A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute
A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute
A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute
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Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. Th<strong>is</strong> electronic copy <strong>is</strong> provided free for personal, non-commercial use only.<br />
www.brucenixon.com<br />
Chapter 16 - What we need to do; how we can make it happen; what you<br />
can do<br />
August 2009 through September2010<br />
"You never change things by fighting the ex<strong>is</strong>ting reality. To change something, build a new model<br />
that makes the ex<strong>is</strong>ting model obsolete."<br />
Buckminster Fuller<br />
What we need to do<br />
The whole of humanity needs to make a paradigm shift. The essential message <strong>is</strong>: we have to learn to live as<br />
part of nature and in harmony with one another.<br />
Th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> a summary of what we need to do:<br />
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The Paradigm Shift<br />
Learn to live as part of nature, within Mother Earth’s limits, and tackle the environmental cr<strong>is</strong><strong>is</strong><br />
End the destruction of the ecosystem on which all life depends<br />
Embrace prosperity without growth<br />
Substitute wellbeing for GDP as the measure of progress<br />
Create a global economy that <strong>is</strong> fair to all humanity and puts an end to poverty<br />
Make democracy fully representative and participatory at all levels.<br />
Transform the way we do politics from an adversarial process to a consensus building collaboration in<br />
which everyone wins<br />
Recogn<strong>is</strong>e that injustice leads to violence and violence rarely works<br />
Invest in even- handed foreign policies and conflict resolution rather than war<br />
Collaborate globally to fairly d<strong>is</strong>tribute the planet’s resources<br />
Create a new identity for ourselves, not based on power and wealth but living well and being<br />
stewards and servant leaders<br />
Th<strong>is</strong> might sound ideal<strong>is</strong>tic or utopian. But as Sat<strong>is</strong>h Kumar says: “Now <strong>is</strong> the time to give ideal<strong>is</strong>m a chance”.<br />
“Real<strong>is</strong>m” has not done too well. Millions of people can exerc<strong>is</strong>e enormous power by lobbying governments<br />
and corporations and using customer choice.<br />
"Everything that <strong>is</strong> done in the <strong>world</strong> <strong>is</strong> done by hope."<br />
Dr Martin Luther King<br />
How we can make it happen<br />
The strategies set out in Part Two are summar<strong>is</strong>ed here:<br />
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Strategies<br />
Green the <strong>world</strong> economy to tackle climate change, peak oil and ecological destruction<br />
Radically rethink what we mean by <strong>Global</strong><strong>is</strong>ation<br />
Get control of big business and government at all levels and ensure they meet our needs, not their<br />
ambitions<br />
Create a new monetary system, not based on debt and sustainable, fair taxation, land value tax and<br />
citizens income<br />
Transform democracy at every level from global to local, giving power to people, providing real choice<br />
and government that serves citizens<br />
Apply the principle of Subsidiarity – not all problems can be solved locally<br />
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