Green Community-Earth Community Development for Reviving Community Altruistic Values and Norms in the World

 Dr. Kazi Abdur Rouf

Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, Canada and

Associate Professor, Noble International University USA.

Paper presented at the Noble International University Peace Education Symposium

720 Spadina AvenueJuly 15, 2014

About the Paper This paper is the combination of ideas extracted from David Korton’s Earth Community Author’s community green development phenomenon and their significance for creating green

community society

To generate altruistic norms and values in the neighbourhoods

This paper promotes a bio-diverse green economy and green women development based on Korten’s Earth Community’ approach.

Significance of the paper/New Knowledge Korten’s thoughts on ‘Earth Community’ help people devise alternative notions

For the development of a people-centered sustainable green economy

The author thinks Korton’s Earth Community synopsis

Green community development provide readers with a synopsis of Green society might help people’s think and

Find out ways of making better altruistic green community life in the contemporary capitalistic world.

Logic Debt driven materialistic consumption economy is unsustainable ecologically

Problematic socially and unstable economically

Currently there is no model for how common macro-economic ‘aggregates’

(Production, consumption, investment, trade, capital stock, public spending, labour, and money supply and so on)

No model to account systematically for the present economic dependency on ecological variables such as resource use and ecological services.

Crisis in Capitalism 1 billion people across the world are on less $1 a day-half price of a small cappuccino in

Starbucks

A fifth of the world’s population earns just 2 per cent of global income

Richest 20 per cent by contrast earn 74 percent of the world’s income

Capitalism creates huge disparities

Even during 2008 In UK, debt was growing at the rate of £1 million every 11 minutes (Jim, p. 23)

Cumulative consumer debt stood at almost £ 1.5 trillion

Why Earth community/ Green community/Green economics needed Capitalism has fundamentally broken

Capitalism has negative effects on human lives, other living species and threat to ecology

Global economy has grown more than 5 times than it was in 1960

If it continues to grow at the same rate, it will be 80 times bigger in 2011 than it was in 1950

OECD estimated for 9 billion population , an economy needed 15 times of the today’s economy75 times bigger than what was in 1950

By 2050 40 times bigger than today’s economy (200 times bigger than in 1950 (Jackson, p. 14)

The Economic growth has failed the fragile ecological systems, we depend for survival

Why Earth community/ Green community/Green economics needed-continue

It has failed to provide economic stability and secure people’s livelihoods

Banking crisis of 2008 led the world to the brink of financial disaster

The capitalist economy runs on debt

Shopping generation-hooked on brand

Destroy Ecology: 150,000 acres of tropical rainforest are destroyed

Each day, 2 million tons of toxic waste is dumped in to our rivers and seas.

Empire and Earth Community Two terms are used by David Korton (2006)

These terms are opposite to each other

Empire Empire is conquering, influencing, dominating, and extracting resources without returning to mother

earth

Empire organizes human society through domination at all levels and gives fortune to only a few people

Great majority of individuals were impoverished

their needs being subordinated by the ruling elite

Individual choice is limited in Empire

Empire brings fortune to the few, condemns the majority to misery and

Servitude, suppresses the creative potential of all

Example: Ancient Mesopotamia, Rome, Egypt, and Greece, a new basis of organization arose:

o Empire state, which was hierarchical and

o Controlled by relatively small elite and their entourages

Empire –continue 2

During this period and after, spiritually, gods were more often male

Represented rulers and controllers

Most earthly rulers were also male

The role and the powers of women were diminished

The new rulers robbed public wealth and discriminated against women

Empire’s ruling classes maintain their control over the lives of ordinary people and resources

Through allocation of money to different communities.

Empire –continue3

Children Seniors, women, disabled people and many other people are marginalized-struggling for justice in society

Empire’s victory creates colonial elites

Colonizers transfer power of exploitations to their colony followers

There is a democratic challenge to the power of these modern empires.

Earth Community Earth Community is the reflection of collective human creativity and collective choice

Earth Community is an alternative to the alienation and sorrows of an Empire

It places life values ahead of financial values, and organizes by the principles of partnership

This Earth Community bonding helps people to challenge Empire’s power and privilege

Here cooperation among people for the benefit of community well-being

It organizes by partnership, unleashes the human potential for creative cooperation

Shares resources and surpluses for the good of all (Korton, 2006)

Earth Community-continue Humans are the architects of their own nature and future

According to Korton (2006) recent global communication technologies break down imperial domination and allow the Earth Community to prosper

Although Earth Community is characterized by deep democracy, justice to all people is difficult to realize.

Difference between Empire and Earth CommunityEmpire Earth Community

Hostile and competitive Life is supportive and cooperative

Humans are flawed and dangerous Humans have many possibilities

Order by domination and hierarchy Order through partnership

Compete or die Cooperate and live

Love power Love life

Defend the rights of the self Defend the rights of all Male dominant Gender balanced

Source: Korton, 2006, Table 1.1, p.33.

Earth Community History Human society was organized on the basis of relationships-forms informal social organizations -

David Korton terms it "Earth Community“

Cooperation was the basic principal of interaction

Earth was respected, and the needs the individual were humanely balanced with the needs of the group

However, from feudal period emperors become conquerors and started robbing

Exploiting to the defeated regions

Capitalist society become imperialists

Earth Community History-continue Before Empire, spiritually- goddess (Gods were females- representing the givers of life and

sustenance

Women enjoyed a status of full participation, with a voice in all family and village affairs

However, in different periods of empire, women’s egalitarian status transformed and Was lost to patriarchal male domination.

Why Earth community is important and needed to revive Empire’s capitalist dehumanization process creates this disparity in the world

Corporate businesses and institutions get enormous power

Expand their wealth by turning the human race into cog labour

Corporations are powerful engines of wealth concentration

85% of the resources of the planet are appropriated by 20% of the world’s people

Now corporations influence and rule the world, and are increasing their exploitative power

Corporate globalization is far more dominant than local living economies and healthy communities

Petroleum production declining and its civilization destroying Mother Earth

Why Earth community is important and needed to revive-continue

Increasing global worming due to polluted climate and its change

Military force can no longer be used to take resources from weaker nations

Poverty promises massive unrest and civil strife (conflict)

World empire is based on a corporate system that has no role for the satisfaction of human needs and Nurturing of human values

Empire system bottom line is to rule people

This wealth disparity affects human-centered ecological economics and

Results in air pollution, global warming and climate change.

Characteristics of green economics/ living economies Economic Democracy

Local Preference–local needs met by local businesses Human Scale–foster face-to-face human relationships

Fair-share Taxation

Responsive Markets–businesses respond to self-defined needs of the people

Responsibility for Harms Caused

Information and Technology

Economic Self-Determination–citizens must control their own economic future

Fair and Balanced Trade – prices must reflect full costs.

Comparison between Modern Economy and Green Economy Modern macro-economic variable is the GDP

GDP is a measure of the ‘busy-ness’ of the economy

It is resource hungry manufacturing sector

Leisure the fastest growing sectors in modern economics, responsible for 25% carbon ‘foot print’

Profit motive stimulates

Expanding consumer demand by creating a complex social logic

Private transport is incentivized over public transport; motorists are prioritized over pedestrians

Energy supply is subsidized and protected, while demand management is often chaotic and expensive; waste disposal is cheap; recycling demands time and effort

Wastage centers few and far, often overflowing with waste.

Difference between Global Empire and Local Living

Global Empire Local Living

Global Imperial Economy Local Living Economies

The defining purpose is to make to increase their power

To secure fulfilling livelihoods for all

The guiding mantra is to create global monopolies to eliminate local choice

The guiding mantra is to create beneficial local options

The rules favour absentee owners, monopoly-scale enterprises and central planning by Global Corporations.

The rules favour participating owners, human-scale enterprises, wealth creators, rights of people, and self-organization by people and communities.

Denying responsibility for public interests Recognizing the need for all living entities to protect and balance individual and community interests .

Great Turning pointsKorton believes the Great Turning’ is already underway, on a limited scale, through

Civil rights movements

Feminist, environmental peace and other social movements.

New start (Green Stimulus Packages) In 2009 recovery package has aimed to ‘kick start’ consumers’ spending, protects jobs, and

stimulate economic growth again

The global financial crisis 2008 consensus us to re-invigorate economic growth

Both liberal and coordinated market economics call for ‘kick-start’ consumer spending

Get the economies growing again

Changing the social logic consumption cannot be regulated to the realm of individual choice

Social structure can shift people`s values and behaviours.

Green deal for Sustainable Development Increase resource efficiency, renewable energy and reductions in material throughput

A massive technological shift; a significant policy effort

Changes consumer values and lifestyles- free us from the damaging social logic of consumerism

Unlocked us from growth, free us from the flow of novelty- material throughput

Aim ‘to create and saver 3 to 4 million jobs, jumpstart US economy.

Potential for ‘green’ recovery Green stimulus component main approach is public sector employment at green jobs

Conservation (low-carbon vehicles, clean energy and recycling)

Quality of life (green neighbourhoods and housing)

Environmental protection (including flood defence) and

Infrastructure IT and green transport networks.

Green Recovery Process To dismantle old institutions (capitalism) is risky

Start opening out of a public and policy dialogue of the issues

Develop green economics literatures, research

Three specific recommendations Jim Jackson (2011)

Establishing the limits: Resource and emission caps-and reduction targets

Fixing the economic model: ‘Fiscal reform for sustainability’

Support ecological transition

Changing the social logic

Promote social economy (Jack Quarter, 2009)

Develop policies, acts and strategies for social enterprise organizations ( Rouf, 2011)

Expand social businesses (Yunus, 1990).

Implications of the Study

This paper creates new knowledge, thoughts and strategies that inspire people to organize themselves against exploiting empires

To develop partnerships among marginalised people for their well-being in the community

It tells us how to use human potential for creative cooperation

Share resources for the creation of community-driven economies that are green, smart

Promote the well-being of all people.

Way forward

To eradicate injustice, inequality and exploitation from society, it is important to revive the earth community

To restore justice and equality in the contemporary society

To escape Empire’s control, it is essential develop contextual knowledge, technology, religion, and science

To build the Earth Community through mutual cooperation, community organizing and community capacity building

Deeping human community yearning for a healthy community can create a new era for the

Earth Community (Korton, 2006)

Cultural Turning, economic Turning and political turning can bring and

Can effect a positive change to Earth Community

Way forward-continue

• Strategies for cultural, economic and political turnings could generate local living economics

• To move toward local living economies, David Korten suggests

• To open political process that includes all citizens’ rights to vote and

• Unbiased media access to open political debates

• Birthing Earth Community’, talks about leadership for birthing the great new era

• Here leadership comes from below through a process of mutual empowerment

• It allows us to move forward and glimpse the possibilities of human capacity.

Conclusion This challenging community organizing against colonizers, against colonizing values and

norms can create a people-centered epic journey of self-discovery (Korton, 2006)

This determination can open doors to living communities and

Living economies with diverse and mutual benefits to common people

Earth Community not only empowers disadvantaged groups, but also cares for and Nurture the environment and the ecology

Results in stronger communities for facing disasters, and in greater sustainability and

Conclusion-continue

• Green growth of our current society

• This new turning makes the choice for life

• Gives expression to the higher potential of nature

• Restores families and community power

• However people need to organize themselves and force the few exploiters to distribute their wealth more fairly.

Thank You

Comments/Questions