive from the actions of the people, reflecting those
actions and instructing new members of society on how to be a successful
human being. It seems unlikely that we can change our social system without
first changing our behavior. There must first be a successful society of
people living in harmony with local cycles, before it can be a model for all
human societies, in their infinite variations on the theme.
I'd really like to explore reinhabitory strategies that will allow us to
live, in this world, in a manner that increasingly approaches
sustainability. We can't do this all at once: there is no silver bullet, no
free lunch. We have most of our body and all our major appendages hanging
out over the edge of the precipice in the cool breeze. It's going to take a
while to get ourselves collected, turn away from the edge and take a first
step forward.
We can start with what we have, discard what we don't need, reject the
foolishness and destructiveness of the present example and begin to ease
toward a lifeway offering a path to the future. It may not be as exciting as
solar panels and hydrogen cars, but it is a way forward rather than over the
edge. As a good friend reminds me, a thousand years from now everyone, is there is
anyone, will be Living in Place.
society and its relationship with the non-human world.
As is evidenced in these discussion lists, we have a tendency to view
capitalism as the cause of environmental destruction and socialism
(non-capitalism) as the cure. Thus, "we must replace capitalism with
socialism" and "Ta-Da!" we have a sustainable society.
This ignores a couple of things:
1) Capitalism does not destroy anything, people do. Yes, capitalism
rewards people who engage in environmental destruction, but it is the people
who do the clearcutting, the oil dumping, the overfishing, the house
building and the road construction. We are sentient beings, it says here,
who are allegedly capable of understanding the consequences of our actions.
What is there about humans in a non-capitalist society that would prevent
them from engaging in such destructive behavior?
2) We tend to approach solutions to problems in a top-down manner: get
rid of capitalism, replace it with non-capitalism and all will be well. This
is not how problems start, so I seriously doubt that we can find a long-term
solution by changing the overriding social system, even if that were
possible.
Social systems derive from the actions of the people, reflecting those
actions and instructing new members of society on how to be a successful
human being. It seems unlikely that we can change our social system without
first changing our behavior. There must first be a successful society of
people living in harmony with local cycles, before it can be a model for all
human societies, in their infinite variations on the theme.
I'd really like to explore reinhabitory strategies that will allow us to
live, in this world, in a manner that increasingly approaches
sustainability. We can't do this all at once: there is no silver bullet, no
free lunch. We have most of our body and all our major appendages hanging
out over the edge of the precipice in the cool breeze. It's going to take a
while to get ourselves collected, turn away from the edge and take a first
step forward.
We can start with what we have, discard what we don't need, reject the
foolishness and destructiveness of the present example and begin to ease
toward a lifeway offering a path to the future. It may not be as exciting as
solar panels and hydrogen cars, but it is a way forward rather than over the
edge. As a good friend reminds me, a thousand years from now everyone, is there is
anyone, will be Living in Place.