Economic development, the climate wall and the human factor. Part Three: Living
"Go take your lessons in nature, that's where the future is".
- Leonard de Vinci
The current globalized capitalist model is leading to a climatic (E), social (S) and governance (G) impasse. This is the conviction we have developed in the first two parts of this letter. Relying on the idea that governments must coordinate to change this dynamic is unrealistic. The task is too arduous, requiring not only resistance to lobbies, but also consensus-building between numerous states with divergent interests. Such an approach would also require us to question the habits of populations who accept the current model, because it provides them with a comfort that dispenses them from questioning themselves. On the other hand, simply hoping that technology will save us also allows us to remain in the comfort of "let's not change anything, they'll find something". It's a seductive gamble, but a dangerous one, because it forces us to put our freedom on hold in order to let a miraculous technology save us. We concluded our last letter by asserting that the only possible solution for shifting our economic system towards a more sustainable model was to take an inward-looking approach aimed at transcending the compartmentalization of knowledge, rethinking our relationship with living beings and putting the human factor back at the heart of the economic equation. This effort is considerable, but necessary, because superficial changes to our economic system will not be enough to avoid the impasse towards which the current model is leading us. Let's make no mistake. When we talk about adopting a more sustainable model, we are talking about avoiding the collapse of our civilization, because the period we are living through is probably a crossroads in the history of humanity. The economic model presented to us as the only one capable of bringing prosperity and happiness is spiraling out of control to the point of threatening the survival of our species.