In the long run we all dead !
(Lord Keyness)
>From: "Hira D.G." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: "lingkungan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [lingkungan] merajut masa depan dunia
>Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 20:08:43 +0700
>
>
>Teman-teman milis lingkungan,
>
>Setelah absen agak lama, berikut ini saya kirimkan artikel yang mungkin
>menarik untuk bahan pemikiran kita menjelang abad 21 tahun depan (katanya
>abad 21 dimulai tahun 2001). Artikel tersebut ditulis oleh Martin Khor dari
>Third world Network dan bebas dikutip asal menyebutkan sumbernya.
>
> > Salam
>hira
> >
> >
> >
> > FIGHTING FOR OUR SURVIVAL IN THE NEXT CENTURY
> >
> > Blurb: The new year has landed on us without the Millennium Bug
>crisis,
> > but with stock market instability caused by Wall Street jitters. But in
>the
> > new century, the big battles may not be all about finance, economics or
> > politics. The biggest issue could be survival of humanity and Earth.
>As
> > people continue to plunder Nature, there might not be a next Millennium
> > either for us or for the Earth.
> >
> > By Martin Khor
> >
> > ---------------------
> >
> >
> > The world has survived the first ten of the Millenium. A relief for
>many
> > people. The first test---the so-called Millenium Bug---was passed with
> > flying colours, so much so that there was a sense of anti-climax that
> > nothing dramatic happened.
> >
> > Then, of course, there was the fall in Wall Street share values, that
>has
> > reverberated all over the world, including at the Kuala Lumpur Stock
> > Exchange.
> >
> > No one knows if that will be just another temporary blip on the way to
>new
> > record highs for the Wall Street indices. Or whether the Big One, the
> > long-anticipated puncturing of the US stock market balloon, has finally
> > arrived.
> >
> > The most unexpected big-news event at the turn of the year was Boris
> > Yeltsin's resignation as Russian President. Long after it was clear he
> > could no longer hold the reins of power, due to his health, Yeltsin
>finally
> > bowed out before his term expired.
> >
> > The pulverising of Chechnya and Gozny continues, as the most horrifying
> > event of the New Year season. It isn't nice, thinking that Yeltsin's
>chosen
> > successor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, will probably win the
>Presdential
> > elections by a landslide on account of the levelling of Grozny.
> >
> > Computer technology, the financial markets, big-power politics are
> > dominating the news headlines at the start of the century.
> >
> > But in the longer run, even these large issues may fade compared to the
> > environmental crisis that is likely to plague the next many years and
> > decades.
> >
> > An English professor has even predicted that there will be no humanity
>left
> > in the next millennium, and maybe no Earth as well.
> >
> > "There isn't going to be a human race in 1,000 years," said London
>School
>of
> > Economics professor Ian Angell. There are too many people and they ae
>using
> > up the seed corn.
> >
> > A Reuters New Year article (Star, 1 Jan) also quotes the Hadley Centre
>(that
> > specialises in climate research) that Earth may be uninhabitable in the
>year
> > 3,000 since global warming will make the planet twice as hot by then.
> > The Antarctic ice sheet would disintegrate, the sea would rise up to
>five
> > metres and swallow up whole counties.
> >
> > These warnings are an antidote to the kind of theorising going on about
>what
> > life will be like a thousand years hence. In various parts of the
>world,
> > even in a village in Miri, Sarawak, people are putting their favourite
> > things in "time capsules" to inform future generations of what we were
>like
> > at the turn of the millennium.
> >
> > But what if there is no one left a few hundred years from now to care
>about
> > how we live now?
> >
> > Or if some people are still alive, and are struggling for survival in an
> > ecologically-damaged world, will they look back at our generation and
>blame
> > us for carrying out the great destruction of Nature that led to the end
>of
> > their world?
> >
> > As the new century begins, we are witnessing battles for sharing the
>world's
> > limited resources. The failure of the WTO's Seattle Conference was a
> > reflection of that fight.
> >
> > The rich nations wanted more liberalisation, to open further the
>developing
> > world's economies so that their companies can sell more products and
>extract
> > more raw materials more easily in the poorer countries.
> >
> > The developing countries meanwhile wanted to protect what is left of
>their
> > economic sovereignty and their right to decide how much and when to open
>up
> > their markets, so that their local firms and farms can still survive.
> >
> > That battle between North and South, rich and poor, will certainly go
>on.
> >
> > But parallel to that social and economic drama is the fight of Nature to
> > survive against the behaviour of Man.
> >
> > There is a long list of environmental ills that grow by the day in
>intensity
> > and number of issues.
> >
> > They include: climate change caused by emission of carbon dioxide and
>other
> > "Greenhouse gasses"; deforestation that is wiping out soils and trees,
> > causing river silting, and affecting rainfall patterns; water depletion
>and
> > shortages that spell thirst, drought and even war among nations in the
>near
> > future; toxic substances and wastes that are poisoning rivers and soils
>and
> > harming our health; the threat of nuclear accidents, spewing deadly
> > radiation.
> >
> > These are only some of the major problems that are already so well
>known.
> > Then there's the raging debate on the promises of genetic engineering
>versus
> > its perils.
> >
> > The same genetic engineering that is supposed to develop new hardy crops
>and
> > new methods of curing diseases, is now accused of also being able to
> > contaminate and harm traditional crop varieties and other plants, to
>cause
> > our food supplies to be harmful to health, and to create new strains of
> > deadly viruses, bacteria and diseases.
> >
> > Although ecological problems are seen as scientific issues, in reality
>they
> > are economic and social in nature as well and at source.
> >
> > The main causes of environmental stress are "unsustainable patterns of
> > production and consumption." This is a phrase made famous by the Earth
> > Summit of 1992 where for the first time the world's political leaders
> > admitted there was a global ecological crisis and that it was linked to
>our
> > economic system and social behaviour.
> >
> > Technologies we use are harmful to natural resources, either depleting
>or
> > polluting them. Too much resources are being used, far above the level
>at
> > which they can be replenished. There is too much pollution and
> > contamination of air, water and land---far beyond the capacity the world
>has
> > to absorb them.
> >
> > And the irony is that a large part of what the huge production machinery
> > produces are things which are not needed. They comprise the luxury
>products
> > and services that the well-to-do splurge on because their incomes are
>far
> > above the level they require to satisfy their basic needs.
> >
> > The very wide income gap between the rich and poor has resulted in this
> > ironic and irrational phenomenon---where the poor majority of the world
>have
> > too few resources under their control and thus they cannot satisfy their
> > simple needs, whilst a rich minority have so much wealth that they must
> > spend most of it on luxuries they don't really need.
> >
> > The economy however requires that the rich and the not-so-rich spend
>more
> > and more, so that the wheels of demand and supply can churn on.
>Advertising
> > and the "consumer culture" are used to create the wants that persuade us
>to
> > part with the money we have or even with the money we don't have (but
>which
> > we can borrow through credit cards or bank loans).
> >
> > But the more that luxuries are consumed, the faster is the rate of
>economic
> > activity that depletes and pollutes the Earth's limited resources. And
>the
> > greater the ecological problems, the nearer the day of reckoning when
>Nature
> > is unable to absorb any more of humanity's irrational and uncaring
> > behaviour.
> >
> > What may seem logical for each family or nation to do (to compete for
>higher
> > growth, more cash and cars, hard-wood furniture, TV sets and computers)
>is
> > illogical from the overall point of view of the need to conserve
>resources
> > so that the economic system is "sustainable" through time and for
> > generations to come.
> >
> > For our survival, and Earth's, change must come, very soon and in basic
> > ways, in our system of production and consumption, and in through
>fairer
> > distribution of income and resources between and within countries.
> >
> > But social and economic change is most difficult because of vested
>interests
> > that strive to protect their privileges, and because old habits die
>hard.
> >
> > That is why those who observe global and social trends are pessimistic
>that
> > humanity will voluntarily change to save itself and the world. Only
>when
> > the environment (or significant parts of it) obviously collapse will
>people
> > be forced to consider and to implement change.
> >
> > So there we have that big choice---either we change our ways and thus
> > prevent an ecological collapse, or the ecological collapse will come and
> > then
> > force us to change our ways.
> >
> > The problem with the second choice is that by then it may be much too
>late
> > to avoid great and grievous harm. The first choice is therefore much
> > preferable. But as mentioned earlier, voluntary change is most
>difficult
> > (even impossible) when there are so many vested interests trying to
>protect
> > a system which benefits them.
> >
> > Not an optimistic thought with which to begin a new millennium. But
>maybe
> > the right frame with which to appreciate the odds against us, and thus
>to
> > begin to change mindsets everywhere.
> >
> > Humanity must protect Nature, for only in doing so can we protect
>ourselves
> > and ensure life for future generations.
> >
> >
> > ends
> >
> > Martin Khor
>Director
>Third World Network
>Penang, Malaysia
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>--
>To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
>
>
>
>
>
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
--
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
