SoL Sustainability Consortium
January 1, 2008
Global Cooling in the Compassion Age
In light of Michael Gorbachev’s statement (at the Kyoto Global Forum in 1993), that the 21st century would either bring catastrophe or restoration, a hopeful look ahead.
The seeds of an unimaginably bright future on Earth are taking root in the crumbling past. Those clutching to the old and familiar feel frightened, defensive. Those embracing a bold way forward are excited. They sense living in this turbulent time as like being in a transformative cocoon, about to birth the unexpected. Pragmatists tapping the possible, they’re imagining “maximum restoration in the shortest time.” For them, survival means finding the right energy, the right means for restoring the verdant commons. A chance to change fuels and clean house. They’re asking, Why Not?
“Global warming equals fossil fuels equals pollution equals massive detox.” They’re quick, these revivalists, they get it, they connect the dots. Detox the Earth, redesign for sustainability. Voluntary acts and market innovations pushed by law and tough targets. They see GW as the outcome of a growth-obsessed global economy torching the planet: overfishing, deforesting, polluting, depleting freshwater faster than nature provides, billions in chronic poverty, and so on. They see the links, the need to re-globalize.
They’re right. Our warming world needs systemic remedies—not just reducing CO2 emissions, but ways of living and co-creating, powered by a child-friendly, Earth-friendly commerce. A partnering spirit between adult and child, woman and man, post-modern and indigenous, and among all peoples. A great reciprocity, synergy and diversity lived large.
Welcome to the compassion age, a time for honouring the child of every culture, for restoring humanity and the commons. By all intelligent means. Excited?
This is the time for eco-smarts, for redesigning communities, co-creating with Earth. “The more we get together” the happier we’ll be, the children’s song goes. Social capital economists now call it their theme song. (Imagine!) Worldwide we gather to weave the new blends: slow food and fast computing, unhurried children and mature adults, local and global citizens, sovereign and connected.
The “Why Not?” brain is childlike, curious. Not either/or, not left/right, it’s clear thinking, very present and future-minded. It smiles with possibility. Conscious, alert. Optimally primed for today’s world.
“Cradle to cradle design, biomimicry, ecoliteracy!” sing the possibalists, the bioneers, the ecopreneurs. Full cost, full service, living economies juice their imagination. “Green, fair, and just” is their stock in trade. Compassion in action, the evolving consciousness.
Can weapons or surveillance withstand this energy? For how long? Compassion won’t hear of impotence, on global warming or anything else. Drop the excuses, the isms and the posturing. So yesterday!
Beginner’s mind, good news:
- Darwin’s true passion wasn’t fitness; it was “the moral agency of man”: original sin is dead—long live the biologically loving human!
- Every baby grows the same way: every babe, every culture, every faith.
- Love is our mother tongue: we learn this early or struggle like hell.
- Honouring the feminine: respecting the girl child enriches society, curbs population growth.
- Children of sworn enemies play together, when given the chance.
- A choir of singers can break the hardest heart: Try standing in the middle of a hundred voices singing beauty. It’s unspeakably moving. You’re defenseless.
Global cooling? A peak-oil painting of bright colours, more good news:
- Demilitarizing the commons: dismantle nukes, curb global arms trade. Divert $$ trillions saved to global cooling, ending hunger and malnutrition. The great global restoration—we can fund it!
- Growing a generation of peacemakers, “right from the beginning”: goodbye “poisonous pedagogy”, hello respectful love, conscious parenting.
- A child-honouring protocol for commerce: goal? zero toxic emissions. Shut down destructive means, subsidize renewables—ASAP. Massive employment, right livelihood, clean profits.
- Advertising ban: no direct marketing to kids—the unethical becomes illegal. Protect the innocent imaginers, our most valuable players.
- Living Economies: triple bottom line, full cost accounting, no externalities. Monetary costs express social & environmental impacts. A conserving ethic at home and school.
The unimaginable future coming into view: a caring economy, post-carbon, chlorine-free. A restorative fair-market ‘bionomy’—not endless monetary growth, but health, fulfilment and genuine prosperity, measured by an Index of Wellbeing.
To serve and protect. Serving an evolving humanity involves protection: of children, from violence, media intrusion, brand exploitation, toxic pollution (protecting social capital). And privacy protection: protecting against identity theft, internet predators, government overreach. Nurture and protect. Water the seeds, support the seedlings.
We’re in Massive Change: eco-cities, clean energies, leap-frogging technologies, innovation spree.
God speed this great turning, the Zero Footprint dream, compassion song for Gaia.