![Forced Positive Thinking Doesn’t Solve Problems [RSA Video]](http://www.mutualresponsibility.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/smile-or-die.jpg)
Forced Positive Thinking Doesn’t Solve Problems [RSA Video]
My very radical suggestion is realism where we try to figure out what is actually happening in the world, and see what we can do about those parts of it that are threatening or hurtful.” Barbara Ehrenreich, journalist, author and political activist began to see a pattern and found it in more and more aspects of American life: this mandatory optimism and cheerfulness.” Ignoring Problems Doesn’t Solve Them One area where it is strongly concentrated now and has been for some time now is the corporate world. The biggest evidence is the financial meltdown of 2007. People who tried to raise problems would be shut up or fired: You couldn’t be inside Countrywide Mortgage Company and say ‘I’m worried about our sub-prime mortgage exposure’ or you’d be out. People within Lehman Brothers who tried to point out that the housing prices could not last forever were fired. It was willful ignorance.” To Solve Problems, They Need To Be Raised & Worked On We are hard-wired to be vigilant…and on guard, that is how our ancestors survived, not by saying everything’s probably okay. My very radical suggestion is realism where we try to figure out what is actually happening in the world, and see what we can do about those parts of it that are threatening or hurtful.” Watch ‘Smile Or Die’ With Barbara...
Battle Of The Century: Our Addiction To Economic Growth Vs. Our Finite Planet
Crisis = The Clashing Point Between An Economy Of Infinite Growth And The Limits Of Finite Resources Economic growth is effectively over. There are practical limits to debt, and we’re hitting them. There are practical limits to energy sources, and we’re hitting them. There are real limits to the planet’s ability to absorb our wastes and industrial accidents, and we’ve hit those too. We’re being told that the economy is recovering. But take away new debt the government has taken on since 2008 to stimulate the economy, and there’s been no real economic growth. There is no recovery. It’s all been done with more debt. We’ve already mortgaged our grandchildren’s future, but to keep the economy from relapsing, we’ll need to borrow even more. The game is up. We’ve reached the end of economic growth as we’ve known it.” Unlike Many Think, There Is No ‘They’ To Blame For This Crisis: Everybody’s Addicted To Economic Growth We all got hooked on growth. Rising GDP numbers became our main measure of success. ‘More, bigger and faster’ meant ‘better.’ We’re all addicted to growth. We all want better jobs and higher returns on investments. But we live on a finite planet. The end of growth is not the fault of any one politician or a political party, but some people benefited from growth more than others.” To Live Without Economic Growth, We’ll Have To Start Doing A Few Things Differently We can live without economic growth, but we’ll have to start doing a few things differently: We have to measure and aim for improvements in life that don’t require...
A Roller Coaster Ride Through The Industrial Age And Our Dependence On Fossil Fuels
“It’s all hands on deck” is the clarion call of the Post Carbon Institute in this fast paced 5 min. video, which takes us on a wild ride through the industrial age and our dependence on fossil fuels – culminating in the need for some tough changes to be made: If we do nothing we will still get to a post carbon future, but it will be bleak. However, if we plan the transition, we can have a world that supports robust communities of healthy, creative people, and ecosystems with millions of other species. One way or another, we’re in for a ride of a lifetime.” What Is The Solution? In short, the Post Carbon Institute recommends, we need to live within Nature’s budget of renewable resources at rates of natural replenishment.” They further suggest the following: Learn to live without fossil fuels.” “Adapt to the end of economic growth as we’ve known it.” “Support 7 billion humans and stabilize population at a sustainable level.” “Deal with our legacy of environmental destruction.” Do We Have A Choice? The Post Carbon Institute makes the following arguments: Alternative energy sources are important, but none can fully replace fossil fuels in the time we have.” “We’ve designed and built our infrastructure for transport of electricity and farming to suit oil, coal and gas. Changing to different energy sources will require us to redesign cities and manufacturing processes.” “We’ll have to rethink some of our cultural values . None of our global problems can be tackled in isolation and many cannot be fully solved.” “We have to prepare for business unusual.” Source of...