Toward a Green World
Posted by Steve Welzer on 01/09/07[The first part of this post is a table with two columns. If the formatting on your screen makes it difficult to read, go to the menu bar of your browser and temporarily change View / Text Size to Smallest. Or you can copy the text into your word processor where the columns should format properly.]
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Characteristics..............Characteristics of the world
of a Green World.............of the modern Leviathan
local......................national, international, global
familial...................impersonal, commercial
communitarian............statist, institutional
familiar others............strangers
people are subjects.....people are objects
mutuality, cooperation....competition
material sufficiency......accumulation of wealth
egalitarianism............wealth/power disparities, elitism
custom.......................law
bounded, limited........unbounded
conserve/sustain........exploit/develop
simple, low tech........complex, high tech
stable, cyclical.........progressive, expansive, developmental
Gemeinschaft............Gesellschaft
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What should we advocate To Be Done in order to move in the direction of a Green World?
Generally: Localize, simplify, stabilize.
Come down:
from the manic pace and inhuman scale of the Leviathan.
Calm down:
from its hyperactivity (hyper-acquisition, hyper-accumulation, hyper-stimulation, hyper-mobility).
As much as possible, withdraw support and energy from the institutions of the Leviathan.
Understand and edify re: the spiritual emptiness of the ways of the Leviathan.
Understand and accept that localization will mean a lower material standard of living. There must be sufficiency for all, impoverishment for none ... but less in the way of overall consumption ... less economic/productive activity. Less material consumption will be more than compensated for by enrichment in regard to the experience and quality of life.
Edify that Green lifeways will yield more satisfaction. More satisfaction in work (contribution to community); more satisfaction in relationships with people, nature, place.
At the macro level, this has to be consciously perceived as a broad-based, evolutionary movement for a Green society - linked to the Green political movement.
At the micro level, this has to be a group-supported effort to locally foster a bioregional or eco-communitarian ethic: “Our group encourages long-term commitment and inclusive participation in regard to maintaining, sustaining, and taking care of this place-on-earth and this community.”