Our Future is Mired in Our Past: Part Three
Maple Syrup Firewood
Above I referred to the notion of the good life and the real and perceived qualities societies have achieved. In the future some, maybe many of those qualities will be threatened as the issues we now see and experience become more critical and visceral. Inevitably, significant change, both real and perceived, is bound to occur. As I have read or heard on more than one occasion, we have entered into uncharted waters.
Societies are composed of a variety of interests and sectors of activity and obviously regulated by different levels of government. Who then will be responsible for adopting the decisions and designs required to achieve the necessary changes? As I noted above societies are an amalgamation of interconnected systems run and populated by us. As members of society we are all in this dilemma together, but we do not all have the same interest in or capacity to influence or implement change. For change of any kind to occur six conditions seem to be required: impetus in the form of reasoned thought; a clear vision or direction; opportunity to change must exist; funding to pay for the change needs to be available; regulations must be enabling; society must be willing to embark on the change; and finally, necessary design decisions must be made and implemented crucially affecting all the other conditions. Lets consider these conditions more closely.
Impetus is the force or driver for change. With the identification of an unacceptable condition or issue in existential context there is reason to pursue change. Now, a condition may be unacceptable for various reasons both positive (for betterment) and negative (degrading) and will be influenced by one’s perspective and knowledge base.
Some level of vision or direction for change will be present. This involves a more precise notion of where the change is bound and what needs to be done to achieve the preferred results.
Opportunity to make the changes must be in place or will be put in place soon. This could involve identifying and filling a niche and/or taking advantage of different or new circumstances.
Funding must be available to make the changes identified as required. The question involving who is responsible to fund the change will depend on the change required and the circumstances surrounding the need to change.
Regulation, policy and programmes need to be available in forms and content appropriate to the circumstances encouraging voluntary or mandatory change.
Support for change and a willingness to be involved needs to be in place. This speaks to society’s level of commitment to move in a new direction.
Design decisions, however small or large, will be a required part of each of the conditions for change.
Above I suggested people and their societies are reluctant to change unless the change is determined to be positive and the necessary conditions are in place or can be put in place. Circumstances will also exist from time to time where crisis will cause attention to be payed to a situation and indeed until the crisis the previous circumstances were deemed to be unworthy of attention. Prolonged crises and uncharted waters currently are giving humanity significant reasons for sitting up and taking notice. As the conditions for substantial change are put in place, much disagreement on how to proceed is inevitable as some choose to hold onto the past while others recognize the need to make adjustments to safeguard societal and environmental systems of importance. The good life of the past may not be, likely will not be the good life of the future. Evolving circumstances at the global down to the local levels will ensure necessary adjustments. The way forward is not yet clear. What is clear however, is the necessity for a different way of thinking as current issues are products of past designs and choices.
Where do we go from here?
Our future will be mired in our past unless we successfully think and act outside our well established societal comfort zones. Seriously, there is no alternative to dramatic change if we hope to ensure a global system capable of supporting all life as we know it. I have written about issues and problems as many other writers have done. Now I want to suggest actions society can initiate to transition into a different and acceptable future.
The transition and choice of actions spearheading an alternative future from the one societies are on track to realize must be largely divorced from our past. The past is not the template we need. Indeed, past thinking and action and the drivers of them are collectively the cause of current and soon to be realized future issues. In sharp contrast to an emphasis on the individual, our starting point must be with the big picture and a new widely adopted set of priority values. Such a new beginning will provide the guidance so desperately required.
The big picture must reference a gradation from global to continental to regional to local and the priority values must be identified and chosen to sustain the complex nature of all life. I mentioned above and gave examples to illustrate a starting point has a great deal to do with path selection. It is my contention very different outcomes will emerge from the two contrasting start points, the individual and the big picture.
Any assessment of a proposed action should begin with full overview disclosure of the proposal in terms of action(s) intended with reference to its specific location and the scale and scope of its reach or sphere of influence in the to be affected environment and communities. Such early disclosure will allow an approving authority to identify and be clear about the extent and context associated with the proposal. In turn on a case by case basis, the approving authority can then issue a ‘required information request’ based upon the authority’s understanding of the impact of the proposal. As details emerge the authority may require more information and must liaise with all impacted jurisdictions. The regulating authority must at all times be mindful of and issue information requests based upon current and expected environmental issues as the top priority in order to determine whether and how the proposal would be acceptable and fit into the environment while maintaining the environment’s integrity in all respects. In a second stream of assessment the regulating authority would be required to determine the appropriateness of the proposal with reference to the directly and indirectly impacted communities in a similar process and to issue regulatory requirements with any approval.
Too often in the past and currently decisions have been and are made with inadequate information and regulatory imperatives. Political priorities have tended to focus on economic impacts and jobs and while they are important and need to be assessed correctly, there are other important issues pertinent to societal organization and management, but none should be allowed to trump environmental concerns and priorities. As we approach 2020 it has become abundantly clear and indeed this has been known for decades, the impact of our past decisions and actions have been effectively undermining environmental qualities and complexities. If we continue to neglect to assess in terms of environmental integrity from the global down to the local and if we continue to place emphasis upon gain, wealth creation and acquisition, then past trends will continue with further serious environmental quality declines.
Appropriate references and contextual information are critical to good design decisions and while planning documents have gone some way toward social and development guidance, they have failed in many respects due to political preferences, interference and the simplification or elimination of concerns. If we are to make serious and significant changes to our decisions and actions, then, along with an increased priority for the environment and social issues of importance, a high priority must be to change the drivers of those decisions. Fundamentally then as I have proposed above, we must select the key values and references to drive our decisions in preferred directions, those being quite different from the past out of necessity. The following section identifies what I consider to be the most important priority values going forward with indications high-lighting as examples and for clarification, some practical considerations.
Respect – The first value to be encouraged must be respect for without respect our transition tasks will be defeated before they are begun. With respect a whole host of other values then become possible. Respect involves recognition, appreciation and acknowledgement of the inherent importance and contribution of the ‘other’. Too often in our past and today humanity has denied the ‘other’s’ value in contributing to the qualities we associate with wonderful complex environments and cultures. Indeed, we have often rejected respect for the ‘other’ closing our minds and senses to the possibilities potential in association and collaboration. To dismiss the ‘other’ as irrelevant, ignorant or in disagreement suggests a lack of willingness to be accommodating and to listen or to observe to understand. We must always remember perspectives can vary considerably in the moment and even in retrospect uncertainty may prevail. It is easy to deny and dismiss, but while exercising respect can be hard work, ultimately it is rewarding. Reciprocal respect must become an ingrained reality. Examples where respect becomes a powerful driver:
The wonderfully complex and diverse natural environment;
Immense forces of nature (climate, geology, hydrology, life);
For diversity and complexity in the myriad of cultures around the world;
Respect for the ‘other’ as having inherent value.
Do no harm – A second high-priority value and one I think we do not adequately recognize or think about enough. Harm occurs easily and in many forms. Doing no harm demands forethought and commitment. Harm is also multi-faceted, occurs at different scales with varying degrees of importance. As long as we turn a blind eye to harm and the known and inevitable consequences associated with it, we will be destined to be repeat offenders as history so clearly shows. In order to do no harm we need to understand the how, who, what, where, when and why of it. So, harm occurs as a result of some actions both directly and indirectly. In the former an action with purpose, in effect by design, is the direct cause of the harmful result. The latter is more difficult to diagnose with accident, consequence and denial playing their parts. As a bully if I knowingly push someone around physically or psychologically on repeated occasions, as the perpetrator I will eventually do harm to my victims by my hand as it were. Alternatively my actions may be genuinely intended for good reasons, but accidentally or as an unknown consequence harm may occur. Action taken while denying any ill effects yet resulting in harm I was aware of but believed would not happen, seems to have aspects of both direct and indirect impact. So, why is the notion of harm avoidance so important? Put simply, harm degrades in turn causing diminishment of societies and environments. Following is a very short list of harmful actions:
Sexual assault;
Deforestation and general loss of complex habitat;
The use of fossil fuels leading to co2 emissions, climate change and other environmental consequences;
Persecution of ethnic and cultural groups;
Poisoning a pond to kill mosquitoes and as a consequence killing everything in the pond or that touches the life there in - Oh, silent spring.
Responsibility – Imagine a highly integrated complex system of communication pathways, organized to allow messaging between and among points in the system. Now also imagine these links and nodes have some degree of functional attributes in such a way as to provide them with options concerning abilities to open or close allowing or preventing messages to pass through. The system is highly and most efficient when all pathways and nodes are open and will tolerate some small degree of malfunction without experiencing efficiency loss as messages can travel different routes to destinations. Now consider each pathway having a responsibility to stay open to allow messaging to occur to maintain the system efficiency. Such a system could be described as a surrogate system in that each pathway functions as a substitute for all other pathways all-together functioning to maintain system efficiency. Now return to our reality and recognize we are the surrogates contributing to societal qualities and efficiencies. We as designers, managers, workers and citizens are responsible for the functional integrity and efficiency of societal systems. We do this labour for family, friends, colleagues, strangers, ourselves, indeed, everyone and must maintain and control our impact upon the environment. It is our responsibility to be task competent, but not blind to the consequences of our efforts. Where and when systems malfunction it is also our responsibility to on the one hand speak up and on the other to listen and respond. Following is a short list of circumstances where our responsible actions are required:
Raising a family;
Caring for others;
Caring for the environment by ensuring our actions do, at the very least, minimal harm;
Completing tasks competently.
Engaged – It is so easy to bury your head in sand, to ignore all going on around you. By choice, force, frustration or as a consequence of circumstances remoteness is common place. We tend toward existence in bubbles while our attendance, mentally and physically, is essential in society and the environment. Our societal involvement of course requires knowledge and with knowledge we can be, should be, engaged. From a distance and without the benefit of a close-up we are ineffectual. Indeed, to a significant extent we are disengaged, divorced from the environments and dialogues around us although the internet has certainly improved our connectedness in some ways. How has this happened? Humanity has become technologically, systems and surrogate dependent leading to a cascade of related conditions. In effect, today we are confronted with layer upon layer of difficult to navigate or penetrate designed societal structure. One cannot phone somewhere it seems without having to push one, two or three to get to the next bundle of choices. The layers of technology, systems and surrogates are all tied up together theoretically working on our and society’s behalf. Unfortunately, in creating all this layering structure we are left with an overly complicated, highly and necessarily regulated set of circumstances encouraging disengagement. If all of this structure worked smoothly, seamlessly and effectively we would be happy campers, but it doesn’t. It is sometimes scary to think what we do not know hidden in all the structural layering is a major threat because understanding, managing, negotiating a route through and determining the consequences requires large amounts of human and capital resources. All of this complexity makes one question whether or not society has reached a collective point of dis-economy of scale. Not at all surprising then to recognize engagement is so very difficult to achieve. Yet, if we do not try to be engaged technology, systems and surrogates will control. A final unsettling thought refers to this reality: we are the designers of technology and systems and we are the surrogates who manage. We have brought all of this upon ourselves. And so, what is to be done? Here are a few ideas:
Start locally with block parties, growing food together, community events;
Extricate ourselves from the bubbles of remoteness;
Hold the surrogates to account and choose wisely;
Employ appropriate technologies and ensure no harm;
Support locally owned and well-run enterprise;
Learn a hands-on skill.
Inclusive – In the end much is lost with exclusion, but the real downside involves the lost potential and opportunity to be gained with inclusion. Mutual aid is a so much more powerful notion than survival-of-the-fittest could ever be. The reality is we are all in this experiment together and so should all be involved together. To understand one and another and the cultural differences past down through millennia and indeed developing today, there must be dialogue and this dialogue must include all. Excluding just leads to problems we may not be aware of until it is too late, when they occur, bite us in the bum or finally surface after smouldering in some obscure notion of reality. Far more will be gained by including and celebrating our differences, by respecting them providing of course no harm results. In striving for inclusion we need to be diligent in avoiding the ‘so big’ as to make understanding and seeing the other’s side virtually impossible. No one person or cultural group has all the answers or indeed the best answers, but together we can begin to approach common ground and common benefit without dismissing our differences. So, how to achieve inclusivity:
Hold joint cultural events;
Run town-hall meetings to support and encourage dialogue on community matters of importance;
Make sure critical information is properly circulated in a timely and comprehensive manner, genuinely invite response and take it seriously;
Mix up fun and serious and gain commitment.
Humility – We need to inject a big dose of humility into our ways of thinking. Hubris has run its course and has been found to be seriously lacking of sensitivity and indeed has been an historical driver of decisions and practices leading to many current issues we are only now beginning to fully understand and accept. The environment of which we are a part is so much more than humanity alone. Yet, it is vulnerable as we are coming to realize and continues to be damaged seriously on a day to day basis. Still, there are those who believe we can engineer our way out of the looming crises when the real solutions lie in taking less and emitting less in a finite world. We are not faced with a distribution problem as some suggest, rather the many problems have arisen from our excesses supported by a belief in humanity’s right to take from the environment and consume. Bit by bit we have grown our influences marvelling at the human achievements, the harness and use of enormous amounts of energy and the production of stuff as we watch the environments on land and in the seas die choking on carbon dioxide, plastics and hubris. Ultimately we are coming to realize more for us does indeed lead to less environmental diversity and health and conversely by recognizing our actual needs can be far more modest and appropriately pursued this could lead in part to correcting past damaging decisions. How do we get off the hubris treadmill and inject humility into our thinking? Here are some suggestions:
Avoid consuming stuff for the purpose of having more stuff;
Ensure the stuff we do consume has been manufactured / produced in a sustainable manner;
Begin to really look at and into our environments and recognize by minimizing our influences upon them they in turn will return to and maintain health;
Recognize and celebrate the diversity, beauty and power of the environment.
Sensitivity and Equity – I was going to only discuss empathy, sympathy and compassion in this paragraph, but then realized these notions are poorly oriented, rather privileged and do not adequately by themselves approach the nub of the issues we face today. That is not to say these words and concepts are unimportant, rather to draw attention to what I consider to be context builders enabling those concepts to be more effective. Instead, we need to develop the capacity for sensitivity concerning the conditions of others and the environment. We need to be more aware, less remote, less cocooned in our technological bubbles and be more prepared to acknowledge the plight of others but for a twist of conditions might see us in the same position of difficulties. We need to be diligent in observing and responding. Sometimes the best intentions and plans just go wrong and we need to be in the right frame of mind to detect the problems and causes. That by itself is insufficient although a good and necessary start. The action and functional side of this equation demands equity be built into societal systems. Currently and certainly in the past there are many examples where fairness was not and is still not exercised. The list is long and existential: First Nations; Japanese interment; Metis; Home Children; various other immigrant populations; refugees; Inuit; threatened species; over fishing; general environmental impacts on land and in the seas; and so on. I am not advocating equality in all matters, but rather strongly suggesting common basic conditions should be in place for all. Everyone needs to have an opportunity for a good start or re-start and the benefits will accrue with a greater sense of achievement, belonging and welcome. This notion includes our environments and their capacity to self-heal. From such a context we can then take greater advantage of empathy, sympathy and compassion without positioning people in privileged and under-privileged, shameful, stigmatized conditions and frames of mind. People cherish, among other important notions, a sense of dignity, belonging and meaningful existence. As a society we need to ensure the foundations required to achieve these conditions are in place, are robust and resilient. Here are a few suggestions required to build the necessary foundations:
Ensure basic conditions are in place for all including good water and sewage treatment, housing, education and health care;
Provide for and encourage in our societal systems room for cultural variability;
Ensure data collection from front line services and the sharing of data collected to allow for proper and continuous analysis and prevention of degrading conditions;
Encourage and listen to the investigative and creative juices in society;
Boldly advocate for and absolutely protect the vulnerable elements of our environments.
Veracity and Trust – As with a horse and carriage, the former does not come without the latter, a relationship and linkage we often forget about or worse ignore. Indeed and currently, as has been demonstrated time and again in recent years, mutual erosion of the two concepts in society proceeds unabated as either of the partner concepts is broken and trashed. In such circumstances people just don’t know what to believe and then develop a negative and doubting attitude toward pronouncements, opinions and facts. They simply question the credibility of information given out to society however and from whoever it is delivered because of previous disappointments, contradictions and broken fulfillment of expectations. We like to imagine, to reminisce, to believe, incorrectly as it has proven over and over, our word and hand-shake is our bond. Contractual law, checks and balances have not been created and developed in a vacuum. There was and is cause for it to exist. In the end far too many have pursued the bottom line, power, control, disregard and advantage. The result, the informal bond of veracity and trust in much of society has become a legal matter. Of course this condition can be justified as a response to the increased complexities and potential consequences. Indeed, given past issues we currently have to deal with and the new ones now surfacing concerning pollution, rights and infringements, it can certainly be argued our legal requirements have not gone far enough. In a society where society as a whole or individuals and companies can just walk away from their obligations to prevent expected or anticipated wrongs they have caused and to correct them, it appears our legal system and the bonds issued are not strong enough to prevent degradations unlimited. Today, maybe more so than at any other time in history, our obligations on a crowded planet are crucially important. In effect we are all in the boat together and our efforts as a society in a finite world will only be successful as we raise the bar of commitment, legal and attitudinal, to veracity and trust for our weakest links. So, what can be done to help repair this short-fall? Here are a few suggestions:
Require legal and financial bonds up-front of sufficient contractual coverage and size to cover all anticipated consequences of activities with societal and environmental impacts, even to the extent of discouraging the activities from happening if the contracts and bonds cannot be agreed;
In our personal lives endeavour to exercise both veracity (honesty and truthfulness) and trust in everything we do;
Recognize veracity and trust for what it is, a hallmark of quality in the activities and relationships of society in a world environment;
Seek out, confirm and support credibility.
Integrity and Big Picture – Often we get stuck on a single issue without realizing or knowing how it is part of a much bigger set of circumstances. Individually, we are not always diligent at trying to achieve a full measure of goodness in our being. Unless compelled to do otherwise, we tend to be lazy and only do what is necessary to see something through. It is not surprising as our interests and passions do not include everything. We pick and choose and tend to limit our efforts or ignore the rest or allow ourselves to be removed from being concerned. In fairness to ourselves, we cannot expect everyone to equally rise to the understanding of everything or to be fully engaged in everything we do and in our character building. What we can and should do however, is recognize and acknowledge others have a more fulsome perspective and cache of knowledge that we can be plugged into. Further, and as individuals we should be prepared to live a life of listening, learning and adjusting where and when our past qualities have been demonstrated to be inadequate maybe inappropriate even destructive. Jumping to conclusions serves no purpose. Integrity of character and attitude is elusive for sure just as the big picture of societal and environmental systems is a daunting reality to fathom. Even more important then, we need to double our efforts to more fully understand ourselves and the environments around us as a growing number of issues seem to be gravitating toward a so-called ‘perfect storm’. Yes, we can pick an issue or a single trait, but to fully understand what we are looking at, the complexity of influences and relationships need to be considered. Change occurs so quickly today that to make sense of it all one needs context and that is the big picture, but equally we need strength and breadth of character sufficient to embrace all that we are capable of being in society and in our fragile world. Here are some suggestions of how to:
Read widely and listen intently and critically;
Pursue considered responses with critical questioning and dialogue;
Grow in oneself to recognize complexity is imbedded in integrity and the big picture and overly simple and too good to be true is a healthy cautionary rule of thumb;
Contribute in your community to inform, to tell the story of the big picture and by example to show how we can grow together as individuals and as communities toward social and environmental quality.
Habit, Change and Opportunity – Shackled to the expectations of a familiar and comfortable future arising from the experiences with past and present habit, required changes will not be easily forthcoming without an altered mindset and the discovery and/or provision of opportunities to make the necessary changes. Change in a preferred and necessary direction with all of humanity on board will not happen without adoption of a new way of thinking and doing. Currently our societal habits are being reinforced by the business as usual scenario, with minor tinkering on the edges. The habitual notion of growth remains as a strong driver in our decisions ensuring more of the same and new consequential problems. The changes required will inevitably result from either evolving circumstances forcing adjustment or from pro-active initiatives identifying, providing and realizing a mix of wide ranging opportunities. Hope and work for the latter as the former involves scenarios of hardship, much uncertainty and very little control of consequences. However realized, ultimately the agents of change are you and I, everyone. Forced to do so or pro-actively in government, the private sector or as individuals, kicking past problem habits is our collective responsibility required to embark upon new ways of acting, organizing and fuelling our influences into the future. And it has to happen quickly. The driving concept of growth and it’s enabling foundation of profligate consumption must be revisited and seriously altered if the worst of predictions are to be avoided. Clearly, new opportunities for change are required in all aspects of society, but maybe most significantly in the energy sector upon which total dependence and much harm has resulted. Energy in various forms and the equipment driven, while hugely significant as tools, are designed, created and employed according to our values, attitudes and beliefs. Indeed, the energy tool in the hands of humanity has not only enabled, but has also caused certain kinds of creative and organizational choices to be made influencing the shape, scale and systems configurations of modern societies. The harmful consequences have become global in extent and represent an existential threat to specific life forms and whole ecosystems. For real change to occur, to be achieved, this is where we must start.
Ask yourself some simple questions (for which there are no simple answers): What are my top ten values or valued possessions? Which ones contribute most to current global, national and local problems? Which ones can I live without? How could I make the adjustment? What is stopping me?
Work with all levels of government to identify opportunities enabling change of harmful habits to harmless, safe and sustainable actions.
Seek advice about the changes required and how best to contribute as an individual.
Decouple your habits from a dependency upon harmful energy, its use and the many bi-products it enables.
Conclusions
With our past thinking and decisions humanity has manoeuvred itself and the global environment into a lane with only one exit, by reversing in order to choose another more intelligent lane. There is no question, in my mind, by chasing wealth creation, acquisition and the ‘good life’ and all it entails we have put in jeopardy humanity itself and the complex environment we depend upon to exist. In a world with limits, unlimited growth and enthusiasm for more growth as we have pursued and continue to pursue is not sustainable. Are the solutions to the problems to be found in science and technology? Not by themselves and most certainly not with past thinking as Einstein pointed out. We need to achieve a very large shift in thinking and doing because continuing on as before will undoubtedly do increasing amounts of harm. Humanity’s hubris must give way to humility, compassion and above all respect. We need to heed the warnings and not practice wishful thinking hoping someone will fix it all and it will just go away so we can continue to enjoy our quality of life, the good life. Continuing to blindly follow and perform habits of a life-time where they are globally degrading is akin to lemmings going over the cliff edge.
Frankly, most days I am pessimistic humanity can choose to make the necessary adjustments in time to avoid the sequence of calamities ahead. We have just gone too far up the dead-end lane. Rather, if change is to occur, we will be forced to change, indeed we are being forced to change amidst a great deal of suffering as the crises unfold. The suffering is already happening around the globe. Yet, the traffic jams and the head jams continue. We cannot, so it has proven, rely upon the surrogates (ourselves) in positions of power to get us out of this predicament. The solutions always have been and remain with us in local communities whether in highly urban settlement or in small rural communities. In this country there is a great deal of hypocrisy when and where leaders say they are trying to meet GHG reductions in line with modest targets, but remain committed to ensuring oil reserves reach markets. Globally, humanity’s thinking continues to support such duplicity.
Humanity and the global environment can no longer sustain the demands of the individual for the good life, at least not the good life of our present and past. The designs we have created and the choices made need to be over-hauled and made sustainable. The risks we know about and the crises we can anticipate need to be attended to sooner rather than later. What we have gained we need to learn to let go, to down-size. Instead of continuing to manufacture needs and desires leading to inevitable serious degradations we should be adopting more respectful and appropriate tones. We can no longer believe there are unlimited resources and sinks. The environment has been taken for granted for too long jeopardizing nature’s ability to heal. We must raise our behaviour to have respect and compassion for all life. Our values, attitudes and beliefs need an over-haul.
Let me just finish with a short anecdote, neither humorous or pleasing to say the least. I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. In those years I remember campaigns to discourage litter. Now almost seventy years later I live on a rural road where litter is common. Indeed, in our township littering is a common occurrence on all roads. If anything suggests to me humanity has not yet seen the light, grasped the urgency of our situation with the damage we have done and continue to do, litter on the road-side is it. Until we exercise respect and have care and attention in the little ways, I can’t see the big problems being solved. We must heed Einstein’s words.