Ten Ideas for Saving the Planet: An Overview

By John B. Cobb, Jr.
Jesus, Jazz, and Buddhism
January 2012
http://www.jesusjazzbuddhism.org/ten-ideas-for-saving-the-planet.html

1. Reality is composed of interrelated events.
2. There are gradations of intrinsic value.
3. God aims at maximizing value.
4. Humans are uniquely (but by no means exclusively) valuable and uniquely responsible.
5. Education is for wisdom.
6. The economy should be directed toward flourishing of the biosphere.
7. Agriculture should regenerate the soil.
8. Comfortable habitat should make minimal demands on resources.
9. Most manufacturing should be local.
10. Every community should be part of a community of communities.

"If the creative energies in the heart of the universe succeeded so brilliantly in the past, we have reason to hope that such creativity will inspire us and guide us into the future...Our challenge now is to construct livable cities and to cultivate healthy foods in ways congruent with the Earth's patterns."

Mary Evelyn Tucker and Brian Thomas Swimme Journey of the Universe (Yale University Press, 2011)

Along with Mary Evelyn Tucker and Brian Swimme, I am amazed at the creative energies in the heart of the universe. So was the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, whose wisdom has inspired me for many years. And along with them, I think that our challenge today is to construct livable cities and to cultivate healthy foods in ways congruent with the Earth's patterns. In order to do this, it is important to think planetarily as well as cosmologically. That's what I want to do in this essay. First let me address a fundamental question, "Is it too late?" Then I'll turn to the ten ideas presented above, adding more details.

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