Sustainable Development is going back to principles and ideals that worked up until the Anthropocene. Its often regarded as a complex ecology viewpoint but I would argue it's actually rather simple when looking at the core fundamentals. We all learned in kindergarten how to be decent human beings. We were taught to treat others how we would like to be treated, to leave places in better condition than when we arrived, and to be anything we want to be when we grow up. Sustainable Development incorporates all of these ideologies by the three pillars; Equity, Environment, and Economy. I would argue that Henry Thoreau, E.F. Schumacher, and Rachel Carson would all agree.
I. Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an interesting and unique man whose passion was for nature and raw freedom, “Life consists with wildness. The most alive is the wildest. Not yet subdued to man, its presence refreshes him (Thoreau Pg. 108)”. Slightly ahead of his time I think Thoreau was onto issues not quite understood until a later time, he addresses many issues still being debated in sustainability today. This experiment relates deeply with both Schumacher and Carson's work but to me is a more personal and thus can’t completely be applied on a larger scale directly, though the vision he has most certainly can. Thoreau embodies the closest resemblance to freedom one could have in recent times.
Thoreau would concur with Pope Francis that “the environment itself entails ethical limits which human activity must acknowledge and respect though he would know by a more direct manor than Schumacher by the fact that his experiment at Walden would incorporate these laws and Thoreau experienced them first hand. For him nature was man and man was nature, there was no direct separation only a made up fiction in which we feel secluded and away but ultimate wealth was a state in which nature and man was in harmony “Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself? (Thoreau Pg. 138)”.
It is difficult for me to see Thoreau endorsing anything that incorporates the mass of men. Albeit I know he would be for the goals and what they would provide. I personally see Thoreau as maybe not fully understanding the position or predicament of third world citizens whose nations are enslaved to capitalism. Thoreau to me would think that the Walden experiment was possible for these people, which ironically I think he would be right if it wasn’t for them having their land and resources stripped away from them. Many indigenous peoples successfully practiced sustenance farming for years, but like them, Thoreau too would have been unable to have thrived or had his good life without the commons of Walden pond. With no land to farm his beans I wonder how Thoreau would have eaten, or without a system of trade would have been able to barter his beans for rice which he primarily ate but did not grow. While it may come off that I am anti-Thoreau I assure you I am not, I am framing a context that I believe is important to see. Which is, it’s difficult to live a sustainable life without aid. This aid can be by way of Emerson giving Thoreau the land to live on and sustain himself, the tools he had to borrow, or even nature loaning him her wood. “Near the end of March, 1845, I borrowed an axe and went down to the woods by Walden Pond, nearest to where I intended to build my house, and began to cut down some tall, arrowy white pines, still in their youth, for timber. It is difficult to begin without borrowing. (Thoreau Pg. 37)”.
II. Schumacher
E.F. Schumacher seems to be the type of person you like or you don’t. To me, he is a visionary and free thinker, someone whose work I deeply enjoy reading. In a lot of ways he seems to remind me of Thoreau, but to me, is more sensitive to the “third worlds”.
Schumacher, like Thoreau would also concur with Pope Francis that “the environment itself entails ethical limits which human activity must acknowledge and respect he stated that technology is a product of man and thus, “tends to develop by its own laws and principles, and these are very different from those of human nature or of living nature in general. Nature always, so to speak, knows where and when to stop.” As we’ve learned in science for sustainability nature naturally goes through boom and bust cycles. Unlike nature though, technology seems to defy this. What’s worse, is that we are inhibiting nature from having this natural defense mechanism and are enabling situations of only boom or only bust. This directly relates to the fundamental purpose of sustainable development and has implications on the good life of the world.
It is hard for me to see Schumacher endorsing a set of global goals all though I think he would be for the goals specifically. To me he is regarded as a critic of modernity and neo-colonialism and was very focused on village based development which would be very different than a global modern development approach. Villages have vastly different needs, goals, and problems than first world nations and thus the development plans must be different to cater to their needs. “It is helpful to recall that the limitation of power is an idea implicit in the concept of law itself. To give each his own, to cite the classic definition of justice, means that no human individual or group can consider itself absolute, permitted to bypass the dignity and the rights of other individuals or their social groupings” this quote from Pope Francis directly aligns with Schumacher's views on centralization of power or having a centralized point of authority who can press their views and ideals on the world.
For instance, I would imagine the Marshall Islands would have goal 14 significantly higher on the priority list than Canada. This is the fear I have with the SDGs and the U.N. I question whose visions and goals get priority, I question the governance and transparency in the decision making and Schumacher seemingly would agree. For example, goal two: zero hunger states, “Investments in agriculture are crucial to increasing the capacity for agricultural productivity and sustainable food production systems are necessary to help alleviate the perils of hunger (U.N SDGs 2015)”. While this statement is true, I question where and to whom these investments will flow. Will they be going to “sustainability” companies like Bayer? Is this going to be promoting GMOs as a sustainable solution for eradicating hunger? Who will have the ultimate say in choosing which solution we choose to solve achieve this goal? To provide some backing, Schumacher argued, “The best aid to give is intellectual aid, a gift of useful knowledge (Schumacher Pg. 208)”. “Give a man a fish, as the saying goes, and you are helping him a little bit for a very short while; teach him the art of fishing, and he can help himself all his life. But teach him to make his own fishing tackle and you have helped him to become not only self-supporting, but also self-reliant and independent (Schumacher Pg. 209)”. This is a resounding theme that both Schumacher and Thoreau share. Schumacher is primarily concerned with villages and villagers having the right and ability to provide for themselves while Thoreau concerned with self-reliance and independence on a more 1:1 personal level. I would argue that the best solution and path to take for achieving this goal is to take two pronged approach with traits that they both seemed to have shared. For this goal to truly be achieved power has to be given back to the people so that they have the capabilities to provide for themselves, which seemingly, is all they ever wanted in the first place.
III. Carson
Rachel Carson, on the outside, seems to be more concerned with the environmental aspect than the human one, but on a closer examination, to me, seems to find her Environmental Justice front on the roots of Human Rights and could see her entire movement being endorsed under this label. The Pope says in his speech, “The effective distribution of power (political, economic, defence-related, technological, etc.) among a plurality of subjects, and the creation of a juridical system for regulating claims and interests, are one concrete way of limiting power. Yet today’s world presents us with many false rights and – at the same time – broad sectors which are vulnerable, victims of power badly exercised: for example, the natural environment and the vast ranks of the excluded. These sectors are closely interconnected and made increasingly fragile by dominant political and economic relationships. That is why their rights must be forcefully affirmed, by working to protect the environment and by putting an end to exclusion.” This quote would be something I could imagine Carson saying as this aligns with a deep ecology philosophy which also incorporates both thoreau and schumacher's visions and ideologies. Like Schumacher, Carson also knew of the lethal implications for undoing natures work that has taken millenia to complete. “Thus he undoes the built-in checks and balances by which nature holds the species within bounds (Carson Pg. 10).” Mankind has enabled situations for invasive species and unwanted pests to thrive on our lands. To combat this we increased the rates of applying synthetic chemicals onto our soils, plants, animals, in hopes of eliminating the problems we created ourselves. To make matter worse, this chosen solution was really not a solution at all but as we now know was a positive feedback loop that only strengthened our problems. “Today we are concerned with a different kind of hazard that lurks in our environment - a hazard we ourselves have introduced into our world as our modern way of life has evolved (Carson Pg.187).” A resounding theme from Carson’s work is the interconnectedness of our planet and the things that inhabit it, this emphasis has sparked new philosophical studies and views. Its rooted in something that Thoreau too believed which was to be leary trusting experts or to be critical in examining what others just believe without thinking for themselves. Carson was more concerned with these experts publicizing information that was skewed and thus supported the poison emitting industries. Experts are usually very well versed in a single field or skill. While this isn’t a negative on its own, tunnel vision can be deadly especially when dealing with unknown consequences from nature. Carson was raising alarm at the implications of not seeing the connections. On a social level this plays out in events like fracking where short termers come in and extract resources then leave while the long term community bears the end result and lives inside the aftermath.
In the end Sustainable development, and the SDGs asks you to seek your good life in a manner that doesn’t harm the environment that we need and share or impede your neighbor from seeking their good life. For Thoreau this was independent thinking, self-reliance, and becoming one with nature. For Schumacher it was people-centered development, people-centered technology, and decentralisation. For Carson it was environmental justice, human rights, and promoting ecology as a sound science.
What is your good life?
Jordan Palmer
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