Indra's Net and the Midas Touch: Living Sustainably in a Connected World

343 Pages·2011·1.06 MB·English

by  Leslie Paul Thiele

Indra ’ s Net and the Midas Touch

Indra ’ s Net and the Midas Touch
Living Sustainably in a Connected World
Leslie Paul Thiele
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2 011 M assachusetts Institute of Technology
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thiele, Leslie Paul.
Indra’ s net and the Midas touch : living sustainably in a connected world / Leslie
Paul Thiele.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-262-01609-4 (hardcover: alk. paper)
1. Sustainable development. 2. Globalization— Environmental aspects.
3. Globalization— Social aspects. 4. Environmental degradation — Social aspects.
5. Environmental policy. I. Title.
HC79.E5T4758 2011
338.9 ′ 27 — dc22
2010054272
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: The Fabric of Life 1
1 Ecology 21
2 Ethics 57
3 Technology 93
4 Economics 131
5 Politics 169
6 Psychology 205
7 Physics and Metaphysics 241
8 Conclusion 277
Notes 287
Selected Bibliography 317
Index 323

Preface
Climate change may well be the greatest challenge that humankind has
ever faced. The stakes are certainly the highest imaginable: civilization
itself is threatened, and the menace is imminent. We appear to be hurtling
toward a tipping point. Maybe we have already passed it. Beyond this dire
marker, measured in parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
our best efforts of remediation would fail to reverse, or even much temper,
a self-reinforcing and accelerated cooking of our planet. Whether we are
at a cataclysmic point of no return, or simply worsening an already massive
problem, one thing is clear: greater and swifter action is required.
For all the attention that climate change has gained as of late, we still
fail to understand its fundamental nature. The problem is not that our best
climatologists have miscalculated. They have done their jobs well enough.
The warming of the planet, scientists have demonstrated beyond a reason-
able doubt, is largely the product of human enterprise, primarily the
burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of forests. The widespread
acknowledgment that global warming is anthropogenic in nature, although
tardy, is a welcome development. But in acknowledging our role as the
engineers of the greatest change to the earth’ s atmosphere that has occurred
in the past half-million years, we obscure at least as much as we reveal. By
dutifully accepting the burden of responsibility, we have also reinforced
the traditional image of humankind as the most potent force on the planet.
Yet this image grossly misrepresents the nature of our power and makes it
ever more likely that more menacing problems will appear on the horizon.
We have effected more change on earth than any other single species.
In this respect, Homo sapiens is indeed a powerful planetary force. But the
potentially irreversible alteration of natural cycles and planetary condi-
tions has been the unintended consequence of our actions. We did not set
viii Preface
out to overrun the globe by our sheer numbers, depriving other species,
and ourselves, of adequate resources and habitat. Human population
growth beyond the carrying capacity of our planet is the by-product of
economic and technological developments. We did not set out to poison
our lands, lakes, skies, and seas. Pollution is a side effect of our industrial
way of life. We did not set out to deplete the stratospheric ozone layer that
protects organic life from ultraviolet radiation. It is an unintended conse-
quence of our invention and commercial production of chemicals. And
we did not set out to warm our planet under a blanket of greenhouse
gases. It is the unforeseen result of our exploitation of fossil fuels and
forests. In short, the most menacing and pressing problems that we face
today are by-products. We do not fully appreciate the fact that climate
change is simply the latest, albeit most dire, of a long list of unintended
consequences.
Climate change confronts us as an unparalleled crisis. Optimists are
wont to suggest that it also presents us with an unprecedented opportunity,
and they are right. The problem of climate change may force us as a species
to desist from our constant quibbling and tribal jousting so that we might
mount a truly cooperative global response. The magnitude of this chal-
lenge, and opportunity, cannot be overstated. Yet in an important sense,
it pales in comparison to the challenge of acknowledging and abiding by
what has been called the fi rst law of human ecology. This law, powerful in
its simplicity, states that we can never do merely one thing. Every action
has unintended consequences, and the larger the scope of the action, the
more momentous are its side effects. If we respond to the crisis of climate
change in the same old fashion that the species has confronted other
problems —a s a predicament to be bested by human ingenuity — we will be
committing a deadly error. Such an approach will simply reinforce the
patterns of thought and action that brought us to this precipice. Our
current crisis is unprecedented in its potential for catastrophe, and it is rife
with unknowns. But there is one thing we do know with certainty: climate
change is not the fi rst and will not be the last instance of a cataclysm
produced by the unintended consequences of our craft.
Fundamentally transforming our patterns of thinking and habits of
behavior in light of this fact is the real challenge today. Ignoring the need
of such transformation is the real danger. We can and must be ingenious
and innovative in our practical efforts to address climate change. Meeting
Preface ix
this challenge in the absence of a more fundamental transformation,
however, will be remembered not as humanity’ s fi nest hour but as the most
costly lesson left unlearned.
Doom and gloom are easy to declare and hard to dispel. In the face of
daunting challenges to our common sense, our practical welfare, and our
spiritual well-being, this book fosters an awareness and appreciation of the
connectedness of life. It is meant to serve as a resource for those who want
to avoid despondency in the face of upheaval. It is an expression of hope —
for creativity and community — in a time of danger.