David Suzuki: Imagine a brighter 21st century
In our short time on Earth, we humans have emerged from a chaotic world, imposing order and meaning in myriad ways, imagining the world into being. That was our great gift. As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, will we prove ourselves to be imaginative beings capable of creating a better world?
Our challenge is to imagine a world where our wealth is in human relations and where we learn to live in balance with the rest of nature. By imagining a future, we can make it happen—as we always have.
If we continue, though, to set human borders and the economy as our highest priorities, we will never come to grips with the destructiveness of our activities and institutions.
In imagining a better future, we must open ourselves to the idea of change. And we’d do well to remember that people with vision have been overturning outmoded ways of thinking and acting throughout our brief history on this Earth—often in the face of great resistance. It wasn’t long ago that people in countries such as the U.S. believed slavery was an economic necessity and that abolishing it would destroy the economy and way of life of its “free” citizens.
As far as the cost and the speed of acting in our own best interests, consider how quickly the U.S. was able to build its space program after the Russians launched Sputnik I in 1957. In putting tremendous energy, thought, and resources into getting people onto the moon, the U.S. also sparked innovations such as 24-hour television news channels, cellular phones, and GPS navigation.
On the environmental front, world leaders came together in Montreal in 1987 to confront the effect humans were having on the ozone layer with our use of chlorofluorocarbons. The international treaty they signed used trade sanctions and incentives to get countries to phase out the use of chemicals that were contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer. And that agreement allowed developing countries to take longer to phase out CFCs because the industrialized world had disproportionately contributed to the problem.
We really do have to think big—to imagine what a future that offers the most good to the most people and to all life on this planet would look like. Obviously, reducing poverty, conflict, and human-rights abuses is paramount. Environmental problems exacerbate those issues and so must also be dealt with. Part of the problem is that many of our political leaders are stuck in the mindset that constant economic growth is essential.
For example, consider what Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a speech to South Korea’s National Assembly in late 2009: “Without the wealth that comes from growth, the environmental threats, the developmental challenges and the peace and security issues facing the world will be exponentially more difficult to deal with.”But with constant growth comes depletion of and increasing competition for scarce resources, as well as more waste; in other words, increased environmental threats, developmental challenges, and peace and security issues.
Constant growth is just not possible in a finite world with finite resources. Our focus on constant economic growth also leads to some bizarre anomalies. War and natural disasters, for example, can contribute to economic growth by creating employment and resource-use activity.
In thinking beyond these artificial parameters that humans have set (and remember, they were only set during the middle of the 20th century,) we can imagine a more sustainable way of living, as York University economist Peter Victor has done in his excellent book Managing Without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster. As Dr. Victor points out, we can’t change overnight, but by imagining a future in which humans live within the Earth’s capacity to provide for our ongoing needs, we can steer ourselves in the right direction.
Once we have imagined this better future, we can get serious about solving the challenges we have created with our now outmoded ways of thinking. Issues such as climate change, mass extinctions of plant and animal species, pollution and toxic chemicals in the environment, water shortages, and more require scientific and political solutions—along with the efforts and support of citizens throughout the world.
We’re well into the 21st century. It’s time we started thinking and acting like responsible 21st century citizens. It’s time to imagine what we really can be.
Learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.
Comments
16 Comments
Grey Owl
Jan 5, 2010 at 8:28pm
All good things to you David.
pragprog
Jan 6, 2010 at 3:34am
Very well said David: it's all about not seeing the "forest" (advancement of a loving, civilized society) for the "trees" (short-term economic growth)
when
Jan 6, 2010 at 9:38am
Since David sold out to the Liberals I can't believe anything he says.
glen p robbins
Jan 6, 2010 at 10:14am
This is a very well written article and the central theme of vision--idealism is the mindset which must be the new standard. Getting to this point Mr. Suzuki beautifully documents---will be determined by the politics of change. Sweeping change if you believe it will benefit more people--must begin now, however many people live in practical realistic worlds--tight money--the darkness of recession. This is where the tension is --where the fault lies. New voices must help in the communication of the vision and it needs to be clear and honest--not ideological--even if a little of that language must remain so.
questions
Jan 6, 2010 at 12:10pm
It's easy to write a dreamy article like that, but it is not consistent with Suzuki's uncritical support for our pro-development Premier. How do oil and gas industry subsidies, promotion of ruin of the river projects, the Gateway project, a new pipeline and port to deliver Alberta oil to China, and HST exemptions for gasoline and diesel get Suzuki where he says he wants to go?
Ken Barth
Jan 6, 2010 at 1:39pm
Absolutley right, but why the support of the ineffective policies and programs of the King of misdirection and greenwash of Gordon Campbell?
RodSmelser
Jan 6, 2010 at 2:36pm
I haven't read Prof Victor's book, but I am sure he has a great deal to say on everything from urban composting and hundred mile vegan diets to hemp clothing and using consumer electronics to give apparent satiation to consumer wants that cannot be satisfied in reality.
However, the basic idea that we can do without economic growth is fine, ... for those who are ALREADY members of the upper middle class, ... with one house in Pt Grey, another in White Rock, a cabin in the far north visited by private plane {with appropriate carbon offets, of course}, etc., etc.
But the notion that improved real living standards for a given population, or even just constant living standards for a growing population, can be achieved without economic growth is impossible to accept. I really have no idea what Prof Victor has in mind in that regard, and I strongly suspect his book "elides" the point, to borrow a favourite word from Ken Galbraith.
As for David Suzuki it's apparent he has no use for the Harper Government, any more than the rest of Canada's ENGO leaders and their employees do. It might be nice if one of them were to take us all into their confidence and explain the real politik background to this frosty relationship.
After all, when the Tories came to power in early 2006 the environmental community, led by Suzuki and Elizabeth May, made a pretty obvious attempt to "get on the bandwagon" by awarding former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney a "greenest PM ever" trophy.
Well, ... what happened after that? Were there some bothersome tax audits or something?
Rod Smelser
astro
Jan 6, 2010 at 3:02pm
Mr. Suzuki supported the BC Liberals and made a mistake in doing so. Campbell and his gang have no plan to save the environment, they just called the tax on petroleum products a "carbon tax" to gain favour with enviros. It worked to some extent even though the carbon emissions in BC are the highest in Canada due to the production on coalbed methane. However Dr. Suzuki is correct in many other ways and he has a great deal of good to offer the people of BC and Canada. This is one article that should be read and followed. Thank you Dr. Suzuki.
RickW
Jan 6, 2010 at 4:27pm
I would like Suzuki to acknowledge that his support for the BC Liberals because of a false "carbon tax" was a grievous error in judgement. Then I might be tempted to support his cause once again. But until that time, he has no credibility with me.
RickW
glen p robbins
Jan 6, 2010 at 5:03pm
I am the least likely person to be an apologist for David Suzuki, however although the criticism relating to his tie to Gordon Campbell is likely more the desperation of an older man who has dedicated his life to the environment--the fact that Gordon Campbell is one half as popular as he was--probably fuels a little of this. Think about this, people I know well--made millions over .com in the nineties--I mean big deal.
People don't live in the sky or under the ocean--so they haven't been forced to confront what impact our excesses have caused. If you have never believed the climate change arguments, there is little one could say to defend practices that are harmful to the environment--beyond the stark reality that our economy still relys on this dirty money. The faster we outdistance ourself from this dependence the better off we are. Moreover, economies will become much richer. If Vancouver, Victoria and British Columbia can create an investment climate where folks like the Chinese can invest their trillion dollars of extra cash--to help offset environmental excesses (that every since Nixon has been encouraging) - then good for us. Mr. Suzuki has been saying this since the beginning of his career, the fact that someone he didn't expect pretended to get it---shouldn't make us think less of David Suzuki--it simply makes him more relevent to future discussions. The discussion of new economies will separate the very smart from the political talkers.