“We humans have the brains and the means to reach real planetary sustainability. The problem is with us and our focus on short-term growth and profits, which is likely to cause suffering on a vast scale. With foresight and thoughtful planning, this suffering is completely avoidable.”
“From now on, price pressure and shortages of resources will be a permanent feature of our lives. The world is using up its natural resources at an alarming rate, and this has caused a permanent shift in their value. We all need to adjust our behavior to this new environment. It would help if we did it quickly.”
“The rather burdensome thought is that people won’t listen to environmentalists, but they will sometimes listen to people like me.”
- Jeremy Grantham
Called to my attention by Guernica; the bold sentence was quoted in context in WhoWhatWhy (free, supported by donations). The original quotations [ordering mine] are from an article in the New York Times (behind a partial paywall).
Being a nomad can be part of my personal response to increasing scarcity of everything, but only if I ultimately use fewer resources because I'm a nomad. As with so many development projects, the implementation details turn out to be critical.
And many more larger social changes, other than me just being a nomad, will be necessary, and I'm not underestimating how hard they'll be. And yes, let's try to move more quickly!
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