Nomadikon

 

The basic pursuit:
To turn to the Disease instead of looking at the symptoms, the various "crises" that emerge daily. And instead of focusing on the detection of the problems, we should rather muster our resourcefulness and desire to pursue the solutions. Both the text and the administration of the book's sales revenue are driven by the conviction of the need to renew the egocentric principles that underpin our modern idea of the world.

The idea:
If we choose to pass a significant part of our individual profit on from the conventional economic activities towards the collective welfare, and we support actions and infrastructures of environmental protection, then:

  • We restrict the accumulation of the individual profit and the accumulation of power.
  • We deprive fuels from the mechanisms that generate the global social injustice and are wringing the natural resources –we may even succeed to reverse them.
  • We reinforce the exhausted economy.
  • We restore the lost direction of collectivity and solidarity in our social model.

    Such a shift could give us what we –so much- have missed… a purpose to appreciate.
    A non-strictly-selfish cause.



    -Barack Hussein Obama
    Chensvile, Wisconsin,
    February 2009
    From the speech about "Shared Prosperity"

    "In the end, this economic agenda will not only require simple, new money. It will require a new spirit of cooperation ... we'll be called to take part in a shared sacrifice and a shared prosperity."

    Why the R.C.F.

    Rainforest Conservation Fund was chosen because it's a small organization with deep scientific knowledge of the problem of the conservation of the tropical forests for which there has been no reports or accusations for corruption or greenwash.

    • Six reasons that make conservation of tropical forests on this planet, crucial:

    1
    Tropical forests are the ecosystems of our planet with the greatest biodiversity. More than 30 million species have these areas for their home - these are entirely two thirds of all species on this planet.
    2
    The tropical forests act as the ˮ lungs of our planet ˮ: absorb and trap a huge amount of CO2 from the Earth's atmosphere, keeping under control the natural balance.
    3
    The last 50 years saw the destruction of half of tropical forests on Earth. At the current pace, a region of the size of thirty football pitches is destroyed every minute.
    4
    The destruction of forests and the increased emissions of CO2 are the second largest cause of the climate change.
    5
    Thanks to their central role in regulating the Earth's climate, tropical forests help sustain life of all human beings - not just the estimated 50 million indigenous resident forest areas.
    6
    Despite the enormous threat that the tropical forests face, purely political solutions for their protection have proven to be inefficient and inadequate.

    From the report intro:
    "Prosperity without growth".

    Today we find ourselves faced with the imminent end of the era of cheap oil, the prospect (beyond the recent bubble) of steadily rising commodity prices, the degradation of forests, lakes and soils, conflicts over land use, water quality, fishing rights and the momentous challenge of stabilising concentrations of carbon in the global atmosphere. And we face these tasks with an economy that is fundamentally broken, in desperate need of renewal. In these circumstances, a return to business as usual is not an option. Prosperity for the few founded on ecological destruction and persistent social injustice is no foundation for a civilised society. Economic recovery is vital. Protecting people's jobs – and creating new ones – is absolutely essential. But we also stand in urgent need of a renewed sense of shared prosperity. A commitment to fairness and flourishing in a finite world.
    Tim Jackson
    Ecological Economist,
    Sustainable Development Commission
    March 2009.

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    From the speech:

    "Adam Smith"

    "Even if we can overcome the immediate crises we face, we will still be left with fundamental questions about the effectiveness of capitalism in tackling such unresolved problems as persistent poverty, lack of access to health care and education, and epidemic diseases. In my view, the theoretical framework of capitalism that is widely accepted today is a half-built structure—one that prevents Adam Smith's "invisible hand" from operating as he believed it should. In a sense, we have chosen to disregard half of Smith's message. His Wealth of Nations has drawn all the attention while The Theory of Moral Sentiments has been largely ignored. This book could have provided the foundation for the other, missing half of the market — the half of the market that caters to the social consciousness of the people."
    - Muhammad Yunus
    University of Glasgow
    December 2008.

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