jim merkel: radical simplicity part 1
DESCRIPTION
Jim Merkel of Dartmouth College on SimplicityTRANSCRIPT
Sustainable Design – what is it?Radical Simplicity
Radically Simple LivingCan Save:
• TIME
• MONEY
• FOOTPRINTAnd can
a personal and institutional response to:
• War
• Global poverty
• Ecological crisis
• Personal health
• Stress
• Boring trivial work
Humanity’s Consumption
Compared to
Biospheric Production
Quantifying Sustainability
1-800-NASA
Intact Ecosystems
provide Services:
Water Purification
Carbon Sequestration
Climate Regulation
Soil Retention
Wildlife Habitat
Pollination
An Anthropocentric Analysis
“What you people call your natural resources
our people call our relatives.”
Oren Lyons -- Onondaga
A TAIL OF ONE GUY WITH A BIG FOOT PRINT
In the beginning – was this arms
dealer
Who seemed happy selling
top-secret cryptographic
computers
But life at the top began to feel lonely
The horrors of war and the cries of the Earth disturbed his sleep…
He visited the Navajo resisting forced relocation
He witnessed other weenies
with ties courageously
speak out against subsidies to automobile
drivers.
But when he watched the Raging Grannies cross the line to stop a nuclear test in Nevada…
He had no choice as to what side of the line he was going to stand on – for ever.
Unsung heroes unleashed his
tears
The tipping point was:
the Exxon Valdez Oil spill
Tools for Change
Your Money or your Life -- Financial Independence
Savings
interest income
Earnings
Spending
Crossover point
Time
Money
The Journey to Radical simplicity begins…
Fellowship to study Kerala’s quality of Life
Small families – low infant mortality
Cooperative Mind
60% of gov. spending on healthcare and education. More libraries than all of India.
Abundant food – playful people
Open Prison – 280 murderers – guards carry no weapons, there are no fences
“We better treat them nice.
They are all murderers.”
When asked about the philosophy of the treatment of the prisoners, the guard said…
Chendren and Appicherican
of the Kani Tribe of Kerala’s
Western Ghats
Still hunting and gathering
Setting off on a questin the Indian Himalayas – how to reduce consumption in North America
In the rain shadow
ZanskarHimalayas
Crossing pass to Kargia
Zache zola song
Fellow traveler
Rang Bow Gung Gen in the background
Passing chortens while meditating
Mantras
Kargia -- Zanskar
Fossil Fuel Free inspiration from
villagers
See the footprint from this vantage
Returned home to start the Global Living Project
In 1996 – First GLP team
Set out to live equitable among all humanity, all species and future generations
The gleaned bumps & experiences led to…
Radical Simplicity
Ecological FootprintingYour Money or Your Life
Learning from Nature
There is the “Thrill”
Radical Simplicity explores the many sides to sustainability –
And there is the “Nurture”
And then…
just having fossil fuel free fun!
And figuring out how to get small – without magic dust
But also, sustainability in a global context is serious business
“…no longer than a decade, at the most…,” Dr. James Hansen
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Heads the NASA Institute for Space Studies in New York City
Nineteen of the hottest 20 years on record occurred since 1980. -- The Union of Concerned Scientist
• Warming Is “unequivocal”
• Widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level
• Carbon dioxide and methane “exceeds by far the natural range over the last 650,000 years”
IPCC Fourth Assessment
Species are moving poles-ward at about four miles per decade.
“Isotherms” are moving pole-ward at about thirty-five miles per decade.
failing to gain enough weight during the summer to breed
Over 200 species go extinct every day
1000 times faster than natural rate
Iraqi Deaths Related to Shock and Awe
• 654,965 excess deaths related to the war, or 2.5% of the population, through the end of June 2006.
– Published in The Lancet, one of the oldest peer-reviewed medical journals founded in 1823.
Gulf War Deaths
• 205,500 Iraqis died in 1991 from effects of the Gulf war or postwar turmoil (approximates).– Beth Osborne Daponte, Carnegie Mellon University
• The U.S. suffered 148 combat deaths and 145 non-battle deaths during the Gulf War and the buildup to it.
Iraqi Infant Mortality(under 1)
• 40 in 1990 • 102 in 2005
US Prison PopulationHighest in the World
• 1 in 142 US residents now in prison
• Topped 2 million in 2002
– Justice Department
• 714 USA• 532 Russia• 413 South
Africa• 207 Libya• 194 Iran• 116 Canada• 100 Nicaragua• 91 France• 83 Venezuela• 65 Norway• 29 India
Per 100,000
Too Much, Not Enough
• If current trends continue, obesity will become the leading cause of death by next year.
• Surpassing 500,000 deaths annually, rivaling the number of annual deaths from cancer
– Julie L. Gerberding, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Radical Disparity
Wealthiest Billion
$70 per day
Poorest Billion
$0.25 per day
Global Gap = 250:1 and growing
Inter-human equity
The face of poverty
How Much Earth is There?
28 Billion Bio-productive Acres
Divided by
6.3 Billion People
Living Planet Report, 2003 Data