Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Earth Summit is doomed to fail, say leading ecologists

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, February 13, 2012

Earth Summit is doomed to fail, say leading ecologists

Click here to access article by Fred Pearce from New Scientist.

We can forget about fixing the planet's ecosystems and climate until we have fixed government systems, a panel of leading international environmental scientists declared in London on Friday. The solution, they said, may not lie with governments at all.

I'm not sure what science advisers meant by the last sentence, but it is clear to me that the system of capitalism will inevitably drive toward our ecological peril, unless we, the 99 Percent, are willing and able to change the system to something that can exist in harmony with our habitat, our planet.