Since the industrial revolution, social progress has been measured by material affluence. Living well has evolved into a constant flow of goods and services delivered conveniently at low cost, BUT the potential for continued growth depends on continuous expansion and this balloon is at a braking point.
Renewable energy systems may sound like a viable solution to our social dilemma, but if the old energy regimes are maintained we are simply exchanging energy resources while leaving the basic social configuration intact. A sustainable “solar age” will depend more on making a connection with the sun and less on making a connection with Exxon or General Dynamics.
Large corporations can not prevent individuals from using renewable resources but renewable energy research grants are unbalanced to the point of destroying the opportunities they were designed to create and the ‘flavor’ of green education continues to supports the energy regimes of the past.
Radical communities are doing their best to operate outside of those systems they wish to change by building foundations for change through a Do-it-Yourself ethic way of living and a walking to work as an alternative to driving.
Local food distribution schemes, and local broadcasting stations, with local libraries, video networks, public kitchens, and online message boards, as well as gardens, childcare co-ops, bicycle lanes and farmers’ markets could form strong social-material-psychological bonds, that are the bedrock for developing alternative ways of living. BUT before social transformation takes place individuals must learn to become leaders in the sea of Mesmerized followers.
“Environmental problems must be framed and connected to the social systems that create them.”… A twentieth century visionary by the name of Buckminster Fuller once said that our greatest problem is that we are the problem. To be objective Mr. Fuller suggested that we stand on the Moon and observe our planets resources disappear as the human population expands beyond sustainability. The industrial revolution, guided by the “hand of greed” is the basis for our modern capitalist civilization, but where do we go from here. We have been lulled into complacency by TV and mass produced products, We have handed over the rains of control to big business and big government, and our trust has been betrayed. We have lost much of our freedom to but we still have the opportunity to take control of our own lives and rediscover the value of sustainability.
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