Global Values
A New Paradigm for a New World
by Karin Miller
VI. Sustainability
When we think about sustainability, the first thing that comes to mind may be environmental sustainability. This important issue is attracting increased attention in light of the effects of climate change, the depletion of natural resources, and environmental degradation. Environmental sustainability also gets much-deserved attention because of our continued reliance on fossil fuels. Rather than developing clean and renewable energy—wind, solar, and wave, for example—we are using increasingly destructive ways to extract finite fossil fuels from the Earth.
While environmental sustainability is certainly imperative and necessary for our survival, understanding sustainability only in this way provides a very limited view of our predicament. A more complete view of sustainability is holistic, systemic, and global and in order to achieve such a state, we will have to transition into whole new ways of life. We will need to shift our values from short-term, individual gain at the expense of the whole to long-term, sustainable life for all. When we place our value of sustainability at the heart of all we do, environmental sustainability will automatically follow.
We live in an increasingly demanding and fast-paced world, and it is easy to ignore the issue of sustainability. It is very challenging to get our heads around all the difficulties we face in this area, and it is also hard to see how small changes we could make as individuals might make a real difference for the world. We might find ourselves asking questions such as: What can I possibly do? Will buying recycled paper products really combat deforestation? If I ride my bike to work, will that help to ease the energy crisis? Does it matter if I bring my own shopping bags instead of taking bags from the store? We all know that making small, personal lifestyle changes will not solve any of our crises overnight. So we may become impatient, or consciously opt not to alter our actions because we feel our individual efforts are useless. Or perhaps we feel guilty when we are reminded of the necessity of sustainability, but because we are overwhelmed by the immense scope of the issues involved, we find it easier just to continue in our old ways. We would like to live in a green, glorious world, but it just seems too far out of reach, so we do nothing to achieve it.
Regardless of how we feel about sustainability, or how we choose to live, the fact remains that our actions are destroying the world. Actions based on the egoic belief that we are isolated beings disconnected from others and our environment are unsustainable because they do not take into account the greater whole of life of which we are a part. The ego is the part of us that seeks to defend and glorify the separate and separated self, which works for separation, unhealthy autonomy, and independence. When we act in egoic, individualistic ways at the expense of others, we are like cancer cells ravaging the body of life. If we do not shift into sustainability and change our ways we will ultimately kill ourselves just as cancer cells kill their host.
Given the enormity of the changes required to transition into sustainability, it is no wonder we have not yet managed to correct our unsustainable practices. The good news is that we can do it. We will achieve true sustainability when we replace our isolationist paradigm with a holistic one, and replace unsustainable practices with sustainable practices across the board. When we make sustainability a core value, we will work to make everything we do collectively sustainable—energy production, agriculture, urban planning, waste management, research and development, healthcare, education, business, politics, religion, etc.—and sustainability will infuse our interpersonal relations and individual actions. As individuals, rather than dreaming of an idyllic paradise that we believe can never be, we will choose to take small actions—and make choices in each moment—that support all life, each other, and our planet. Doing this as lone, isolated individuals will not deliver all the changes we want, but as more and more of us commit to these small actions, things will begin to change for the better. Then, our institutions, social structures, and laws will begin to change to reflect this new holistic paradigm.
We can continue to suffer, or we can choose sustainable practices that encourage life on Earth to flourish. We can affirm and support all life with holistic practices that nurture the spirit and vitality of ourselves and our environment. In this way, we can create the possibility of working in cooperation with each other and our surroundings to evolve into sustainable ways of life for the benefit of all.
Moving beyond Darwinian survival of the fittest
For most of human history, it was not questioned that cooperation was absolutely necessary for our survival. Our earliest societies were nomadic bands, clans, and tribes that acted together to find shelter, food, and safety. We know from prehistoric cave paintings that hunting was often a collective effort, particularly when the prey was large. In other words, we pulled together to ensure the survival of the group. As societies evolved our groupings became larger, and technology allowed us to achieve more with the cooperation of fewer individuals. Eventually, our cooperative ways were usurped by a fierce sense of individualism, and we lost sight of working for the good of whole. This was facilitated in no small part by the theory of evolution put forward by Charles Darwin.
Theories of evolution existed before Darwin, but it was the publication of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life in 1859 that catapulted the theory of evolution into popular consciousness. Given the second half of the book’s title, it is not surprising that Darwin and evolution became associated with the phrase "survival of the fittest" (although it should be noted that Herbert Spencer came up with the phrase). The point is that for well over a century we took it for granted that evolution is the result of survival of the fittest, with the fittest being the strongest, most aggressive, most violent, and most selfish. Coupling this with our survival instincts, and individual fight or flight stress responses, gives us the perfect recipe to justify our isolationist paradigm insofar as it often appears that individuals are only ever concerned with their own survival.
Today, the study of evolution has evolved itself to be more of a cooperative model. Now, the term "the fittest" does not in fact equate to the strongest, most aggressive, most violent, most selfish individuals acting only for their own benefit. Successful species—those that reproduce and secure future generations—possess many traits and display many behaviors that are counter to the Darwinian understanding of survival of the fittest. It is now understood that cooperation and cooperative behaviors are integral to successful species.
We see such cooperation in action in insect colonies. For example, highly social insect groups such as ant and bee colonies operate as unified superorganisms. The individuals in those colonies exist and work in total cooperation, and the colony as a whole functions as a single individual. Significantly, cooperation is not only observed within species, but also between species. For example, cleaner fish cooperate with larger species—even predators—to create symbiotic relationships that benefit both species. Yellow tang fish clean sea turtles, and they get a meal for their trouble. Remora, or suckerfish, earn their dinner by cleaning sharks, rays, and other large marine animals of parasites and other detritus. In the case of the sharks, they could easily eat the remora themselves, but the sharks patiently open their mouths and flare their gills as the cleaner fish dart in and out of their mouths to do the job.
Allegorically, inter-species cooperation is nicely represented in Aesop’s fable The Lion and the Mouse. A little mouse came across a sleeping lion and began running all over him. This woke the lion, and he trapped the little mouse with his paw. The mouse asked the lion to spare his life, and he said he might be able to help the lion one day. The lion laughed, but he was so amused that he agreed to let the little mouse go. Sometime later, the lion was caught by hunters and tied to a tree. The little mouse was passing by; he saw the trapped lion, and he gnawed through the ropes to set the lion free. The moral of this story is that little friends may prove to be great friends, but as a lesson, the suggestion of inter-species cooperation should not be overlooked.
Today, our very survival as a species is under threat. Our isolationist paradigm encourages and promotes individualistic actions that are destroying us and our environment. This is not sustainable. If we hope to survive, we have to overcome our Darwinian understanding of survival of the fittest and push our evolution forward. When we cooperate with the whole of life, we can transform into a new, sustainable state of being that actively protects and promotes the whole.
How do we transition into a collaborative synthesis?
To begin, we must acknowledge that our current ways of life threaten our very existence. Once we accept this, there is no longer any room to deny that sustainability must be woven into the fabric of our future—because we will have no future without it. By placing our value of sustainability at the heart of all we do, we will bring our actions in line with our intentions to support the whole of humanity, the whole of life, and the entire world. Our egoic will to act independently at the expense of the whole will be overcome by an understanding that our personal interests are aligned with the whole of which we are a part. With this understanding, together we can focus our intentions and actions to create a world that works for all of us.
Our values are directly reflected in all our actions, and we no longer have the luxury of indulging in unsustainable practices. For example, when we waste resources, use toxic chemicals, purchase unsustainable products, or drive gas-guzzling cars these actions reflect values of short-term profit, instant gratification, and personal convenience—among others. All these actions are selfish in the sense that they benefit the individual at the expense of the whole. When we take such short-sighted actions we display a blatant disregard for others, the environment, and future generations. The environment is in danger, natural resources are running out, and life itself is in peril. Yet we continue to plow through our fast-paced lives taking unsustainable actions at turbo velocity.
If we wish to create sustainable systems, and a sustainable world, our future actions will have to reflect the reality of our connectedness. Our values will have to support actions that work toward our own individual short-term interests, and the long-term interest of supporting life on this planet. All members of the whole are important. The whole expresses itself through its parts, it is contained in each part, and without the parts the whole would not exist. When we value others—and all life—as we value ourselves, we take the first step toward sustainable interpersonal relationships. This in turn lays the foundations on which we can work together to create a sustainable world that values and operates for the benefit of all individuals, all life, and the whole.
Sustainable practices are essential to maintain the flow of life for the individual, the community, and the world. Together, we can discover sustainable ways to achieve our goals and create new possibilities for all. We can help each other evolve to a state of synthesis with the whole. As we shift from an isolationist paradigm to a holistic paradigm, our prior selfishness for short-term personal gain transforms to a larger long-term vision of opportunity to gain greater goods from cooperation. When we value sustainability we remember that we are one, and we focus our intentions and our actions to push the evolution of humanity toward sustainable ways of life for all.