Making the Good Life Last: Four Keys to Sustainable Living

251 Pages·2009·12.46 MB·English

by  Michael A Schuler, Scott Russell Sanders

Making the
Good Life Last
Four Keys to
Sustainable Living
Michael A. Schuler
Making the Good Life Last
Copyright © 2009 by Michael A. Schuler
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or Trina, my loving life partner, whose patience,
perseverance, input, and constant encouragement
Fwere indispensable to the creation of this book.
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Contents
Foreword by Scott Russell Sanders vii
Preface xi
Introduction Sustaining Ourselves 1
PART ONE REIMAGINING THE GOOD LIFE 25
Chapter 1 Embracing New Rules of Conduct 27
Chapter 2 Releasing Old Habits of Thought and Belief 46
PART TWO THE FOUR KEYS 83
Chapter 3 Pay Attention 85
Chapter 4 Stay Put 105
Chapter 5 Exercise Patience 135
Chapter 6 Practice Prudence 157
Conclusion A Sustainable Code of the Soul 185
Notes 205
Acknowledgments 217
Index 219
About the Author 227
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Foreword
by Scott Russell Sanders
ow shall we live? Humans may be the only species that
asks this question, or needs to. Of course, we cannot
Hafford to ask it unless we have answered the prior ques-
tion of how shall we survive? For the more than two billion
humans who lack adequate food or shelter or drinking water, sur-
vival is still the overriding concern. But once we can trust that our
basic needs will be met, either through our own efforts or through
the support of our community, we may feel compelled to ask what
we should do with our days beyond merely staying alive. What
sorts of skills and knowledge should we seek? What sorts of work
should we do? Should we marry and rear children? Where should
we make our home? How should we treat one another? How
should we treat the earth and its creatures? What responsibilities
do we bear toward our neighbors? What do we owe to future gen-
erations? Does life have a purpose—for us as individuals, for our
society, for our species—and, if so, what is that purpose and where
does it come from?
These are perennial questions, which humans have pondered
in all ages and in every land. While we can learn from what our
predecessors have thought, we must also think for ourselves. If we
are to lead examined lives, we must seek answers that accord with
our deepest values; we must test those answers in practice; and
we must do so not only once but again and again, as our circum-
stances and outlook change. Now, thanks to this book, we can do
vii
viii Foreword
our seeking in the cordial company of Michael Schuler, who draws
on sources of wisdom that range from the Buddha to Wendell
Berry, and who delves into his experiences as husband, father, min-
ister, athlete, and citizen, as he describes how he has chosen to
lead his own life.
You can judge what Schuler values by the conduct he recom-
mends. He values fidelity—not only in marriage, but also in pursuit
of a calling, in devotion to a place or a cause, in friendship, in dedi-
cation to an art or a skil or a spiritual practice. He values equity—
not only in the form of legal justice, but also in the compassionate
treatment of neighbors and strangers, in the fair distribution of
wealth and privilege within society and among nations, and in the
due regard for the needs of future generations. He favors deliber-
ation over speed—the savoring of home-cooked meals rather than
the gobbling of fast food, an after-dinner stroll instead of a hectic
video game, meditation instead of channel surfing. He urges mod-
eration in eating, diligence in exercise, and persistence in all our
heartfelt enterprises. He defends the wealth we hold in common,
such as parks and schools and unpolluted air, as a counterbalance
to an exaggerated concern for the wealth we own as individuals.
He supports vigorous local economies as a buffer against remote
rule by global corporations. He champions continuity over novelty,
simplicity over luxury, thrift over profligacy, quality over quantity,
cooperation over competition, conservation over consumption,
gratitude over greed.
Schuler is well aware that such values set him in opposition to
the main currents in contemporary American society. Free-mar-
ket capitalism, obsessed with short-term profit and perpetual
growth, averse to all constraints, is devouring the planet. Round-
the-clock advertising inflames what Buddhists call the “hungry
ghost” within us, a craving that gnaws at us constantly. While the
malls distract us with endless stuff, the media distract us with
endless stimulation. True, electronic technology opens us to new
sources of information and new avenues of communication, but it
also accelerates our lives, driving us from task to task, swamping
us with messages, often forcing us to act without sufficient care.
Foreword ix
A faith in technology as a remedy for all our ills serves as an
excuse for continuing reckless behavior, such as our looting of the
oceans and our destabilizing of earth’s climate. The most aggres-
sive form of religious faith in America today, is a millenarian ver-
sion of Christianity that regards the earth as a warehouse for
human exploitation, a mere backdrop for the drama of salvation,
a fallen world to be eagerly left behind by the chosen few on their
way to heaven. Even humanists insist on “human primacy,”
Schuler points out, and they tend to deny the reality of anything
that cannot be measured by the tools of science or explained by
the methods of reason.
Schuler takes on all of these “impediments,” as he calls them,
challenging widely shared notions about what makes for a good life.
Among those he challenges are Americans who call themselves con-
servative while espousing unregulated markets, unrestrained popu-
lation growth, drilling and mining in the last remnants of wilderness,
property rights without responsibilities, ignorance about science and
sex—ideologies and actions that shatter families, undermine com-
munities, crowd out other species, lay waste the planet, and squan-
der resources vital to the wellbeing of future generations. Schuler is
a conservative in the root meaning of that word: he seeks to protect
and nurture what he cherishes, from earth’s bounty to personal
health, from loving families to thriving communities, from handsome
buildings to worthy traditions. He invites us to live in such a way that
our descendants will be able to enjoy the blessings we have enjoyed.
If you wish to reflect anew on what makes for a good life, a useful
life, a virtuous life, then here is an enlightening book to consult as you
ponder these ancient questions.
Scott Russell Sanders studied physics and English at Brown Univer-
sity, graduating in 1967. With the aid of a Marshall Scholarship, he
pursued graduate work at the University of Cambridge, where he
completed his Ph.D. in English in 1971. Since 1971 he has been teach-
ing at Indiana University, where he is a Distinguished Professor of
English. His writing examines the human place in nature, the pursuit
of social justice, the relation between culture and geography, and the
search for a spiritual path.