The new way

Finally, the apocalypse year 2012 is here! Many speak of the end of the world, some say it is a major transformation coming up, some ignore all stories and plod along the beaten track. Business as usual.

Well, whatever the larger powers that rule the cosmos have in store, one thing is already evident, there is transformation bound to happen on much earthy areas. Of energy, environment,resources... of the very way we look at growth.

There is the fallacy of the law of supply and demand - you cannot demand what is simply not there. Our economic system does not inventory the depletion of natural resources, as John Michael Greer says in his new book, The Wealth of Nature: Economics as if Survival Mattered.

Greer divides up the economy into three parts. There's the Primary which encompasses all the planet's natural resources and services, the Secondary which includes the goods made by humans from these resources and the Tertiary which refers to the financial sector. It is this last category that has come to dominate, spinning a web of ever more complex derivative products that have promised the world an endless possibility of wealth pulled from thin air.

Greer is convinced that we are in the twilight of the age of investment. The growth economy simply isn't going to grow anymore to bring in a return. The promise that invested money will outperform the faltering economy of goods and services is simply a publicly accepted fantasy, a faith based system.

What about the promise of new technology and new sources of energy that will bring back the economy we assume is our birthright? No way, as Greer says. The energy required to pull this last rabbit out of the hat will be more than the energy we can gain from such efforts.

What then is the solution? We cannot live without energy, for sure. The answer is to opt for small. The Principle of Subsidiary Function says that we use only as much energy as necessary, and for that, use as local a source as possible.

This will hold true on all other fronts, not only energy. Optimise the use of resources, reuse and recycle, consume less, waste lesser. What better a transformation can we ask for? What better learning than to realise the planet has limited resources, and a burgeoning population? What better way than to live simple?

It will be tough, especially for those of us who cannot easily give up what we have taken for granted. That most over-rated term called 'comfort'! Maybe it is time to rethink on that word and reset our lives.

Do write in your thoughts.