General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEco-spirituality: towards a values-based economic structure
As our world stumbles to the brink of ecological collapse, the "tipping point" of irreversible climate change, sustainability has become a vital issue. But in order to consider the question of sustainability, it is important to begin with the question: who or what is being sustained?
Does sustainability refer to sustained economic growth, and an environment that is able to maintain the status quo with our energy-intensive, consumer driven needs? Or does sustainability refer to the whole ecosystem, an interconnected web of life with its vast and rich diversity of species? What is the relationship between sustainability and the economy?
What kind of world do we want to sustain?
The first image of sustainability presents economic models of growth and energy efficiency, often with accompanying "green" ideas, such as green technologies or green energy, to help our civilisation develop. This is the corporate image of sustainability, orientated almost solely towards our human prosperity, with images of material progress that the environment is seen as supporting. This is sometimes referred to as "surface ecology".
The second image of sustainability is often referred to as "deep ecology", and it considers the ecosystem as a living whole of which humanity is only one part. In this complex web of interrelationships all species are dependent upon each other, and it is this organic pattern that needs to be sustained. No one part can be considered as separate from the whole, and the idea that the environment is just here to support us and our prosperity is a travesty of real environmental consciousness.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/eco-spirituality-values-based-economic-structure#ixzz2UiiZ1LNW
FirstLight
(13,360 posts)it's a stretch, and considered "woo" to so many...but it could very well be the economic shift that helps us as a species. Not like I think i will happen anytime soon, the shift from the 1% who control our current Oil and MIC based economic model is gonna be very uncomfortable indeed.
I am currently taking part in the rise of Eco-Tourism in Tahoe...something based APART from the casinos and the current model...
*fingers crossed*
peoli
(3,111 posts)This is the website of the person that wrote the article.
http://spiritualecology.org/
I saw on your profile your post about John Lash. I read his book, "Not in His Image" a couple of summers ago. I've been poking around with Gnosticism for a long time.
thanks for posting even of it is not popular...it is necessary. You should post this in the "good news" forum
LWolf
(46,179 posts)I'd like to hear much, much more about this.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)Is this part of the zeitgeist movement or something else?
http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/
peoli
(3,111 posts)NoOneMan
(4,795 posts)Zorra
(27,670 posts)1977
In the beginning, we were told that the human beings who walk about the Earth have been provided with all the things necessary for life. We were instructed to carry a love for one another, and to show a great respect for all the beings of this Earth. We are shown that our life exists with the tree life, that our well-being depends on the well-being of the Vegetable Life, that we are close relatives of the four-legged beings. In our ways, spiritual consciousness is the highest form of politics.
Ours is a Way of Life. We believe that all living things are spiritual beings. Spirits can be expressed as energy forms manifested in matter. A blade of grass is an energy form manifested in matter -- grass matter. The spirit of the grass is that unseen force which produces the species of grass, and it is manifest to us in the form of real grass
snip---
The air is foul, the waters poisoned, the trees dying, the animals are disappearing. We think even the systems of weather are changing. Our ancient teaching warned us that if Man interfered with the Natural Laws, these things would come to be. When the last of the Natural Way of Life is gone, all hope for human survival will be gone with it. And our Way of Life is fast disappearing, a victim of the destructive processes.
snip---
We know that there are many people in the world who can quickly grasp the intent of our message. But experience has taught us that there are few who are willing to seek out a method for moving toward any real change. But, if there is to be a future for all beings on this planet, we must begin to seek the avenues of change.
Is it to soon to say that the call didn't work?
Zorra
(27,670 posts)Mojorabbit
(16,020 posts)pecwae
(8,021 posts)and it makes perfect sense at the basic level of spirit. If the ecosystem, Mother Earth, whatever one wishes to call it, was honestly considered a part of each human (which it is) the natural instinct would be to protect.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)Unless people are suggesting no laws will be derived from the tenets of this movement.