Sustainability needs to have a spiritual dimension as well. Spirit,
indefinable and ephemeral as it may be, is the source of value. We need
values to order priorities and inform decisions. Only then can we be
conscious co-creators in the material world. Otherwise we are merely
another species in the biosphere, subject to pre-existing natural laws and
ruled by our initial genetic endowment.
The world as we find it, with its great cities, global culture and
impressive technology, is a human invention created by the choices of
countless individuals over the millennia. We have the power to dream up a
different world, and by our choices each and every day we either bring that
new world to life or merely perpetuate the world brought to life by our
ancestors' dreams.
Jeff Gold.
At 10:11 AM 9/2/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Dale writes: "Sustainability" is a political code-word, useless for ordinary
>conversation
>about biology, cultural practices, or ethics.
>
>What do you all think? Clearly the word sustainability is politically
>loaded. That is, if powerful sectors of our economy, led by powerful
>people, and supported by powerful politicians, are engaged in activities
>that are unsustainable, then the concept of sustainability has political
>meaning. That doesn't make it useless, but it does add multiple layers of
>meaning and import. I'd argue that the concept also has analytic
>usefulness, although definitions are tough. The Natural Step folks have one
>that I don't think has a social dimension. We could at least agree that
>humankind shouldn't be using up resources faster than they can be
>regenerated and that we should not be polluting more than can be absorbed.
>I'm a layperson in these matters, lacking precision I'm sure. And I don't
>really care whether we lump social concerns within or without the concept of
>sustainability. I care about equity regardless, for example. But that's
>another matter.
>
>Hal
>Hal Hamilton
>Center for Sustainable Systems
>433 Chestnut St., Berea KY 40403 USA
>Phone: (606) 986-5336; Fax: (606) 986-1299
>hhamilton@centerss.org
>
>
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