Blog Action Day 2008 – Poverty

To me, poverty, disease, famine, hunger, and the world of isms that perpetuate them can all be tracked back to one phenomenon: the loss of natural resources, which in turn can be traced back to one major societal character defect: greed.

We live in a world that is dramatically using resources much faster than the planet can regenerate them, all to support our get-as-rich-as-possible, growth-before-human well-being, have-and-have-not capitalist society. Greed’s wake has had devastating effects on people throughout history: wars, slavery, imperialism, colonization, genocide, ghettos, jails – and perhaps worst of all, our environment is collapsing around us. Certainly, we have our favorite sneakers and our iPhones, but are we happy? The answer is no. Particularly not when, in the back of your mind, you know folks in Sudan have literally no food, and poverty in the US is rising faster than the unemployment rate and the eviction rate, which is saying a lot right now.

But how do we solve these seemingly intractable problems? Two ways. First, by immediate, on-the-ground efforts by grassroots organizations. Education is key to curbing poverty, and we’ve always known this. Creating a place of comfort where people have their needs met (food, shelter, clothing, relative safety) is critical before education can happen. These are not small feats and must happen immediately. Tons of organizations are doing this good work already. Support them.

And while this kind of work can have lasting effects, who is to say that it won’t all happen again unless the fundamental values of our society change? And this is where environmentalism and a gift economy come into play.

Without a planet, every other discussion about health, equality, and relief is moot. No planet=no people. The impacts of greed on our environment in our grow grow grow consumerist society can be seen in the build-up of carbon in the atmosphere, in the farmlands turned to dust bowls, in the world-wide droughts, erratic and destructive weather patterns, loss of fisheries and drinking water, and finally, and perhaps most immediately relevant, the collapse of economies.

While grassroots work is being done from the bottom up to alleviate pressure on people, massive systems change must occur at the top to move our society out of its current economic model. You could keep raking your leaves into piles, but the wind will soon come and blow them all away. So you have to rake, and find a way to shelter yourself from–or change the path–of the wind.

The only possibility I see as feasible to really changing the way our society functions is to move from a greed economy to one of philanthropy, conservation, and respect of all creatures. We need to find a way to live in balance with our planet. Without parity (human to human, human to species, all species to planet), there can never be peace, so we MUST find a way to convert our boundless-growth capitalist system (which requires, for its function, someone to be “on the bottom”) to one of boundless cooperation and equality.

Philanthropists with millions and billions need to offload those funds now. If our economic disaster of the past week tells you anything, it is that money will be irrelevant by 2050. So don’t hold on to it. People need it now. Find a way to make an impact and get moving. I am appalled by community foundations with assets of billions sitting on that pile, and building their principal. They should be planning their 20-year pay downs and truly changing the infrastructure and systems of their communities.

Nations needs to start valuing natural capital rather than paper and markets. We need to build infrastructures with zero-cost energy systems. We need to build societies that value human welfare and human contact rather than headphones and individuality (e.g. isolation). We need to become open-minded, compassionate, loving people.

One man (he’s from my town!) has a fantastic idea for how to move the US out of it’s situation of poverty and environmental disaster: by creating a Green Collar Economy. Van Jones is the author of what is turning out to be one of my favorite books of 2008: The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems. His idea is to move our economy out of the growth-at-all-costs model and while doing it, we can lift ourselves out of poverty by empowering us with the trades and skills necessary to build a green infrastructure. Two birds with one stone: people get jobs, and the jobs stimulate the economy and the economy turns to one of zero-impact energy. Call it a Green New Deal. He does.

Get his book, read more about his organization, and watch this interview with him. Change the way you think about things and maybe, change the world.

Tags: blog action day, environmentalism, green collar economy, green economy, natural resources, philanthropy, povery, resource scarcity, van jones