"At some point in time, humanity's ever-increasing resource consumption will meet the very real limits of a planet with finite natural resources..." "We the co-authors of The Post Carbon Reader believe that this time has come". These words (found in chapter 1 of PCR, page 4) were two sentences that instantly jumped out at me and stuck with me. Ultimately, this is the reason the human race should be concerned about the future of our children and future generations. This is the reason we, as a race and as individuals, need to act now to preserve what is left of the Earth's natural resources and work together to implement solutions in an effort to ensure the continuation of life on this planet.
Chapter two of the Post Carbon Reader dives into detail about sustainability as being a crucial step to ensuring our future. Five Axioms of Sustainability, or "self-evident truths (p.15-20) are explained as part of the path to sustainability. The first Axiom is about potential societal collapse as a result of ignoring "resource constraints (p. 16), and states that to reverse the inevitable collapse, humans need to ease up on use of "critical resources", or those resources that we use in our day-to-day life, such as water and food. Instead, the book proposes using "substitutes for resources" like kerosene instead of whale oil. An example of this idea in today's society is the use of veggie diesel instead of crude oil in our cars. Axiom 3 mentions the potential for exhausting renewable resources, like fish. What this means is even though fish populations can recover naturally, given enough time, humans are currently consuming species of fish faster than they can reproduce naturally. Another important Axiom is the fifth one, which brings up the problem of pollution as a bi-product from the use of natural resources. An example of this is the result of chemical use to treat hides; streams and waterways became polluted.
Chapter two also suggests goals of sustainability that each and every one of us should follow to make the world a better place. Our goals need to take into consideration the environment, the economy and society as a whole, over the long-haul, while not jeopardizing our living standards.
It is my pessimistic opinion that given the current world-wide rate of reproduction, humans will continue to consume our resources to the point of exhaustion. Less-developed countries need to be more educated about birth control and world problems, but they do not necessarily have the help they need to achieve this. Developed countries like the Unites States need leadership in the government and media that discourage over-consumption of goods we don't need. Our society as a whole needs to care about things beyond the insatiable desire for luxuries. I am sad say I think the "American Dream", that ever-sought-after goal Americans seek, will be our own demise.
Chapter two of the Post Carbon Reader dives into detail about sustainability as being a crucial step to ensuring our future. Five Axioms of Sustainability, or "self-evident truths (p.15-20) are explained as part of the path to sustainability. The first Axiom is about potential societal collapse as a result of ignoring "resource constraints (p. 16), and states that to reverse the inevitable collapse, humans need to ease up on use of "critical resources", or those resources that we use in our day-to-day life, such as water and food. Instead, the book proposes using "substitutes for resources" like kerosene instead of whale oil. An example of this idea in today's society is the use of veggie diesel instead of crude oil in our cars. Axiom 3 mentions the potential for exhausting renewable resources, like fish. What this means is even though fish populations can recover naturally, given enough time, humans are currently consuming species of fish faster than they can reproduce naturally. Another important Axiom is the fifth one, which brings up the problem of pollution as a bi-product from the use of natural resources. An example of this is the result of chemical use to treat hides; streams and waterways became polluted.
Chapter two also suggests goals of sustainability that each and every one of us should follow to make the world a better place. Our goals need to take into consideration the environment, the economy and society as a whole, over the long-haul, while not jeopardizing our living standards.
It is my pessimistic opinion that given the current world-wide rate of reproduction, humans will continue to consume our resources to the point of exhaustion. Less-developed countries need to be more educated about birth control and world problems, but they do not necessarily have the help they need to achieve this. Developed countries like the Unites States need leadership in the government and media that discourage over-consumption of goods we don't need. Our society as a whole needs to care about things beyond the insatiable desire for luxuries. I am sad say I think the "American Dream", that ever-sought-after goal Americans seek, will be our own demise.
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