Last week I discovered a prominent philosopher in the UK who, like myself, has concluded that we must promote urgent, "big picture" alternatives to humanity's grossly unsustainable way of living on planet Earth.
Dr. Read is an environmental philosopher who has come to grips with the horror of our apparent human destiny and is promoting the pro-active development of what he refers to as a "successor" civilization.
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| Rupert Read, "Green Politician & Philosopher" |
As a regular online viewer of "all things green," I was introduced to Dr. Read by YouTube last week when his latest public talk appeared on my "recommended" video list. That 71-minute talk is entitled:
This civilization is finished; so what is to be done?
Naturally, the title caught my eye. Mainly because that is the conclusion that I have drawn and the question that I have been asking.
Another colleague, a former mainstream scientist,
Dr. Guy McPherson,
argues that "this" civilization is indeed finished - but, unlike Read, he has concluded that there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.
So, as a "glass half full" kind of person, I naturally prefer the position of Rupert Read over that of Guy McPherson on this most crucial of all topics. In his talks, Read simplifies his position by stating that he sees three distinct possibilities for the future of the human species:
1. "Transformed Civilization."
By some miracle, the entire world gets deadly serious about reversing climate change and somehow manages to transform our current civilization to the extent required to survive in harmony with nature.
2. "Successor" Civilization.
Triggered by a partial collapse of civilization as we now know it, the world's leaders join together to urgently begin creating a far greener civilization - one capable of surviving indefinitely in harmony with nature.
3. "Total Collapse." Sadly, this possibility
is where our civilization is headed unless there is massive, globally organized intervention to prevent it. A permanent collapse, it would
spell the end of most human life on Earth - an apocalypse that Guy McPherson has predicted will happen before 2026.
Without a doubt, possibility #1 would be Dr. Read's and my overwhelming preference - but neither of us realistically see much chance of it happening. As of early 2019, not a single world leader seems to be headed in that direction.
That leaves possibility #2. If we are unable to "transform" our current civilization, then Dr. Read and I would certainly choose the development of a "successor" civilization - one that bears no resemblance to the grossly unsustainable one that we have today.
Yet, in order to get seriously engaged with creating that "successor" civilization, we'll probably need to be jolted into action by some world changing event. He calls that event a "partial collapse" and I call it a major global emergency.
I was delighted to see how Dr. Read's primary focus on the "successor" civilization idea resonates so beautifully with all of my blogs since my first post about
Gratola on 9-21-18 -
Creative "Idea" for Saving our Civilization
.
As for AGRA (American Green Region Authority) and Gratola, here are links to some of my recent blogs on this envisioned idea.
Hopefully, with the leadership of other well-connected thinkers like Rupert Read, the vision that I have described above, or something even better, can become a reality.
The Bottom Line.
Scientists are becoming more and more convinced that we are now facing an existential crisis as the climate change data keeps getting worse, our population keeps adding 230,000 people every day, over 70 million new cars are produced each year and we all keep buying STUFF like there is no tomorrow.
Any middle school student could tell you that in a world of finite resources, we must end this madness soon.
As stated earlier, Dr. Read is convinced that our best chance for longterm survival is to create what he refers to as a "successor" civilization - completely replacing every element of our current way of living.
To accomplish that goal, he is promoting the idea in the university, in the Green Party, and in the media every chance he gets. Meanwhile, I am promoting a similar idea in my blogs, conversations and public presentations.
As more and more people join us in this effort, the greater are the chances that we will end up with a civilization that can operate in harmony with nature, thereby providing a pathway for humanity to survive and thrive into the next millennia and beyond.
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Haven't got that much time? You may may want to start with this 12-minute talk that he delivered two years ago to incoming students at the University of East Anglia in the UK. Every legislator, governor, president and college student in the world should hear this powerful message.
I think you will appreciate his thoughtful, hopeful and sincere "big picture" style as he goes about describing the most important topic in the history of humanity - our survival as a species.
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| September 2016, Norwich, UK |
How can you help make things better?
Three ways:
