[net-gold] McKibben Versus Hedges' Clash of Worldviews

From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2011 20:48:30 -0500 (EST)

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Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:53:40 -0500
From: DAVID P. DILLARD <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, temple-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
    net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
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Subject: [Net-Gold] McKibben Versus Hedges' Clash of Worldviews

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From: Richard Hake <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 2:24 PM
Subject: [Net-Gold] McKibben Versus Hedges' Clash of Worldviews
To: PHYSOC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, phys-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Some PHYSOC and Phys-L subscribers may be interested in "McKibben
Versus Hedges' Clash of Worldviews" [AlterNet (2009)]. The AlterNet
editor states [bracketed by lines "EEEEEE. . . . ."; my insert at ".
. . . .[[insert]]. . . . ."]:

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

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The following two articles below by Bill McKibben and Chris Hedges
illustrate a key point of debate in thinking about how to solve our
environmental crisis. Environmental activist and writer McKibben, in
"YES! Magazine" <http://www.yesmagazine.org/> on October 15, writes
that we can't let the atmosphere contain more than 350 million parts
per million of carbon dioxide, or else face total environmental
catastrophe, problem being that we've already passed this number.
He's helped organize a day of action on October 24 to push and make
it happen.

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Chris Hedges' response in TruthDig <http://www.truthdig.com> channels
the radical thinking of Derek Jensen . . .
[[<http://tinyurl.com/yco3fyq>]]. . . . . and argues that there is no
possible way to address the release of carbon dioxide without
addressing the way industrial society without addressing corporate
power: "The reason the ecosystem is dying is not because we still
have a dryer in our basement. It is because corporations look at
everything, from human beings to the natural environment, as
exploitable commodities. It is because consumption is the engine of
corporate profits." A very important debate, arguably on potentially
the most important issue of our lives --

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

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Compare the Hedges/Jensen dim view of capitalism with that of Gus
Speth (2009) in "The Bridge at the Edge of the World." The Yale
University Press blurb reads:

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"How serious are the threats to our environment? Here is one measure
of the problem: if we continue to do exactly what we are doing, with
NO growth in the human population or the world economy, the world in
the latter part of this century will be unfit to live in. Of course
human activities are not holding at current levels-they are
accelerating, dramatically-and so, too, is the pace of climate
disruption, biotic impoverishment, and toxification. In this book Gus
Speth, author of "Red Sky at Morning" and a widely respected
environmentalist, begins with the observation that the environmental
community has grown in strength and sophistication, but the
environment has continued to decline, to the point that we are now at
the edge of catastrophe. SPETH CONTENDS THAT THIS SITUATION IS A
SEVERE INDICTMENT OF THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SYSTEM WE CALL MODERN
CAPITALISM. [My CAPS.] Our vital task is now to change the operating
instructions for today's destructive world economy before it is too
late. The book is about how to do that."

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Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands.
<rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/>
<http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com/>
<http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>

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REFERENCES

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AlterNet. 2009. "McKibben Versus Hedges' Clash of Worldviews: How Do
We Solve the Environmental Crisis?" 24 October; online at
<http://tinyurl.com/y8cnjyz>. "Bill McKibben believes we must reduce
our carbon emissions immediately, or else face disaster. Chris Hedges
says that until we defeat corporate power, we can't address anything."

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Lorinc, J. 2009. "Q & A: Economics and the Environment." NYT Green
Inc. blog; interview with Speth; online at
<http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/q-a-economics-and-the-environment/>.

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Speth, G. 2009. "The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the
Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability," Yale
University Press; publisher's information at
<http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300151152>.
Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/ydwgjcl>; note the
searchable "Look Inside" feature. See also Lorinc (2009) and Speth's
website at <http://www.thebridgeattheedgeoftheworld.com/>.

[net-gold] McKibben Versus Hedges' Clash of Worldviews

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