Underlying the quotes below is the idea, and necessity, of learning how to implement their ideas, of learning to be good custodians of our plant - the central theme of this article collection.
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Peace and survival of life on Earth as we know it are threatened by human activities that lack a commitment to humanitarian values. Destruction of nature and natural resources results from ignorance, greed, and a lack of respect for the Earth's living things... . It is not difficult to forgive destruction in the past, which resulted from ignorance. Today, however, we have access to more information, and it is essential that we re-examine ethically what we have inherited, what we are responsible for, and what we will pass on to coming generations. Clearly this is a pivotal generation... . Our marvels of science and technology are matched if not outweighed by many current tragedies, including human starvation in some parts of the world, and extinction of other life forms... . We have the capability and responsibility. We must act before it is too late. Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama.
… from the early Club of Rome report on the Limits to Growth (Meadows et al. 1972) to its sequels Beyond the Limits (Meadows et al. 1992) and the thirty year update (Meadows et al. 2004), the message has become ever more pressing and the impact on political and economic processes just as marginal. Only recently has the recent evidence of accelerating climate change, and the imminent threats of energy, health, water and food crises begun to produce significant reactions, at least in some forward-looking countries. However the major centres of power and population have perspectives that are too short term to take any notice. Public education on these issues has either fallen behind, or never begun. (Dahl, 2006)
Odd as it may seem, I am my remembering self, and the experiencing self, who does my living, is like a stranger to me. Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow