quality vrs quantity of footprint and wakernagel.
lets not be too high-brow. the success of the past 50 odd years of credit expansion was based on the American dream (consumer life-style. ) it was the green-back that spurred the growth of economies that emerged from the wreck of 1945. oil was the fuel and it was bought with us dollars. it's fecked the planet.
greed was good. more was better.
as a philosophy it sux. get over it.
its quality that refines the spirit. it is the realization of this that is set to define the period we are entering.
so. what is quality?
there are 6 point something billion individuals on a small planet. quality thinking determines some kind of an equitable share of it for everyone. this is a fundamental decency... like the air we breath.. quality thought and action determine that the impact on the planet for each individual must be sustainable in this context of 6 billion souls.
the math would apportion a space for each person. less than some are using.. more than others.
Mathis wakernagel, a swiss born sustainablitity advocate, has developed the concept of ecological footprint. ( in the early 1990s .) it is a measure of demand on the earths resources/ecosystems. how much land and sea is needed to regenerate the resources used by one white-bread eater?
there are differing ways to measure it.. different qestions on the quiz.. but it is a sound idea. human demands vrs the biosphere’s regenerative ability. a real attempt at makeing a standard to come to terms with our self destructive behaviour. (because that is what the problem is)
consumption is converted into normalized land areas called ‘global hectares.’ ecological footprint (EP) is a new tool that can inform .. we need to learn to use it.
it is the means to deliver quality as quality of life is to be determined by the EP of our thoughts and actions.
this is one foundation for new thinking about quality of life. it has to be grasped if quality is what we aim for. i do.
when the charade that we are now in a recession is over, and people take a long hard look at where they are.. then the jackboot of the market will take on a new meaning.. it will be the footprint of that jackboot on one’s lifestyle that we will need to come to terms with.
tejas fu
tejas fu.
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