Subject: Sustainability: Aa brief definition by John Ikerd

From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 12:51:44 -0400 (EDT)

Sustainability ultimately is about intergenerational equity - to meet the
needs of the present while leaving equal or better opportunities for the
future. - John Ikerd

---
You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: [email-masked]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [email-masked]

---

From: "matthew sullivan" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 0:31:32

"Time to demonstrate, educate and convince others of the value of simple
 living and living close to nature."

Lawrence. This not a horn-blowing session on my part at all: I have 
recently made the decision to simplify my life, to move to the country in 
northern New South Wales in Australia and start growing organic vegetables 
and fruits - I have no experience but a burning desire to start living my 
life in the country (yes I know there's a lot of hard work involved - my 
learning curve is actually more an overhang, truth be told, but i'm going 
in with my eyes wide open).
Right now, i work in the financial markets. My clients are all brokers, 
dealers yadda yadda - they're the wealthy people, the drivers of mass
consumption habits (as i see it at least - we could all argue this point 
til we're blue in the face, but hopefully you'll get my drift..) Anyway, my 
question relates to your above statement: it seems the method is sound - 
demonstration, education, convincing. But how on Earth are we going to 
convince the consumerist culprits that the simple life is the way to live - 
even writing that i make myself feel dubious of that statement: it's almost 
like saying "come in, the water's fine" and i'm on the shore thinking 
"yaha".
This is a really big thing for me - it's obvious we're taking liberties 
with our Earth, and it's obvious that the Earth will be around for a hell 
of a lot longer than we will, no matter *how* we (as a civilisation) live 
our collective lives. But we require fundamental changes in consumer habits 
(for a start!) if we want our grandchildren to be able to play in sunshine 
the way we did when were kids.
So again - how are we going to get through to that demographic that i 
observe every day of my life? - the one with huge disposable income, 
irresponsible spending habits, the one that advertisers love to reach, the 
ones who drive the BIGGER cars, buy the BIGGER house with the BIGGER TV in 
every room?? And what about the demographic that aspires to be like this 
group?
I'm sure all of us who think about such things have our own plan as to how 
we're going to impact the world, small or large; and i'm sure it's probably 
due to my inexperience in this industry (for want of a less loaded word) 
that i'm not aware of global initiatives/lobbying to make a major change. 
BUT WHERE CAN I FIND LIKE MINDED PEOPLE TO COMMUNICATE IDEAS TO? i have a 
Favourites list of some 200-odd websites, each dedicated and devoted to 
contributing to this shift in habits - but is there some central location 
on the web you all hang out at? am i here!?
please help - this is doing my head in a bit...

---

---

From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 13:21:36 -0400 (EDT)

(don't know whether this got through to the list or not)

On Tue, 31 Aug 1999, lbarnes wrote:

> I have a pet peeve about sustainability definitions which mention
> "meeting the needs of the present" when we are already overconsuming the
> carrying capacity of the planet now! I suggest folks become more
> educated about each of our "ecological footprints" and the complete and
> combined effects of our exorbinate life-styles.- Reply publically or
> privately to me,  Lee Barnes

You're preaching to the choir, Lee. I've read many of John's posts in
sanet-mg and am convinced that he meant "meeting the needs (what we really
need and not what we don't: basic necessities, no wasted energy
or natural resources, be self-sufficient, grow your own food) of the
present". Ken Kesey once said: "Take what you need but don't take what you
don't need". A followup by Woody Guthrie: "Take it easy but take it".

Time to demonstrate, educate and convince others of the value of simple
living and living close to nature.

---