Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, western society’s
economic relationship to the Earth has undergone a gradual and radical
change. While a host of technological and organizational accomplishments
have contributed to human well being, they have also severely impacted
the biosphere.
Most people in the developed world now enjoy a degree of health, safety
and comfort unimaginable only a few generations ago. But other animal
and plant species around the globe are disappearing in what is believed
to be the greatest die-off since the Jurassic period.
Global concerns now include over-consumption of natural resources,
rapid increase of greenhouse gases enhancing global warming and climate
changes, disappearing forests and fisheries, increasing levels of toxic
pollution and a widening gap between the rich and the poor. As a direct
result of such impacts, serious damage to Earth’s life support
system is a very real concern.
While economic development has been exceptionally swift and effective
in the latter half of the 20th century, overall understanding of the
impacts of such development has lagged far behind. Our expectations
appear rooted in the preindustrial era, when we believed there were
no limits to the earth's natural resources and its capacity to absorb
our waste.
Furthermore, industrial society has become highly elaborate, making
it necessary for individual members to become specialized in order to
participate in economic activity. As a result, economic decision-makers
routinely deal with information pertinent only to their area of specialty.
There has been a corresponding loss of interconnectedness among sectors
in the social order, and between the social order and the natural world.
We can be considered victims of our own success. Most people in the
developed world now live in human built environments purposefully and
effectively isolated from industrial activity -- and natural conditions
such as the natural elements and wilderness. Human built environments
provide high levels of comfort and convenience. Because most people
do not directly experience the environmental impacts of economic activity,
a numbing sense of comfort and well being continues to influence public
opinion.
Developing and guiding social and economic policy under such conditions
is a challenge to our sense of order and continuity – and it demands
new levels of creativity and cooperation. If we are to reverse these
global trends, the general principle we need to follow is relatively
simple: we need to take the ecological reality fully into account when
setting economic policy. To continue to develop as a society, and to
pursue our human aspirations, we need to move forward to a more balanced
and healthy economic condition. We need to reconcile our relationship
with the natural world.
The Story of Stuff
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all
the stuff in our lies affects communities at home and abroad, yet most
of this is hidden from view. The Story
of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the
underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story
of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of
environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more
sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you
laugh, and it just may chance the way you look at all the stuff in your
life forever.
