Moving away from dangerous waters.

[Mike Nickerson]

Greetings:

Some say that we don’t have time to change our culture away from consumerism, when we are faced with the immediate problems of climate and war.

While it is essential that we address climate and militarism, the complimentary effort suggested here can produce an expanding advantage.  It takes no money, and almost no time.

Civilization is on a huge ship travelling through a rocky narrows.  It is a hazardous body of water called Overshoot.

We already have serious problems:  War and climate change have breached the hull and we are taking in enough water to sink us if we cannot restrict the flow.

Climate is clearly a result of overshoot.  Human activity has grown beyond the atmosphere’s ability to absorb our waste.  While war has long been with us, it is usually fought over resources.  Proceeding into overshoot will lead to more resource wars.

We need all hands on deck to address war and climate.  How sad would it be to resolve those problems only to run aground on the fatal rocks of overshoot?  How reckless would it be to leave young survivors without some vision to build upon?

To avoid that, while we bail out water and try to patch the leaks, we can envision turning our ship around.  

It need not distract, it simply involves nurturing the vision. 

At the core of social change is legitimacy—what it means to be a good human.  In our troubled Growth-based economy, good humans help the economy grow by earning and spending as much money as possible.

Now that continued growth is causing serious problems, to be a good human, we need to live with as little impact on Earth as possible, get as much satisfaction from living as we can, and manage the material world in ways that foster the long-term well-being of both people and ecosystems.  Not only would this reduce environmental damage, it would give people something to look forward to as well.

Essentially, this change involves More Fun, Less Stuff.

To be clear, “fun” refers here, not just to the fulfillment we can derive from living, but also to the positive sense that would result from restoring good health to our communities and ecosystems.

While more fun, less stuff is a simple phrase, it is memorable and provides a handle to pull the basic choice into public view.  Do we want an economy which serves the well-being of people and the Earth directly, or do we want to continue with the economics of perpetual expansion, with its assumption that amassing financial wealth will make everything better?

As we work on the immediate challenges, we can share the meme, more fun, less stuff, and prepare the way to recreate civilization in a viable form.  

Before we can make it happen, however, we must first conjure the image.  Try invoking the vision as you lie down to sleep.  A glimmer lingers amidst the words . . .

The greenest dollar is the one not spent.

For a sustainable future,

Yours, Mike N.

ps. A convenient way to spread the meme,

and other ways to advance more fun, less stuff. 

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