The Case for Cautious Optimism
My motivation for founding Wake Up Amerika!
Amerikans seem to believe either that the alleged impending economic and environmental disasters currently confronting us are a ruse, or that we are past the point of no return and there are no viable solutions to these impending disasters.
I take, for lack of a better description, the middle position: the impending economic and environmental disasters confronting us are very real; and only through drastic, sweeping, and immediate action can they be averted, or at least mitigated.
I take this position for four reasons:
1. To my knowledge, the fundamental problem underlying our impending economic and environmental disasters has never been clearly communicated to mainstream Amerika. There is much discussion about the impending disasters themselves, but their root cause, our addiction to excessive consumption, is seldom mentioned. It is therefore possible that most Amerikans are merely unaware of the fact that our impending economic and environmental disasters are rooted in our addiction to excessive consumption—living beyond our means in order to perpetuate our inflated lifestyles; and that when we become aware of the fact that our addiction is simply unsustainable, we will take the appropriate actions to terminate it.
2. The Wake Up Amerika! solution to our addiction to excessive consumption, voluntarily terminating our addiction NOW, is far superior to experiencing the devastating societal disruptions, living standard degradation, and population reduction that will inevitably result in the event that we choose to remain addicted and reach our day of reckoning. Because voluntarily termination of our addiction is a superior solution, I believe that it must be offered for consideration.
3. I stand to benefit personally in the event that we become aware of our addiction to excessive consumption and choose to terminate it voluntarily. Both the probability of my long term survival and the probability that I will enjoy a “tolerable” future standard of living are enhanced relative to the case in which we choose to remain addicted and experience a societal apocalypse.
4. I have four children, ranging in age from 13 to 24. While I realize that our addiction to excessive consumption has doomed them to living standards inferior to those which I have enjoyed, irrespective of the actions we take from this point forward, I would prefer not to see them die like animals, or worse, to grow up and live like animals…
The window of opportunity during which we can take meaningful action to avert our impending economic and environmental disasters or to mitigate their impact is limited; that much is known. Precisely when the window will close is not known. If the window closes tomorrow and a catastrophic disaster occurs without warning, it won’t matter; most of us are ill-prepared to survive such a disaster over the long term.
If we are fortunate enough to have months or even years to avert impending disasters, or at least to mitigate their impact, then I believe we are acting irresponsibly both toward ourselves and our progeny if we fail to take advantage of that opportunity. We must use our remaining time to take action at the individual level and societal level to optimize both our future living standards and supportable population levels.
(See www.wakeupamerika.com for proposed solutions; I welcome yours as well.)
Amerikans seem to believe either that the alleged impending economic and environmental disasters currently confronting us are a ruse, or that we are past the point of no return and there are no viable solutions to these impending disasters.
I take, for lack of a better description, the middle position: the impending economic and environmental disasters confronting us are very real; and only through drastic, sweeping, and immediate action can they be averted, or at least mitigated.
I take this position for four reasons:
1. To my knowledge, the fundamental problem underlying our impending economic and environmental disasters has never been clearly communicated to mainstream Amerika. There is much discussion about the impending disasters themselves, but their root cause, our addiction to excessive consumption, is seldom mentioned. It is therefore possible that most Amerikans are merely unaware of the fact that our impending economic and environmental disasters are rooted in our addiction to excessive consumption—living beyond our means in order to perpetuate our inflated lifestyles; and that when we become aware of the fact that our addiction is simply unsustainable, we will take the appropriate actions to terminate it.
2. The Wake Up Amerika! solution to our addiction to excessive consumption, voluntarily terminating our addiction NOW, is far superior to experiencing the devastating societal disruptions, living standard degradation, and population reduction that will inevitably result in the event that we choose to remain addicted and reach our day of reckoning. Because voluntarily termination of our addiction is a superior solution, I believe that it must be offered for consideration.
3. I stand to benefit personally in the event that we become aware of our addiction to excessive consumption and choose to terminate it voluntarily. Both the probability of my long term survival and the probability that I will enjoy a “tolerable” future standard of living are enhanced relative to the case in which we choose to remain addicted and experience a societal apocalypse.
4. I have four children, ranging in age from 13 to 24. While I realize that our addiction to excessive consumption has doomed them to living standards inferior to those which I have enjoyed, irrespective of the actions we take from this point forward, I would prefer not to see them die like animals, or worse, to grow up and live like animals…
The window of opportunity during which we can take meaningful action to avert our impending economic and environmental disasters or to mitigate their impact is limited; that much is known. Precisely when the window will close is not known. If the window closes tomorrow and a catastrophic disaster occurs without warning, it won’t matter; most of us are ill-prepared to survive such a disaster over the long term.
If we are fortunate enough to have months or even years to avert impending disasters, or at least to mitigate their impact, then I believe we are acting irresponsibly both toward ourselves and our progeny if we fail to take advantage of that opportunity. We must use our remaining time to take action at the individual level and societal level to optimize both our future living standards and supportable population levels.
(See www.wakeupamerika.com for proposed solutions; I welcome yours as well.)
posted by Chris Clugston at 10/12/2006 01:28:00 PM
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