A Consumer Culture? Or - The Sustainable Society?

Many of us have heard the term, "Think globally -- but act locally." It's one of the most familiar catch phrases of our time. Some of us also know that it's much more than a phrase -- it's also a way to answer the most important question facing us in the 21st Century -- a question that can be boiled down to one simple sentence: Will homo sapiens survive much longer as a species on planet Earth, and, if so, will we have a planet worth living on?

That is the great question and the great challenge of our of time, as we learn more about the many frightening problems which trouble our world -- from nuclear plant meltdowns, and massive oil spills, to the wanton destruction of wildlife, and global warming -- problems that can possibly lead some of us conclude that the answer to that question is -- no. The human race is doomed. It's out of our hands. It's far too late.

There are also those who continue to insist that we cannot have a clean environment and a healthy economy at the same time -- forgetting that you cannot have a healthy economy if the people who live in that economy are not healthy.

It doesn't matter if you still have a job if you can't get to that job because your ability to breathe is compromised by toxins in the air -- as a recently released, and alarming study on the carcinogenic effects of diesel truck fumes in our area has shown.

No economy, no matter how high the Gross Domestic Product, will bring us health and our Constitutional right to pursue happiness as our Founding Fathers envisioned, if the environment ceases to provide the products we actually need, such as clean air to breathe -- unpolluted water to drink -- and healthy food to eat. Without these, it doesn't matter how many millions of "goodies" our consumer culture delivers, if we can't have what we need to live, then all the rest is irrelevant.

However, some of us remain hopeful. Some of us believe that another future is possible, and that one of our great challenges is to reject the cynicism of pessimists on the one hand, and the denials of others who continue to insist blindly that there is no problem. These are some of the same defenders of the status quo who have always impeded human progress since the first tribesman warned the others not to venture into the darkness because of the evil spirits lurking there.

Some of the hopeful people -- the people who do know there's a problem, but refuse to fall into the traps of either denial or despair -- people like city councilman, Jon Harrison, and members of the Redlands Sustainability Network, are calling for action right here in Redlands -- which is one of the best ways I know of to think globally, but act locally.

We need to move beyond the either/or thinking of jobs versus the environment, and instead embrace the knowledge that we're all in this together; that we're all a part of the web of life; and that the fate of the environment is the fate of us all. Let's help Redlands be an example for other cities across the nation and across the world that are ready to step up as well, and embark on an exciting adventure which can take us from a consumer culture to the sustainable society.