Deconstructing "The Dasgupta Review"

 A controversial examination of "biodiversity economics"---

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14747731.2021.1929007

I believe the scholarly article found at the link above is right on the mark.  The commodification of Nature in general is fraught with serious problems.  More importantly, it appears to avoid what's really needed in order to stop and reverse biodiversity loss:  a paradigm shift away from neoclassical/neoliberal economics.

Putting a seemingly Green twist on such economics will not suffice.  Offsetting, creating "natural capital" financial MARKETS, etc., is still tinkering around the edges of the problem.  Such markets rarely, if ever, have been kind to natural ecosystems.

Above all else, two things are crucial to quelling our ongoing Eco-Crisis:  the natural, voluntary reduction of human population; and the complete shift away from neoliberalism and its failed economics.  The first can be accomplished through education and incentives.  The second, believe it or not, will be a tougher nut to crack.  Recent history proves it to be such.  Neoliberal economics should be long gone by now; however, ongoing Edward Bernays style propaganda and indoctrination keep it hanging on.  It will take persistent and consistent education to break it loose.  So far, catastrophes resulting from adherence to neoliberalism have not done the job, which I find baffling.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Major threats to life on Earth that we must address in 2021

Chomsky and Prashad: There are 3 major threats to life on Earth that we must address in 2021: The Noam Chomsky Website

Tick-tock.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Political Corruption Reigns Supreme in the USA

Here's how to combat it peacefully---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJy8vTu66tE&list=WL&index=70

The video is about six years old, but still applies today.

Another of my comments on it is posted here---

https://twitter.com/ScottHa85992272/status/1404229654702137355?s=20

I've been preaching this for about 20 years, and Harvard Prof Lessig explains it better than I ever could.  Every adult in the world should watch this short video.  Here is PRECISELY how corruption operates in the USA.  It has been going on for decades, and continues today.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

DENIAL

The elephant in the room.  No one in power wants to talk about it.  Denial is the order of the day.

https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/the-psychology-of-denying-overpopulation/

Sustainability will be elusive until we recognize and deal with the problem of overpopulation.  It could be addressed with education and incentives, but politicians are loathe to even broach the subject.

The brief article at the link above delves into important aspects of this situation.  Highly recommended.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

"We Are a Plutocracy: Jeffrey Sachs Slams Biden for..."

 At the link below is a brief, 3-part post of mine.  For Parts 2 & 3, look below the photo at the link.

https://twitter.com/ScottHa85992272/status/1400936951021191168?s=20

The piece is from Democracy Now.

In general, Plutocrats are committed to unlimited growth and overconsumption. If ever we are to reach sustainability goals on Spaceship Earth, we must stop allowing the Super-Rich to rule the roost. Step One would seem to be: get private mega donations out of political election campaigns.

The Plutocrats claim such money is "free speech". Not when it's given to candidates or their campaigns, it isn't. It's then nothing more than corruption, buying influence. The use of it would be free speech if the donor used it to run an ad in the media, expressing support for the candidate. This is not rocket science. 😌 It's merely common sense.

Get mega money out of politics.

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Not only my opinion. Be Well

A Most Interesting Question

Title of a journal article in Ecological Economics, Volume 185, to be published in July, 2021:

"Beyond ecosystem services and nature's contributions: Is it time to leave utilitarian environmentalism behind?".

From the "Highlights" of the article (preceding the Abstract)---

"We plead for a paradigm shift, away from utilitarian, anthropocentric and dualistic conceptions of human-nature relations."

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800921000963

As Homo sapiens attempts to move toward sustainability and all things "Green", it seems to me that we're still missing an important underpinning to the success of those efforts.  It's known as ecocentrism.

In the dozens of articles on the circular economy, the doughnut/donut economy, etc. which I've read, the ideology of anthropocentrism appears to prevail.  Is that, as Lynn White proposed decades ago, due to the Judeo-Christian worldview of the Nature-Human relationship (which sees humanity both superior to and separate from Nature)?  Perhaps, but I really don't know.

In any case and in general, humans do seem to be filled with hubris... especially regarding nonhuman life.  That's a problem when we profess to be "going Green".  In my view, there will be no successful sustainability without the adoption of ecoethics on a massive scale.  Ecoethics will not be the prevailing philosophical standard without a paradigm shift in our view of the natural world.  In the meantime, our efforts toward sustainability - though laudable and a good first step - still amount to tinkering around the edges of the socio-eco-econ-ethical Crisis.

Nonhuman life has intrinsic value, not just utilitarian value.  The Earth is not here for us to "subdue" (from the Book of Genesis in the Bible).  The spark of life in all beings is the spirit of Universal Consciousness.  

As Barry Commoner stated in 1971 (in his book, The Closing Circle):  "Everything is connected to everything else".  We humans are not separate from Nature; we are Nature.  We don't "come into the world" when we're born.  We come from it.  All beings are Universal Consciousness expressing Itself.

Without the above worldview, I don't see how we can live in harmony with Nature, or have any significant degree of sustainability.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well 

Is Biodiversity Offsetting Working as it Should?

 Plus, what are the ethical objections to such practice?

https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13603

Commodification of Nature is a path requiring delicate navigation, and care must be taken to ensure an ethical, successful outcome.

Offsetting exploitation impacts seemingly is a great idea; however, certain problems need to be addressed.  The article at the link above, found in the journal, Conservation Biology, is a good start.  In particular, see the Abstract and Table 3.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well