Those words were uttered almost a century ago by John Maynard Keynes, but don't be surprised if you get a fresh feeling of doom over the summer.
The reason might just be because the Rio+20 summit is coming up in about a month. It's been 20 years since the Earth Summit, which first placed major international emphasis on global warming and announced one of the best-known formulations of the precautionary principle.
The Rio+20 summit is billed as a hopeful, ambitious event that will set us on the path to a sustainable world ... to the "future we want" as the conference website says. Bear in mind, however, that you can't have a hopeful message without a backdrop of depressing hopelessness. It stands to reason that the run up to the conference will be peppered with increasingly dire news about our environment.
It seems like the Living Planet Report is getting the ball rolling. Coverage in the BBC says that wildlife has declined 30% since 1970. How do they know that?
It's hard to tell who is speaking the truth anymore because there are so many vested interests associated with these news releases. Remember when we wouldn't believe tobacco company reports about cigarettes? Then why do we believe environmental reports from environmental organizations? Their funding and mission are just as much on the line.
If we are all dead in the long then the Friend's goals will be achieved, I am sure they can be very patient.
ReplyDeleteI was dissapointed when I Googled "friends of the san juans" + "voluntary extinction movement" and got ZERO hits! These Friends are very good at hiding their connections!
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