Living the solution, not the problem. All life presents us with problems. It is not possible to continue living as we have in the past. As new problems emerge, solutions are required. And this process means that we are constantly living solutions, and preparing for dealing with the new set of problems that this itself creates. The process, properly thought out, is actually quite unsustainable, and if we hope to live in peace with each other and with the planet that God has bestowed upon us, a fundamental requirement is not that we live sustainably, but actually quite the opposite. If our human condition requires us to live sustainably, to maintain a way of life that we have lived for generation after generation, then we are required to continue to have bombs destroy humans, to have poisoned water kill children, to have food shortages and water shortages cause starvation and thirst. What I believe is that we want the opposite of such things, and every time we invent a medicine, improve a technology, and so on, it is not possible to live as we did before – this is the hallmark of human flourishing and progress, and is definitionally unsustainable. Just as the word “liberal” has been hijacked to imply precisely the opposite of its true meaning, so too has the word unsustainable. I propose “we” take it back.
Well said, perhaps you could add “progressive” to the list of terminology that has been subverted over time to mean something completely opposite from its original definition. By definition, your statement is progressive, yet most “progressives” would not buy into its sentiment.
Perhaps one for your posterity section, WC. I have thought of what you said, but not as you said it. This is one reason I return to the herd blog.
I think you may be defining what it means to live sustainably (sustainability?) differently than most people think of it. Would you say that living sustainably =
maintaining a way of life that we have lived for generation after generation.
I think this is different than
maintaining a way of live that [can be] lived for generation after generation
If a past way of life could not continue to be lived (e.g. bombing people), then it is, by this definition, unsustainable.