Rex Weyler: Interesting perspective. Which economy? Governments just spent tens of trillions of dollars bailing out the failed European, North American, South American, and Asian economies. But the real issue here is that even when economies actually are “doing great,” their voracious activities continue to deplete and degrade the ecological habitat in which we live: Disappearing species, forest loss (12 million hectares / year), soil loss, acidic seas, drained aquifers, lopped off mountain tops, and a billion people starving on a warming planet. If these economies actually accounted for these burgeoning liabilities, rather than ignoring them, then you’d have to adjust your assessment that they are doing “great.” It may be comforting to claim we’re doing great, but optimism isn’t much use if it is delusional. The good news is, of course, we could do great if we learned to quiet our desire for more and began to reduce the consumption and destruction of our habitat.

Rex Weyler

Some of these sources are mentioned in the text:

Siberian Shelf Study

The 2006 Stern Report

Stern Report summary, BusinessGreen

Christopher Field’s comments in the Washington Post

Science Magazine, “Projections of Climate Change Go From Bad to Worse”

Hadley Centre, Met Office

Hadley Centre paper: Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges, Decisions

University of Copenhagen

Abstracts from the Copenhagen Scientists’ meeting

and so forth ..

rw.

when every thrush may sing no new moon in
if all screech-owls have not okayed his voice
-and any wave signs on the dotted line
or else an ocean is compelled to close

when the oak begs permission of the birch
to make an acorn – valleys accuse their
mountains of having altitude – and march
denounces april as a saboteur

then we’ll believe in that incredible
unanimal mankind (and not until)

ee cummings