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We can’t simply “turn of” the system without creating a stateo global instability.Barnhizer ‘06 [David R. Barnhizer, Emeritus Professor at Cleveland StateUniversity’s Cleveland-arshall Colle!e of "a#, $%%&. '(a)in! from Sustaina*ility+s

mossi*le Dream/ 0he De1isionma)in! Realities of Business and 2overnment,3Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 456 2eo. nt+l Envtl. ". Rev.7879 ln:

he scale o social nee!s " inclu!ing the nee! or e#pan!e! pro!ucti$eacti$ity" has grown so large that it cannot be shut of at all" an! certainlynot abruptly. %t cannot e$en be ratchete! !own in any signi&cant ashionwithout pro!ucing serious harms to human societies an! hun!re!s omillions o people . '$en i it were possible to shit bac( to systems o localsel)su*ciency" the conse+uences o the transition process woul! becatastrophic or many people an! e$en !ea!ly to the point o continualcon,ict" resource wars" increase! po$erty" an! strie. What are nee!e! are

concrete" wor(able" an! pragmatic strategies that pro!uce efecti$e an!intelligently !esigne! economic acti$ity in speci&c conte#ts  and, #hile see)in!

e;1ien1y and 1onservation, la1e e1onomi1 and so1ial <usti1e hi!h on a list of riorities. n&% he imperati$eo economic growth applies not only to the nee!s an! e#pectations opeople in economically !e$elope! societies but also to people li$ing innations that are currently economically un!er!e$elope!. -pportunitiesmust be create!" obs must be generate! in huge numbers" an! economicresources e#pan!e! to a!!ress the trage!ies o po$erty an! ine+uality ./nortunately" natural systems must be e#ploite! to achie$e this wecannot return to '!en. he +uestion is not how to achie$e a static statebut how to achie$e what is nee!e! to a!$ance social ustice while a$oi!ingan! mitigating the most !estructi$e conse+uences o our beha$ior.

 1our “try or !ie” assessments are wrong 2 the reection oinstitutions spar(s war" star$ation" an! new orms oe#ploitation.3onbiot ‘04 [2eor!e on*iot, 0he 2uardian, $%%8, s there any oint in =!htin!to stave o> industrial ao1alyse?, ###.!uardian.1o.u)@1ommentisfree@1if-!reen@$%%8@au!@5A@environment-1limate-1han!e: dete1t in your #ritin!s, and in the 1onversations #e have had, an attra1tion to#ards almost a yearnin! for thisao1alyse, a sense that you see it as a 1leansin! =re that #ill rid the #orld of a diseased so1iety. f this is your

vie#, do not share it. +m sure #e 1an a!ree that the imme!iate conse+uences o collapsewoul! be hi!eous5 the brea(!own o the systems that (eep most o usali$e mass star$ation war. hese alone surely gi$e us su*cient reason to&ght on " howe$er aint our chances appear. But even if #e #ere someho# a*le to ut this

out of our minds, *elieve that what is li(ely to come out on the other si!e will be

worse than our current settlement. ere are three o*servations/ 5 -ur species 4unli)e

most of its mem*ers9 is tough an! resilient $ When ci$ilisations collapse"psychopaths ta(e o$er We sel!om learn rom others7 mista(es. rom the =rst

o*servation, this follo#s/ even if you are hardened to the fate of humans, you 1an surely see that our se1ies #ill

not *e1ome eFtin1t #ithout 1ausin! the eFtin1tion of almost all others. 8owe$er har! we all" wewill reco$er su*ciently to lan! another hammer blow on the biosphere . (e

#ill 1ontinue to do so until there is so little left that even omo saiens 1an no lon!er survive. 0his is the e1olo!i1al

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destiny of a se1ies ossessed of outstandin! intelli!en1e, oosa*le thum*s and an a*ility to interret and eFloitalmost every ossi*le resour1e in the a*sen1e of oliti1al restraint. rom the se1ond and third o*servations, this

follo#s/ instea! o gathering as ree collecti$es of hay householders, sur$i$ors othis collapse will be subect to the will o people see(ing to monopoliseremaining resources. his will is li)ely to be impose! through $iolence.9olitical accountability will be a !istant memory. he chances o

conser$ing any resource in these circumstances are appro#imately zero.he human an! ecological conse+uences o  the =rst !lo*al collapse are li(ely to

persist or many generations, erhas for our se1ies+ remainin! time on earth. o imaginethat goo! coul! come o the in$oluntary ailure o in!ustrial ci$ilisation is

also to succumb to !enial . 0he ans#er to your Guestion #hat #ill #e learn from this 1ollase? is

nothin!.