2p. The Myth of Sustainability
In ecological terms ‘sustainability’ (as used in the 1987 Brundtland Report) meant ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ Another definition is: ‘improving the quality of human life while living quietly within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems’. Unfortunately the values of industrialism are not compatible with those of life itself. The use of the term ‘sustainability’ in this context today is often corrupted, even by supposedly mainstream politicians, to ‘something we can keep going’ in general terms, like ‘a scam’. This process of popularisation / corruption of word meanings (aka dumbing down) is one reason why we need to redefine concepts and reach for new meanings and ideas in new words. What has become clear is that ‘sustaining’ an economy of ‘business as usual’ is not compatible with keeping the nature on our planet.
The idea of sustainability begs the question ‘What it is that we are actually trying to sustain?’
- an outdated cultural narrative?
- an unhealthy conception of the relationship between humanity and nature?
- business as usual in a deeply inequitable world?
- a structurally dysfunctional system and worldview?
We need to search for new ways to restore ecosystems, not destroy them. Why can’t we just celebrate cultural diversity, rather than all of the ‘us and them’ racisms? Such cultures will assure the future of life as a whole and not merely sustain a humanity divorced from its roots in nature and alienated from the ground of its own being.
Parliament Must Die contains quotes from: A. Greenburg, M.D._Abraham Maslow_Albert Einstein _Alnoor Ladha_Andrew Gwynne _Anneke Lucas_Arthur Koestler _Arundhati Roy_Asgeir Jonsson _Barbara Max Paul Hubbard_Bertrand Russell _Bill Mollison _Buckminster Fuller_Calcida Jethá _Caroline Lucas_Charles the Great_Chief Arvol Looking Horse _Christopher Ryan_Copernicus_Daniel Christian Wahl_Daniel Pinchbeck_Darwin_David Edwards_David Holmgren _David Icke_Dieter Duhm_Donald Worster_Donnachadh McCarthy_Doreen Massey_Doris Lessing_Dr A Bartlett Giamatti _Dr Claire Wordley_Dr Jay Cullen_Dr Kathy Sykes _Dresden James_E C Lindeman_Eckhart Tolle_Edgar Cayce _Edward Snowden _Ethan C Roland _Ewen MacAskill_Galileo_Galtang and Ruge _George Monbiot_Gerald Heard _God in Genesis_Greta Thunberg_Gudrun Johnsen _Guido Dalla Casa _Gustave Le Bon_Guy Fawkes _Henry Cloud _Henryk Skolomowski_Isaac Cordal _J Eliot_Jack D Forbes_Jack Forbes_James Gordon M.D._James Lovelock _Jeremy Lent_Jeremy Rifkin_John Cleese _John Hammell_John Hilary_John Trudell_Jon Stone_Jonathan Bartley_Julian Assange_Karl Marx _Karlos Kukuburra_Ken Ward _Lee Williams _Leonard Higgins_Lierre Keith _Lord Strasburger_M Knowles_Maddy Harland _Marianne Williamson_Mark Boyle_Martin Kirk_Martin Winiecki_Masanobu Fukuoka _Matthieu Ricard_Mogens Herman Hansen _Nafeez Ahmed _Nanice Ellis_Neil Dawe_Nikola Tesla_Noam Chomsky_Olafur Hauksson _Osho_Paul Hawken_Paul Levy_Peter Joseph_Peter Macfadyen_Pope Francis_President Franklin Roosevelt _Rabindranath Tagore _Rene Descartes _Russell Brand_Safa Motesharrei _Seyyed Hossein Nasr_Sigmund Fraud_Silas Titus _Simon Mitchell_Sir David Attenborough_Sir Isaac Newton_Sir Joshua Stamp_Skip Sanders _Steve Kent _Sting_Terrence Mckenna_The Dalai Lama _Thomas Berry_Tom McKay_Tyler Durden_Walter Bradford Cannon_Wendell Berry_William Derham_Yaneer Bar-Yam
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