I Had a nightmare last night in which the world was ending and society was collapsing. I woke up, and lay there for ages thinking, could it happen? It is something that I think more and more about now that we have Emma.
Every day we are reading stories about the damage we are doing to the environment, resources running out, an ever increasing population, rampant consumerism and you have to think that there is a tipping point and that the way we are living is unsustainable.
So, I did some reading and it seems civilisation as we know it, is at a crossroads. I read about the Global Scenario Group, a team of environmental scholars who have analysed future paths for the world development and they came up with three scenarios:
Conventional worlds
We continue with no major surprises, market forces, new technology and policy adjustments allay environmental issues as they arise.
Barbarisation
The world descends into conflict and collapse, the richer countries fortify themselves, manage their remaining resources and protect their interests.
The Great Transition
This favoured scenario envisions practical solutions to the social, economic, and environmental pressures. It is a future in which fundamental societal values change – materialism and self-interest decline replaced by new notions of “the good life” inclusive of human solidarity and environmental sustainability. The potential of a Great Transition is linked to the emergence of a “global citizens movement” to advocate for new values to underpin global society.
I think that we could be on the verge of a massive change in our society, we may take one of these paths or our society could collapse completely. Societies like ours don’t seem to work, we have a massive growth in population and depletion of resources. Gradually as the population increases, the production of food just can’t keep up with demand and societal collapse could occur.
Sorry to bring you down guys, whose up for the self sufficient hippy commune?
