The Earth Crisis is a crazy dance of seven-point-something
billion people making a mess of the planet.
It is a huge and complex problem with ancient roots. The long-term ideal would be a transition to
sustainable living, a mode that most cultures have forgotten. What does sustainable mean? A sustainable way of life is one that can
survive for many thousands of years without diminishing the ecosystem. Long ago, our ancestors lived in a relatively
sustainable way.
Today, variations of the word sustainable can be heard and
read dozens of times per day. Beware! Almost always, the word is used to present a
fantasy of purely ersatz sustainability — like saving the world by shopping or
magical thinking. The goals of this book
are far more dignified and elevated. It
attempts to understand good old-fashioned fundamentalist sustainability. The four directions of this book are
sustainable population, sustainable worldview, sustainable food, and
reconnection with our past, our ancestors, and our non-human relatives — the
living world.
We live in an era of big uncomfortable changes, and the
future promises more of the same. Our
current mode of living is in a process of disintegration, for many reasons, and
its collapse cannot be prevented. Many
possible paths lie before us, and some of them may have a future. By definition, unsustainable ways of living
can only be temporary.
We are screwed if we don’t understand the authentic meaning
of sustainability. Dreaming of a
sustainable future based on high technology or abundant energy is magical
thinking. There is no amazing silver
bullet solution to the Earth Crisis that lies buried under a big rock
somewhere, just waiting to be found. It
is naïve to imagine that the generation alive today can set everything
right. Healing will take centuries, but
all of us are capable of making generous contributions to the process.
In writing this book, I made a deliberate effort to think
outside of our standard worldview and its myths. I made an effort to present ideas from a
perspective that is more Earth-centered, closer to the perspective of our
ancestors who lived sustainably. The
path to healing is primarily going to be a head trip. Healing begins when we make a decision to
accept responsibility for our lives, when we weed out toxic beliefs, when we
understand eco-history, when we spend more time outdoors, when we move in the
direction of clear thinking.
This book is not a catalog of solutions. It does not provide detailed instructions for
the correct path home. It does not
reveal the one and only Truth. It
explores many realms of knowledge, and expresses many controversial
opinions. Don’t trust me. Learn for yourself and think for
yourself. One thing is certain: the
future demands a radically more intelligent worldview and skill set — and a
genuinely healthy future will have little in common with the way we live today.
What is
Sustainable is available as a modestly priced paperback, or as a bargain
priced Kindle download. At the Amazon
page for this book, the Look Inside feature is enabled, which allows you to
examine the table of contents, and view sample sections.
Kindle downloads can be read on your computer, tablet, or
phone using free
software — you don’t need to buy a Kindle.
Lending is enabled, so buyers can temporarily “lend” the digital book to
a friend. Also, Amazon Prime members can
“borrow” the book from Amazon, free of charge.
This book is enrolled in the Kindle MatchBook program, which allows
those who have purchased the paperback to buy the Kindle version at a large
discount.
The paperback should be available via most independent
booksellers. Approved booksellers can
buy books at wholesale prices via CreateSpace
Direct.
