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In chapter 10 of Plan B, Brown
discusses the necessary means of mobilization if we want to save our
civilization. He believes that we need to basically take on wartime urgency and
that it is our only hope. He states that every country should have a population
stabilization policy because we live on a finite planet, and we are pushing the
earth beyond its limits (Brown 243). I do agree with Brown in this area. There
are way too many people in the world and we cannot continue to provide for the
growing population, especially when we do not provide for all the people we
have now. There are many families that have way too many children, most of
which cannot even provide for all of them. I believe that there should be a 2
to 3 child limit. Having more than that is excessive and we cannot support that
many people with today’s life expectancy.
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The
Earth Charter is similar to Plan B in that it starts out stating that we are at
a critical point in earth’s history where we have to choose our future. The
Earth Charter hopes to affirm and come together on four basic principles for a
sustainable way of life for everyone. The first principle presented is respect and care for the community of life. This
includes respecting earth and life in all its biodiversity, caring for the
community of life, building just democratic societies, and securing earth for
future generations. This whole principle directly relates to Shiva’s piece on
biodiversity. Shiva believed that even the smallest microbe “plays a critical
role in maintaining the ecological processes that create the conditions of life
for all species, including, of course, our own” (Shiva 41). She believed in the
value of the whole community of species and the biodiversity it has. She
stressed that biodiversity and all life has great importance.
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The
second principle is ecological integrity. The ecological integrity principle is
all about protecting and restoring earth’s systems, preventing them from harm,
adopting patterns that safeguard earth’s well being, and advancing sustainability
studies. It stresses sustainability efforts in all areas, from recycling to
renewable energy. This relates to David Orr in his discussion on biophilia and
biophobia. Orr stated that it is necessary that we
“transform how and how rapidly we use the earth’s endowment of land, minerals,
water, air, wildlife and fuels” (Orr 203). He stressed how conservation and
sustainability is important, especially because in the past 20 years our use of
resources has become increasingly fast. According to Orr, a big part of this is
because of our loss of biophilia and developed an “aversion to nature” (Orr
186).
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The
third principle is social and economic justice. This principle includes the
goals to eradicate poverty, ensure economic activities and institutions are
both equitable and sustainable, affirm gender equality and equity, and the
right of all to a supportive natural and social environment. This justice is
all around for all people so that all systems are fair. This reminds me of
David Orr’s idea of a sufficiency revolution. He stated that we need a sufficiency
revolution that “transforms our ideas of what it means to live decently and how
little is actually necessary for a decent life” (Orr 203). We need to change
our ideas of what a good life means and start being more considerate about all
those around us as well as the environment. Justice should be included in our
way of life.
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Finally,
the last principle is democracy, non-violence, and peace. The ideas of this
principle are that we should strengthen our democratic institutions and
integrate learning sustainability into our formal education. In addition, we
need to treat all living beings with respect and consideration and promote
tolerance and peace in our culture. I believe that Leopold’s land ethic ties in
with this principle in that we need to treat and care for all living beings,
which includes the natural environment. We need to have a certain ethic when it
comes to the concept of community, and the “land ethic simply enlarges the
boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or
collectively: the land” (Leopold 60). We need to learn to respect the plants as
well as people.
