Adapted from Consuming the planet: reasons for hope
I have been invited to speak at the 2017 Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine conference, to be held in Sydney in September. This is the outline of my 25 minute talk. See here for some links and annotations. 1. “Business as usual” will lead to a deepening emergency, not only for other species but for civilisation. 2. Evolutionary forces have rewarded humans that are collectively ingenious but also very aggressive, not only towards the planet but at times other peoples and other groups. 3. The same evolutionary forces have generated and rewarded co-operation, on increasing scales. The challenge for civilisation is to reach a threshold of global co-operation before our options run out and triage strategies lead to a “fortress world” in which human well-being is in very short supply. 4. Some materialism is necessary for well-being but it is not sufficient. We also need a sense of connection with other people and with nature. Excess materialism harms the planet and ourselves. 5. There has been a kind of silent coup, globally, by forces loyal to excessive materialism. 6. Medical and other health practitioners can and should work contribute towards a fairer more world, with more equity, green space and a sense of community, both locally and globally. 7. Even though the challenge is daunting a candle is visible in the dark, there is much that can be done, and doctors, comparatively powerful and privileged, can make a difference. 8. Grappling to find a solution is an antidote for despair Am I really hopeful? Tom Athanasiou (whose 1997 book "Slow reckoning. The ecology of a divided planet", London, Random House was very helpful during the writing of my PhD, "Inequality and Sustainability") recently wrote: "even at the top, people are becoming terrified." "the climate crisis really is going to define the twenty-first century, even more than artificial intelligence and gene editing—and even more, at least in the short term, than extinction itself. In fact, all else being equal, it will only be about ten years before a 1.5°C warming—the maximum that, in Paris, our governments recognized as our proper goal—is physically unattainable. We have a bit more time for 2°C, but not much, and it is important to remember that 2°C is not safe, and may not even be stable. "The bottom line here is that, bloody though the twentieth century was, the twenty-first century is likely to be worse—and that, if we are going to make it through, we are going to do so within a capitalist social formation. In particular, we are going to have to prioritize stabilizing the climate, while getting past capitalism will take a bit more time. And to achieve this stabilization, we are going to have to do more than just “advance an alternative vision for global society that goes beyond reformism.” We are going to have to draw global emissions down to almost zero, and we are going to have to do so fast." So, no, I am not very hopeful. But there are people I know of and know who are far more pessimistic than I am. We have to keep trying. Clearly, we need a mix of fear and hope to move forward, an idea I have called a social vaccine.
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