My Big Idea (which you may disagree with!)

Strivax

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The idea is: that by saving the world in the temporal sense, we simultaneously save ourselves in the spiritual sense.

In other words, by building a sustainable world for others (our contemporaries, our children and their children, etc) we develop and demonstrate those very moral qualities of spirit that enable us to appreciate God, and therefore the riches of the heaven He has prepared for us. Qualities like wisdom, tolerance, forbearance, the capacity to sacrifice, compassion for all, and empathy and sympathy with others, however different from ourselves they may be.

In other words, we can have our cake, and eat it, too. We can have paradise on earth, and paradise after it. We just need to jettison the capitalist idea that 'greed is good', and live each for each other, rather than solely for ourselves. It works in loving nuclear families, why should it not work in the wider world? Selfishness sucks, and we all know that, really. So, let us end, now and forever, any tendency to give selfishness space in that wider, public world. And by doing so, help build utopia, and incidentally, earn our place in Heaven.

Best wishes, Strivax.
 
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Greg J.

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Since God commanded mankind to be good stewards of the earth, participating in that brings his blessings, but do not neglect being good stewards of humans in need, too!
we develop and demonstrate those very moral qualities of spirit that enable us to appreciate God
It can, but it can also develop an appreciation of nature, which doesn't necessarily include the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for some people. God made people to care for his creation. Some people are gifted for caring for plants or animals more than humans.
 
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Strivax

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Since God commanded mankind to be good stewards of the earth, participating in that brings his blessings, but do not neglect being good stewards of humans in need, too!
Just so.

It can, but it can also develop an appreciation of nature, which doesn't necessarily include the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for some people. God made people to care for his creation. Some people are gifted for caring for plants or animals more than humans.
Indeed.

Yes, God wishes to work through all of us to share His blessings with the world.
Exactly.

To my mind, each generation has it's particular challenge. For my grandfather, it was the muddy, bloody trenches of Flanders. For my father, it was Hitler's fascism. For my contemporaries, it was facing down the Cold War Soviet threat. For our children, it seems to me to be a double problem, requiring an optimal solution rather than a simple victory.

We, and they, need to eradicate global absolute poverty while simultaneously staying comfortably within the world's ecological carrying capacity. In other words, as we create wealth, we need to spread it equitably, so everyone benefits. And as we benefit, we humans need to find ways of living within, say, 70-80% of the world's resource availability, so as to leave room for thriving ecosystems of the other lives, animal and vegetable, that enrich our world, and on which humanity ultimately depends for so many reasons.

So, there is my nutshell take on recent history and blueprint for a better world! Think of it as my mission statement, which you are welcome to share.

Best wishes, Strivax.
 
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Strivax

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OK, so, moving on. Seems that the people of the world currently need 1.6 planet earths to provide their resources and absorb their wastes.

But we all know the world's wealth is not evenly distributed.

Thus, if all 7 billion of us lived like Ethiopians, we would need only 1.1% of the world's ecological carrying capacity to sustain us. That's 0.011 of the world. But I cannot recommend anyone tolerates such poverty. Maybe Bangladesh? 0.031 of the world. Still seriously, intolerably poor. India? 0.132 of the world. We can, and should, do better than this, in the interests of human wellbeing.

Well, there's China. If we all lived like them we would need 1.1 worlds. Costa Rica needs 1.4 worlds. Nepal needs 1.9 worlds. The UK (my country) needs 2.4 worlds. France needs 2.5 worlds. The USA needs 4.1 worlds. The United Arab Emirates need 5.4 worlds.

Remember, I suggested earlier that total human consumption should be at 70-80% of the world's resource, 0.7 to 0.8 of the world, to leave space for other creatures and the habitats they depend on.

So, these rough figures give an approximate indication of the extent to which we need to correct wealth inequalities and reduce our environmental impact.

There is a way to go. It is a serious challenge. But there is paradise to be won, individually and communally, here and hereafter, now and forever.

Cheers, Strivax.
 
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Strivax

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Well, it's been 24 hours since my last post, so here's my next thought in the sequence.

What can I do to make for a sustainable world?

Here are three thoughts:

1) Save money, and energy, this winter by turning down the thermostat by 1 degree, and wearing a jumper if necessary.
2) Lend half the money you save (the other half you keep) to entrepreneurs in the developing world. Here's a site, if you don't have your own preferred charity.
3) Share this thread by linking it to other relevant conversations on this forum.

None of this will transform the world into paradise overnight. But it will, incrementally, make it a slightly better place for everyone to live in. And that is the objective.

Though if you have better ideas, please feel free to post them here!

Best wishes, Strivax
 
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