 | The Bullroarer - Friday 8 February 2008 | The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand | Climate Code Red: The Case for a Sustainability Emergency |  |
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Ian Dunlop said:
'Politically, in earlier eras we had statesmen and women, prepared, in the interests of humanity, to take a broader view than narrow national self-interest. Nowadays, spin and party loyalty dominate, with a time horizon no further than the next media poll.'
You must have studied a radically different version of history to me!
Not a lot has changed since the days of Machiavelli, and long before.
Neither have the cries of those bemoaning the wickedness of the present world, and remarking on the decline from the morality of their fathers, at a time in the past conveniently remote.
You seem to have missed re-stating significant parts of the full pastoral fantasy anyway, after we have repented, or perhaps back in some golden age- if we are going back to Walden pond, let's do it properly.
People, and politics, do not really change very much, you know.
Ian might be right. you need to read no further than LaoZi. though no statesman himself as far as we know, in less than 2000 words he did give all the answers to the sustainability plus some of the greatest wisdoms known to the mankind.
I also am baffled by the frequently cited "Myth of the Golden Age", when our leaders were so much better, and selflessly acted for the nation. There has never been such a time. In previous days, the media were much more controlled by government, and it was much easier to push government propaganda. I think any Roman political candidate of 2000 years ago would slot right in to modern politics with ease! They also knew just how to "buy" the populace for the sake of the next election.
Our current situation is not some new trend that has gone awry, and just needs fixing, putting us back to "where we should be". It is a continuation of the same exploitation of the planet that started thousands of years ago. Both leaders and people are equally wrapped up in creating this mess.
I would have to agree with Dave on this point. I think human behavior (at least in modern history) would point to most of our leaders going for short term gain without too much thought at the long implications of their actions. However, with 6.5 billion (and rising) people on this planet, the failure of our society to think in the long term has consequences for our planet and our civilization (such as it is) that we have not had to deal with previously, at least not on such a monunmental scale. If our climate is changing as rapidly as I fear, and our access to cheap energy is no longer something to be taken for granted, we are a uniquely dangerous point in our history...far too dangerous to ingore the long term implications any longer. Individually, I think human beings are fine, but when you get a bunch of them together...well, there goes the neigborhood.
SubKommander Dred
The problem:
If you don't come out on top in the short term, your plans for the long term are wasted.
And conversely ... if you don't leave behind a survivable environment for your offspring, all your child rearing efforts were for naught.
(Note how much energy we humans invest into having children, providing them with a good education, good jobs, etc.)
Many are stuck in a short term niche that they may or may not be aware that they are contributing to a non-sustainable economy.
If they can't feed, house, and clothe the kids today, what difference does it mean that such children and future generations of children will have nothing left?
It would be understandable if these Americans were living simply, but the consumer mentality, the acquisition of things and status symbols has flourished, despite the anti-materialism that seemed to be popular in the 60's.
Even if these sell-out boomers come back to earth in their values they are stuck with their SUVs, the big screen TVs, the plethora of eletronic gadgets,a killer mortgage, etc.
People develop the over acquisitive mode, maximizing their standard of living, because their niche in the economic status quo has rendered their lives meaningless.
It may be too late to resurrect the quality of life vs. standard of living argument as it may be too late to try to reconcile the short term vs. the long term. But we must proceed thus anyway. W