Dr. Orr then goes on to offer some suggestions as to how we
could get serious about sustainability. These include:
1. ".. raising difficult and unpolitic questions about the
domination of the economy by large corporations and their
present immunity from effective public control.
2. ".. a radical reconsideration of the present laissez
faire direction of technology.
3. ".. a considerable change in how we think about our
responsibilities as citizens."
What he is talking about is how we - as mentors, teachers,
and role models of sustainability - need to work harder to change
our laws, change our methods of assessing both old and new
technologies, and to change our social priorities of moral thought
and responsibility. He urges us to expand our ".. perception of
self-interests to include our membership in the large enterprise
of life over a longer sweep of time and doing so with all the
emotionally driven rationality we can muster". He closes the
essay with the gentle admonishment that we, as teachers, mentors,
and role models of sustainability, need to know what it is we
stand for - and to communicate that conviction more convincingly.
If you value the word "sustainable" placed out there in front
of your particular discipline - be it agriculture, development,
forestry, or ecosystem management - you would do well to read
Orr's essay and to consider doing more than just filing it away.
_________________________________________________________________
Bob Wilson
bobw@ncatfyv.uark.edu
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Any opinions expressed above belong solely to the author.