Alternatives to Economic Globalization: Applications for the ten principles of a sustainable society
According to Alternatives to Economic Globalization, the creation of a sustainable society involves at least ten core principles. These principles systematically attack or prevent many of the most devastating and perennial societal issues.
“All of these subjects are treated as if they were unrelated. This is a disservice to an insecure public that is trying to figure out what is going on. People are not being helped to understand the dozens of major issues – overcrowded cities, unusual weather patterns, the growth of global inequality, the spread of new diseases, the lowering of wages as profits and CEO salaries soar, the elimination of social services, the destruction of the environment – are all part of the same global process.”
The principles:
- New Democracy- Is an egalitarian approach to economics. Every person is a participant in the economy; we have voices and we vote in economic and societal issues. In this “New Democracy”, we can continue to champion for our ethics with our money. This could mean a simple but deliberate boycott (“I won’t buy gas from…”) or directing your money from Big Corporate to the little local guy.
- Subsidiarity- The UK Parliament said it best, “protect the local, globally”. Localizing purchases improves the livability of the local economy and also reduces the distance raw material and final products travel to meet end users. The implications from this principle in particular are almost impossible to trace, but note: integrating the local into your patterns will set in motion a positive ripple effect.
- Ecological Sustainability- “…limit consumption and exploitation”. Conserving resources allows us to meet today’s needs without compromising our ability to meet tomorrow’s.
- Common Heritage- Ecological resources ( “the commons”) cannot be monopolized. History, culture, and civil services (like unemployment) belong to everyone.
- “The right of indigenous people to remain different and diverse”- “We have the collective and individual right to maintain and develop our distinct identities and characteristics, including our right to identify ourselves as indigenous and be recognized as such.” I have the right to attempt to legitimize BuBo (the bumpkin-bourgeois) as a subculture. As we know, broad cultural homogeneity is suffocating. Neighborhoods that resist adopting a standardized one-size culture and retain their “indigenous” traits – even if that indigenous trait is entertaining, like Philadelphia’s Mummers Parades – will outlast (and be happier) than the neighborhoods which compress and conform.
- Human Rights- In 1948, the UN set forth, as Alternative to Globalization quotes,”a standard of living adequate for…health and well being…including food, clothing, housing, medical care, necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment.” My development of livable and affordable lowest common denominator housing is meant to advance architecture as a human right.
- Jobs, Livelihood, Employment- Localizing your purchases and taking an interactive role to develop policy are two of the simplest routes to improve the neighborhood economy. In his book, The Green Collar Economy, Van Jonessays, “When you think about the emerging green economy, don’t think of George Jetson with a jet pack. Think of Joe Sixpack with a hard hat and lunch bucket, sleeves rolled up, going off to fix America.” And in Gifford Pinchot’s, The Fight for Conservation, he says, “The first great fact about conservation is that it stands for development. There has been a fundamental misconception that conservation means nothing but the husbandry of resources for future generations. There could be no more serious mistake.” Pinchot continues, “Conservation does mean provision for the future generations, but it means also and first of all, the recognition and right of the present generation to the fullest necessary use of all the resources with which this country is so abundantly blessed.”
- Food, Security, and Safety- Many of us (author included) have never lived in inadequate housing. Security, privacy, and dignity should be affordable to every human being. When referring to architecture, I refer to this principle as the “lowest common denominator” or “the holy trinity” – “green” design is a virtue, but it will continue to be largely unaffordable to the masses for some time. We can’t insist on sustainability without recognizing that there are basic rights, like safety, which can’t be reduced any further. Many poor Americans subsist on an inadequate quantity or quality of food, while the rest of us enjoy more than our fair share. This principle is supported by the requests above: to limit consumption and to localize. Be a “locavore”. Supporting nearby food producers improves your local economy, decreases total distribution costs (man power, carbon foot print, vehicle wear and tear), and humanizes the usually private chain of supply and demand.
- Equity- Equity is possibly the touchiest of the ten principles. We are “abundantly blessed” with resources - natural, human, and economic – and we could split them more evenly. Enough said.
- Precautionary Principles-Or “the ostrich effect”: “That is, when a practice or product raises potentially significant threats of harm to human heath or the environment, precautionary action should be taken to restrict or ban it, even if there is scientific uncertainty.” I am curious what event provoked the authors of Alternative to Economic Globalization to include this last principle. I tried to apply the idea of “shoot and ask questions later” to our current events, but it still seems unreasonable to not take (calculated) risks. It’s key to weigh possible risk and gain, not avoid all possible risk – if this principle was widely abided by, we’d short circuit most new medical advancements as a “precautionary action” to avoid possible risk and successfully avoid all possible gain.
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