EARTHCENTRISM MEETS GREEN ECONOMICS
A chapter in 'The Strategies for Reforming Economics' to be published shortly by the Green Economics Institute
Our era has been dubbed the anthropocene – regarding humankind as the most important element of existence. This introduces a geological perspective which seeds a necessary distancing; introducing clarity to big issues.
My ebook, 'Earthcentrism: 100 questions, a 1,000 answers, a Primer in Integrated Thinking' by Gaia Dance available through my website www.gaiadancebooks.com offers another worldview of our species entirely, as part of Earth's ecosystem. This places us firmly in the reality – the life-support system of the planet. Earthcentrism has a clear bias towards nature, learning from nature's patterns and growth as did and do indigenous peoples.
These two positions, broad-based, general, are rarely introduced into discussion. Flagged up as alternative worldviews with the potential to meld if the collective will to do so is strong enough, their dual influence guides all our personal decision-making.
My purpose, in writing this book, was to explore the relationship between anthropocentrism and earthcentrism, and invite readers to do likewise. By opening up the area between these two ways of seeing, anthropocentric and earthcentric, we give ourselves an unprecedented chance to attain clarity and understanding. The more times this ground between anthropocentrism and earthcentrism is negotiated, the more familiar it becomes. This fastforwards our willingness to go there - explore it boldly and intimately. It's a re-orientation process, with two known and clear positions. 'I am earthcentric', 'I am anthropocentric' or any gradations inbetween, become shorthand in debate and discussion, a holding ground, normal as stating one's sexual preference.
The last thing I wanted to create was any sense of conflict between the two positions, and this was accomplished by using the multi-device: offering ten answers to any one question. It banishes the dualistic and hierarchical, seeds the holistic and interconnected, presenting issues as choice.
At a personal level, my life-journey started with an Economics degree that left me with a profound sense of disillusionment and disaffection. It was soul-less. When I read E. F. Schumacher's 'Small is Beautiful' I realised, with a massive sense of gratitude and relief, there were ways of seeing other than the one I'd been taught. It enabled me to start formulating my own ideas on 'Earth-sized is beautiful'. As in holistic, all-inclusive, egalitarian, compassionate, loving, guided by emotional intelligence and the cyclical nature of life. Not restricted to graphs, forecasts, statistics, competing theories and projections, goal-oriented to maximise profit.
We are physically made of earth-stuff. The Diversity-in-Unity model is a given of life on Planet Earth. This model informs all contexts. It stamps everything – from spiritual belief to snowflakes to the human fingerprint.
So, where and what are the differences between Green Economics and Earthcentrism? In spirit, and in their aims, they are the same. So has Earthcentrism anything useful to offer Green Economics?
The answer to that is 'yes'.
The first is to be found in how my book is presented. Earthcentrism is led by the right hemisphere of the brain which deals in wholes and interconnectivity. Daniel Pink's 'A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule The Future' is a book written specifically for the corporate world. It identifies creativity as the right brain skill which gives a head-start to those who prioritise right brain functioning. This is grassroots empowerment, based on how a person uses the greatest computer they will ever toy with – their own mind. Creative solutions are the new 'necessity' which has always been lauded as the mother of invention.
Green Economics positions itself within currently accepted classifications. This makes it easier for anyone coming from outside to see where it fits. The paradigm shift comes in the uprate that says the wholeness of Earthcentrism is not just an offshoot of traditional Economics but is the biggest 'whole' of our lives, (astronauts excepted,) – the Earth itself. This is not 'bigging-up'. Instead it points to the real possibility that Green Economics may see itself as having a right to claim a wholeness of identity, rather than be an offshoot of conventional thinking using old classifications.
The eclectic, interconnected 'Diversity-in-Unity' pattern given by all nature means the outreach of Earthcentrism includes, literally, everything. Nothing is off its radar. With holism, patterns are more informative and provide better and more integrated guidelines than logic ever can. This is why my book is called a primer. It shows a thinking-style which is not, as yet, mainstream culture. But it truly is ripe for development!
If we look at the word 'economic' associatively, rather than focus on precise definition, we find connotations other than just money. Originally, money was introduced to provide a more equitable and fair means of exchange of goods and services; a helpful and facilitating intermediary, smoothing social interaction, benefiting all. (Often, by looking at the roots of anything, we get new depth of insight.) Old dictionaries give economy delightfully expanded meanings. Two are: A careful and judicious use of anything. The operations of nature in the generation, nutrition and preservation of animals and plants. The word 'economic' has one tap root in being economical – with earth's resources. All are qualities crying out for reinvention.
I ask my students: 'What do you want to do with your writing? Reflect society back at itself? (And so embed it more deeply in all contexts.) Or offer a vision of Future Possible?
Underpinning any great social movement, deep cultural shift – Enlightenment, Renaissance - lies a unifying philosophy that inspires the zeitgeist for the next generation. Giving it a word of its own positions it in the public mind, a GPS instantly recognisable. The best new words must be multi-taskers: seed deeper interconnectivity, fit into the current social fabric and have the ability to crystallise out a key distinction, an essence of meaning. It is not extremist to think of Earthcentrism being diamond knowledge, a Grail perception, initiating the asking of that eternal king-question 'what ails thee'?
The more contexts its relevancy, the bigger its embrace. The whole is forever greater than the sum of its parts.
References:
Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future (Marshall Cavendish Ltd. 2008)
E. F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful: A study of economics as if people mattered (Abacus 1974)
Dictionaries:
Cassell’s English Dictionary 1960
The Reader’s Digest Encyclopaedic Dictionary , Volume 1 (Oxford University Press 1962)
A chapter in 'The Strategies for Reforming Economics' to be published shortly by the Green Economics Institute
Our era has been dubbed the anthropocene – regarding humankind as the most important element of existence. This introduces a geological perspective which seeds a necessary distancing; introducing clarity to big issues.
My ebook, 'Earthcentrism: 100 questions, a 1,000 answers, a Primer in Integrated Thinking' by Gaia Dance available through my website www.gaiadancebooks.com offers another worldview of our species entirely, as part of Earth's ecosystem. This places us firmly in the reality – the life-support system of the planet. Earthcentrism has a clear bias towards nature, learning from nature's patterns and growth as did and do indigenous peoples.
These two positions, broad-based, general, are rarely introduced into discussion. Flagged up as alternative worldviews with the potential to meld if the collective will to do so is strong enough, their dual influence guides all our personal decision-making.
My purpose, in writing this book, was to explore the relationship between anthropocentrism and earthcentrism, and invite readers to do likewise. By opening up the area between these two ways of seeing, anthropocentric and earthcentric, we give ourselves an unprecedented chance to attain clarity and understanding. The more times this ground between anthropocentrism and earthcentrism is negotiated, the more familiar it becomes. This fastforwards our willingness to go there - explore it boldly and intimately. It's a re-orientation process, with two known and clear positions. 'I am earthcentric', 'I am anthropocentric' or any gradations inbetween, become shorthand in debate and discussion, a holding ground, normal as stating one's sexual preference.
The last thing I wanted to create was any sense of conflict between the two positions, and this was accomplished by using the multi-device: offering ten answers to any one question. It banishes the dualistic and hierarchical, seeds the holistic and interconnected, presenting issues as choice.
At a personal level, my life-journey started with an Economics degree that left me with a profound sense of disillusionment and disaffection. It was soul-less. When I read E. F. Schumacher's 'Small is Beautiful' I realised, with a massive sense of gratitude and relief, there were ways of seeing other than the one I'd been taught. It enabled me to start formulating my own ideas on 'Earth-sized is beautiful'. As in holistic, all-inclusive, egalitarian, compassionate, loving, guided by emotional intelligence and the cyclical nature of life. Not restricted to graphs, forecasts, statistics, competing theories and projections, goal-oriented to maximise profit.
We are physically made of earth-stuff. The Diversity-in-Unity model is a given of life on Planet Earth. This model informs all contexts. It stamps everything – from spiritual belief to snowflakes to the human fingerprint.
So, where and what are the differences between Green Economics and Earthcentrism? In spirit, and in their aims, they are the same. So has Earthcentrism anything useful to offer Green Economics?
The answer to that is 'yes'.
The first is to be found in how my book is presented. Earthcentrism is led by the right hemisphere of the brain which deals in wholes and interconnectivity. Daniel Pink's 'A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule The Future' is a book written specifically for the corporate world. It identifies creativity as the right brain skill which gives a head-start to those who prioritise right brain functioning. This is grassroots empowerment, based on how a person uses the greatest computer they will ever toy with – their own mind. Creative solutions are the new 'necessity' which has always been lauded as the mother of invention.
Green Economics positions itself within currently accepted classifications. This makes it easier for anyone coming from outside to see where it fits. The paradigm shift comes in the uprate that says the wholeness of Earthcentrism is not just an offshoot of traditional Economics but is the biggest 'whole' of our lives, (astronauts excepted,) – the Earth itself. This is not 'bigging-up'. Instead it points to the real possibility that Green Economics may see itself as having a right to claim a wholeness of identity, rather than be an offshoot of conventional thinking using old classifications.
The eclectic, interconnected 'Diversity-in-Unity' pattern given by all nature means the outreach of Earthcentrism includes, literally, everything. Nothing is off its radar. With holism, patterns are more informative and provide better and more integrated guidelines than logic ever can. This is why my book is called a primer. It shows a thinking-style which is not, as yet, mainstream culture. But it truly is ripe for development!
If we look at the word 'economic' associatively, rather than focus on precise definition, we find connotations other than just money. Originally, money was introduced to provide a more equitable and fair means of exchange of goods and services; a helpful and facilitating intermediary, smoothing social interaction, benefiting all. (Often, by looking at the roots of anything, we get new depth of insight.) Old dictionaries give economy delightfully expanded meanings. Two are: A careful and judicious use of anything. The operations of nature in the generation, nutrition and preservation of animals and plants. The word 'economic' has one tap root in being economical – with earth's resources. All are qualities crying out for reinvention.
I ask my students: 'What do you want to do with your writing? Reflect society back at itself? (And so embed it more deeply in all contexts.) Or offer a vision of Future Possible?
Underpinning any great social movement, deep cultural shift – Enlightenment, Renaissance - lies a unifying philosophy that inspires the zeitgeist for the next generation. Giving it a word of its own positions it in the public mind, a GPS instantly recognisable. The best new words must be multi-taskers: seed deeper interconnectivity, fit into the current social fabric and have the ability to crystallise out a key distinction, an essence of meaning. It is not extremist to think of Earthcentrism being diamond knowledge, a Grail perception, initiating the asking of that eternal king-question 'what ails thee'?
The more contexts its relevancy, the bigger its embrace. The whole is forever greater than the sum of its parts.
References:
Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future (Marshall Cavendish Ltd. 2008)
E. F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful: A study of economics as if people mattered (Abacus 1974)
Dictionaries:
Cassell’s English Dictionary 1960
The Reader’s Digest Encyclopaedic Dictionary , Volume 1 (Oxford University Press 1962)
