a followup to recent discussions re: the economic meltdown Begin forwarded message:
> From: "E. F. Schumacher Society" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: December 1, 2008 5:45:37 AM EST > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Scale Limitations/Shaping a Future Economy > > Dear Margaret McCasland > > John Fullerton described the current financial collapse in his May > 2008 > essay "The Relevance of E. F. Schumacher in the 21st Century." It > now seems > prophetic. > > In the same article he warned us not to look to the tweaking of > current > economic systems to solve our problems, but rather to reach to the > teachings > of our common wisdom traditions to find new ways of assessing the > truth of > our situation and to collectively build new economic systems that > are just, > ecologically responsible, and permanent. In fact he names this > rebuilding > as the central task of concerned citizens in the first decades of this > century. > > We have posted his full article at the E. F. Schumacher Society's > website > (http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/publications/fullerton_08.html) and > have > excerpted sections of it below for your reading. > > Best wishes, > Staff of the E. F. Schumacher Society > 140 Jug End Road > Great Barrington, MA 01230 > www.smallisbeautiful.org > > ******************************** > Excerpts from: > "The Relevance of E. F. Schumacher in the 21st Century" > By John Fullerton > May, 2008 > > Our global economic system is broken not because of the credit > crisis; it is > broken because it is predicated on perpetual, resource driven growth > with no > recognition of scale limitations. > > What we are not hearing, at least in the mainstream media, is a > critical > reframing of the questions that address root causes. . . . . > We are > not hearing a debate about the sustainability of a perpetually growing > global economic system nested within our finite biosphere. We are not > hearing a debate about the wisdom of allowing financial power (and > systemic > risk) to be increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few financial > institutions of increasing complexity and scale. We are not publicly > questioning the wisdom of the system we have allowed to evolve in > response > to capital's quest for ever increasing financial returns. Nor are we > debating where to look for creative responses. > > However, nothing could be more important at this critical time. > What we > must grasp is that the financial crisis we are reacting to is but a > cyclical > side show to the bigger issues we face regarding the sustainability > of our > economic system. We should see the present financial crisis as a > wake up > call to this far greater challenge. We should search with an open > mind for > the wisdom we need to transition our economic system onto a > sustainable > path, grounded in ecological reality, with a respect for human > justice and a > deep appreciation for all life. > > What is needed is nothing less than a new economic myth, which > incorporates > the central issue of scale in order to supplant and transcend the > "invisible > hand" of the free market. We need a "post-modern (post-materialist) > economic theory". > > At the beginning of the 20th century, scale did not matter. At > start of the > 21st century, scale redefines our economic challenge. > > [ . . .] deleted by MM* > > Transitioning to a sustainable and just economic system is the > ultimate > challenge of the 21st century. History no doubt will judge our > generation > by how well we acknowledge, embrace and take up this challenge. > > ****************************** > John Fullerton is a former Managing Director of JPMorgan where he > worked for > 18 years in New York, London, and Tokyo, and subsequently was CEO of > an > energy focused hedge fund. He is now seeking to launch an > investment fund > focused on investing in high impact sustainability initiatives, and is > working on The Purpose of Capital, a book about the role of investment > capital in sustainable economics. He is a friend and supporter of > the E. F. > Schumacher Society in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. John can be > reached > at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > *--email Margaret for full text of abridged version OR follow link > above to original article _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
