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Green Community-Earth Community Development for Reviving Community Altruistic Values and Norms in the World. Dr. Kazi Abdur Rouf Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, Canada and Associate Professor, Noble International University USA . Paper presented at the - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Green Community-Earth Community Development for Reviving Community Altruistic Values and Norms in the World
Dr. Kazi Abdur Rouf
Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, Canada and
Associate Professor, Noble International University USA.
Paper presented at the Noble International University Peace Education Symposium
720 Spadina AvenueJuly 15, 2014
About the Paper This paper is the combination of ideas extracted from David Korton’s Earth Community Author’s community green development phenomenon and their significance for creating green
community society
To generate altruistic norms and values in the neighbourhoods
This paper promotes a bio-diverse green economy and green women development based on Korten’s Earth Community’ approach.
Significance of the paper/New Knowledge Korten’s thoughts on ‘Earth Community’ help people devise alternative notions
For the development of a people-centered sustainable green economy
The author thinks Korton’s Earth Community synopsis
Green community development provide readers with a synopsis of Green society might help people’s think and
Find out ways of making better altruistic green community life in the contemporary capitalistic world.
Logic Debt driven materialistic consumption economy is unsustainable ecologically
Problematic socially and unstable economically
Currently there is no model for how common macro-economic ‘aggregates’
(Production, consumption, investment, trade, capital stock, public spending, labour, and money supply and so on)
No model to account systematically for the present economic dependency on ecological variables such as resource use and ecological services.
Crisis in Capitalism 1 billion people across the world are on less $1 a day-half price of a small cappuccino in
Starbucks
A fifth of the world’s population earns just 2 per cent of global income
Richest 20 per cent by contrast earn 74 percent of the world’s income
Capitalism creates huge disparities
Even during 2008 In UK, debt was growing at the rate of £1 million every 11 minutes (Jim, p. 23)
Cumulative consumer debt stood at almost £ 1.5 trillion
Why Earth community/ Green community/Green economics needed Capitalism has fundamentally broken
Capitalism has negative effects on human lives, other living species and threat to ecology
Global economy has grown more than 5 times than it was in 1960
If it continues to grow at the same rate, it will be 80 times bigger in 2011 than it was in 1950
OECD estimated for 9 billion population , an economy needed 15 times of the today’s economy75 times bigger than what was in 1950
By 2050 40 times bigger than today’s economy (200 times bigger than in 1950 (Jackson, p. 14)
The Economic growth has failed the fragile ecological systems, we depend for survival
Why Earth community/ Green community/Green economics needed-continue
It has failed to provide economic stability and secure people’s livelihoods
Banking crisis of 2008 led the world to the brink of financial disaster
The capitalist economy runs on debt
Shopping generation-hooked on brand
Destroy Ecology: 150,000 acres of tropical rainforest are destroyed
Each day, 2 million tons of toxic waste is dumped in to our rivers and seas.
Empire and Earth Community Two terms are used by David Korton (2006)
These terms are opposite to each other
Empire Empire is conquering, influencing, dominating, and extracting resources without returning to mother
earth
Empire organizes human society through domination at all levels and gives fortune to only a few people
Great majority of individuals were impoverished
their needs being subordinated by the ruling elite
Individual choice is limited in Empire
Empire brings fortune to the few, condemns the majority to misery and
Servitude, suppresses the creative potential of all
Example: Ancient Mesopotamia, Rome, Egypt, and Greece, a new basis of organization arose:
o Empire state, which was hierarchical and
o Controlled by relatively small elite and their entourages
Empire –continue 2
During this period and after, spiritually, gods were more often male
Represented rulers and controllers
Most earthly rulers were also male
The role and the powers of women were diminished
The new rulers robbed public wealth and discriminated against women
Empire’s ruling classes maintain their control over the lives of ordinary people and resources
Through allocation of money to different communities.
Empire –continue3
Children Seniors, women, disabled people and many other people are marginalized-struggling for justice in society
Empire’s victory creates colonial elites
Colonizers transfer power of exploitations to their colony followers
There is a democratic challenge to the power of these modern empires.
Earth Community Earth Community is the reflection of collective human creativity and collective choice
Earth Community is an alternative to the alienation and sorrows of an Empire
It places life values ahead of financial values, and organizes by the principles of partnership
This Earth Community bonding helps people to challenge Empire’s power and privilege
Here cooperation among people for the benefit of community well-being
It organizes by partnership, unleashes the human potential for creative cooperation
Shares resources and surpluses for the good of all (Korton, 2006)
Earth Community-continue Humans are the architects of their own nature and future
According to Korton (2006) recent global communication technologies break down imperial domination and allow the Earth Community to prosper
Although Earth Community is characterized by deep democracy, justice to all people is difficult to realize.
Difference between Empire and Earth CommunityEmpire Earth Community
Hostile and competitive Life is supportive and cooperative
Humans are flawed and dangerous Humans have many possibilities
Order by domination and hierarchy Order through partnership
Compete or die Cooperate and live
Love power Love life
Defend the rights of the self Defend the rights of all Male dominant Gender balanced
Source: Korton, 2006, Table 1.1, p.33.
Earth Community History Human society was organized on the basis of relationships-forms informal social organizations -
David Korton terms it "Earth Community“
Cooperation was the basic principal of interaction
Earth was respected, and the needs the individual were humanely balanced with the needs of the group
However, from feudal period emperors become conquerors and started robbing
Exploiting to the defeated regions
Capitalist society become imperialists
Earth Community History-continue Before Empire, spiritually- goddess (Gods were females- representing the givers of life and
sustenance
Women enjoyed a status of full participation, with a voice in all family and village affairs
However, in different periods of empire, women’s egalitarian status transformed and Was lost to patriarchal male domination.
Why Earth community is important and needed to revive Empire’s capitalist dehumanization process creates this disparity in the world
Corporate businesses and institutions get enormous power
Expand their wealth by turning the human race into cog labour
Corporations are powerful engines of wealth concentration
85% of the resources of the planet are appropriated by 20% of the world’s people
Now corporations influence and rule the world, and are increasing their exploitative power
Corporate globalization is far more dominant than local living economies and healthy communities
Petroleum production declining and its civilization destroying Mother Earth
Why Earth community is important and needed to revive-continue
Increasing global worming due to polluted climate and its change
Military force can no longer be used to take resources from weaker nations
Poverty promises massive unrest and civil strife (conflict)
World empire is based on a corporate system that has no role for the satisfaction of human needs and Nurturing of human values
Empire system bottom line is to rule people
This wealth disparity affects human-centered ecological economics and
Results in air pollution, global warming and climate change.
Characteristics of green economics/ living economies Economic Democracy
Local Preference–local needs met by local businesses Human Scale–foster face-to-face human relationships
Fair-share Taxation
Responsive Markets–businesses respond to self-defined needs of the people
Responsibility for Harms Caused
Information and Technology
Economic Self-Determination–citizens must control their own economic future
Fair and Balanced Trade – prices must reflect full costs.
Comparison between Modern Economy and Green Economy Modern macro-economic variable is the GDP
GDP is a measure of the ‘busy-ness’ of the economy
It is resource hungry manufacturing sector
Leisure the fastest growing sectors in modern economics, responsible for 25% carbon ‘foot print’
Profit motive stimulates
Expanding consumer demand by creating a complex social logic
Private transport is incentivized over public transport; motorists are prioritized over pedestrians
Energy supply is subsidized and protected, while demand management is often chaotic and expensive; waste disposal is cheap; recycling demands time and effort
Wastage centers few and far, often overflowing with waste.
Difference between Global Empire and Local Living
Global Empire Local Living
Global Imperial Economy Local Living Economies
The defining purpose is to make to increase their power
To secure fulfilling livelihoods for all
The guiding mantra is to create global monopolies to eliminate local choice
The guiding mantra is to create beneficial local options
The rules favour absentee owners, monopoly-scale enterprises and central planning by Global Corporations.
The rules favour participating owners, human-scale enterprises, wealth creators, rights of people, and self-organization by people and communities.
Denying responsibility for public interests Recognizing the need for all living entities to protect and balance individual and community interests .
Great Turning pointsKorton believes the Great Turning’ is already underway, on a limited scale, through
Civil rights movements
Feminist, environmental peace and other social movements.
New start (Green Stimulus Packages) In 2009 recovery package has aimed to ‘kick start’ consumers’ spending, protects jobs, and
stimulate economic growth again
The global financial crisis 2008 consensus us to re-invigorate economic growth
Both liberal and coordinated market economics call for ‘kick-start’ consumer spending
Get the economies growing again
Changing the social logic consumption cannot be regulated to the realm of individual choice
Social structure can shift people`s values and behaviours.
Green deal for Sustainable Development Increase resource efficiency, renewable energy and reductions in material throughput
A massive technological shift; a significant policy effort
Changes consumer values and lifestyles- free us from the damaging social logic of consumerism
Unlocked us from growth, free us from the flow of novelty- material throughput
Aim ‘to create and saver 3 to 4 million jobs, jumpstart US economy.
Potential for ‘green’ recovery Green stimulus component main approach is public sector employment at green jobs
Conservation (low-carbon vehicles, clean energy and recycling)
Quality of life (green neighbourhoods and housing)
Environmental protection (including flood defence) and
Infrastructure IT and green transport networks.
Green Recovery Process To dismantle old institutions (capitalism) is risky
Start opening out of a public and policy dialogue of the issues
Develop green economics literatures, research
Three specific recommendations Jim Jackson (2011)
Establishing the limits: Resource and emission caps-and reduction targets
Fixing the economic model: ‘Fiscal reform for sustainability’
Support ecological transition
Changing the social logic
Promote social economy (Jack Quarter, 2009)
Develop policies, acts and strategies for social enterprise organizations ( Rouf, 2011)
Expand social businesses (Yunus, 1990).
Implications of the Study
This paper creates new knowledge, thoughts and strategies that inspire people to organize themselves against exploiting empires
To develop partnerships among marginalised people for their well-being in the community
It tells us how to use human potential for creative cooperation
Share resources for the creation of community-driven economies that are green, smart
Promote the well-being of all people.
Way forward
To eradicate injustice, inequality and exploitation from society, it is important to revive the earth community
To restore justice and equality in the contemporary society
To escape Empire’s control, it is essential develop contextual knowledge, technology, religion, and science
To build the Earth Community through mutual cooperation, community organizing and community capacity building
Deeping human community yearning for a healthy community can create a new era for the
Earth Community (Korton, 2006)
Cultural Turning, economic Turning and political turning can bring and
Can effect a positive change to Earth Community
Way forward-continue
• Strategies for cultural, economic and political turnings could generate local living economics
• To move toward local living economies, David Korten suggests
• To open political process that includes all citizens’ rights to vote and
• Unbiased media access to open political debates
• Birthing Earth Community’, talks about leadership for birthing the great new era
• Here leadership comes from below through a process of mutual empowerment
• It allows us to move forward and glimpse the possibilities of human capacity.
Conclusion This challenging community organizing against colonizers, against colonizing values and
norms can create a people-centered epic journey of self-discovery (Korton, 2006)
This determination can open doors to living communities and
Living economies with diverse and mutual benefits to common people
Earth Community not only empowers disadvantaged groups, but also cares for and Nurture the environment and the ecology
Results in stronger communities for facing disasters, and in greater sustainability and
Conclusion-continue
• Green growth of our current society
• This new turning makes the choice for life
• Gives expression to the higher potential of nature
• Restores families and community power
• However people need to organize themselves and force the few exploiters to distribute their wealth more fairly.
Thank You
Comments/Questions