Dear Organlearners,
Greetings to all of you.
What has this topic to do with Learning Organisations? One of the features
of a LO is its capacity to adapt to external changes.
One of the profoundest changes already happening, is the increasing
deficit between the production of fossil fuel and its consumption. One of
the consequences is an overall increase in the price of fossil fuel. Thus
any product which is based on fossil fuel has become more expensive. It
will continue to do so until neither individuals nor organisations can
afford it any more. Thus we and our organisations will have to adapt or
face the melt-down.
It suddenly occured to me that that the consumption of fossil fuels had an
inevitable consequence, namely consumerism. Unbrideld consumption begets
unbrideld consumption like a nuclear reactor which heads for melt-down.
So i decided to browse internet with Google's advance search engine at
< http://www.google.com/advanced_search >
In the 1st window i used
consumerism
and in the 2nd window i used
fossil fuels
I got 2 320 hits.
Since it would take me many days to study each site, i decided to
prune the hits as follows:
In the 1st window i used
consumerism consequence
in the 2nd window i used
fossil fuels
in the 3rd window i used
necessary unavoidable
This gave me 393 hits, still too much. But by looking at the scanty
information which Google provides with each hit, i tried to home in
on those which seems to link the consumption of fossil fuel to
consumerism.
I found most of the articles at the site
<
http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/richard.robbins/legacy/citizen-activist_reading
s.htm >
to be very refreshing. Another site in which the author tries to avoid
myths, sometimes satirical and sometimes acidly, is
< http://www.buddycom.com/ecol/Ecomythology/Ecomythology.html >
Like the authors of the previous two sites, the author of the next site
also exhibits admirable creative thinking
< http://www.sharelynx.net/A_Strategy_For_Losers/BDavey.htm >
Unfortunately, i could not find a site which articulates the thesis that
"the consumption of fossil fuels has consumerism as an inevitable
consequence". And even should i carefully argue that this thesis holds
true, it will be debated as hotly as the thesis "the consumption of fossil
fuels has global warming as an inevitable consequence".
I have studied several dozen sites suggesting alternatives to consumerism.
But should the thesis "the consumption of fossil fuels has consumerism as
an inevitable consequence" holds true, it means that as the consumption of
fossil fuel decreases because of dwindling supplies, consumerism will self
inevitably die-off. What now worries me is the immense "vacuum" it will
leave behind since few of these suggested alternatives take sufficiently
into account the necessary mutual symbiosis between healthy economical
activities and the ecology of nature.
Looking at the world's economy since the beginning of this millenium, it
may very well be that the first phase of the die-off of consumerism has
been entered. What else does the decline of stock markets tell? History
shows that any die-off in any country's manner of living erupts eventually
into a volcano of blind anger and insane offenses.
Are we ready to act wisely? Are our organisations ready to follow safe
courses? What role will LOs play in the coming future?
I am reminded very much of Jesus' words
"all this is but the beginning of the birth-pangs" (Mt. 24:8).
And also of:
"Then the seventh angel poured his bowl on the air; and out of the
sanctuary came a loud voice from the throne, which said "It is over!"
And there followed flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, and a
violent earthquake, like none before it in human history, so violent it
was."
There is certainly enough countries with enough nuclear bombs to do
exactly this. What is still not sufficient are the anger and insanity. Will
our leaders avoid this anger and insanity? Will we? Can we?
With care and best wishes,
--At de Lange <amdelange@postino.up.ac.za> Snailmail: A M de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
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