I've spent the last thirty-something pages telling you all about the world's many problems. It's high time made some concrete suggestions about what to do about them. So what do I think we should do to solve our problems? Well, for starters, nothing.
As far as ecological problems are concerned, there is little we need to do. The earth does not need to be saved, it needs to be let alone. We don't need to start restoring the environment so much as we need to stop destroying it. We don't need to take action nearly so much as we need to refrain from taking action. Refrain from logging, refrain from eating beef, refrain from driving cars, refrain from having more than one or two children, refrain from buying things we don't need, refrain from building armies and fighting wars.
Many social problems could also be alleviated simply by restraint -- by refraining from excessive drug and alcohol use, refraining from abusing children, refraining from unprotected sex, refraining from unlawful acts, and refraining from acts of anger, greed, power, and pride.
Of course this is all a gross oversimplification of complex realities. Many problems do require your action, and many behaviors are difficult to voluntarily refrain from. Nonetheless, restraint is a good rule of thumb, and a call to inaction is in order.
Here's a quick list of specific things that you can not-do to
help solve world problems.
- Don't have more than two kids. Encourage your kids not to have more than two kids.
- Don't eat beef.
- Don't kill anyone.
- Try not to own a car.
- Try not to consume more than your fair share of the world's resources.
- Endeavor to live cheaply. Set a tight budget for yourself.
- Don't mow your lawn.
- Refrain from unsafe sex.
- Don't use much energy.
- Think before you act.
- When in doubt, refrain from action.
- Live simply so that others may simply live.
| Exercise | Greenpeace makes dozens of different T-shirts,
earrings, hats, coffee mugs, and key chains. Why don't I
make Gumption Trust T-shirts? |
"Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its life-style."
-- Pope John Paul II
"In Tennessee there is an old saying: When you are in a hole, stop digging."
-- Vice President Al Gore, Earth in the Balance
"We have met the enemy and he is us."
-- Pogo
"The single simplest and most effective thing anyone could do to save Earth is to have no more than two children."
-- Paul and Anne Ehrlich, Healing the Planet
"For fast-acting relief, try slowing down."
-- Lily Tomlin
"It is impossible to give the whole planet the kind of life-style you have here, that the Germans have, that the Dutch have... and we must face this reality."
-- Jose Lutzenberger, Brazil's Secretary of State for Environment
The Bottom Line
Refraining from action can be an effective way to help solve
serious problems. Think about what things you could refrain from
doing to make the world run more smoothly.
