David C. Korten writes: The following thought experiment frames the problem before us and the essential needs a planetary system of living economies must address. … Six billion people live together on a crowded planet. A hundred million — less than 2 percent of the whole — enjoy extravagant material affluence and consume as much as half of the planet’s resources. A billion or so more account for an additional 25 to 30 percent of total consumption. The rest are divided between two billion who manage to make ends meet with difficulty, a billion who live in constant hardship, and a billion who suffer extreme and dehumanizing deprivation in a struggle for day-to-day survival. An uneasy and partial peace is maintained by the promises of the 100 million to the rest that with patience and work hard all will one day enjoy lives of extravagant material affluence. … One morning all six billion wake up with a new awareness: their planet is actually a living space ship with a biologically based life support system so overstressed that it is on the verge of collapse. The economic system that promised it would eventually bring affluence to all is actually a suicide economy that is destroying the foundations of life. (03/08/02)
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News of the Best of Times and the Worst of Times – Living in Paradox