The New Era of Ecological Civilization

Reflecting on the problems before him, Albert Einstein once said, “The world we have made as a result of a level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems we cannot solve at the same level at which we created them.”

Perhaps this is even more true today, when we face issues like the faltering economy, the endless war in Iraq and a $2 trillion healthcare crisis. While there is no doubt that these issues will challenge the next president, Bill McKibben’s writings remind us of the only one that will be visible from outer space. Our planet is the only one we know of that can support this beautiful abundance of life. This is a reality we often forget as we commute in our gas-powered cars, inhabit our climate-controlled homes and watch the rest of the world from our television sets.
Isolating ourselves from these modern conveniences and exploring the wilderness that surrounds us can offer valuable insight on matters of greater magnitude, something I gained on a recent camping trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northeastern Minnesota.

My experience in the Boundary Waters encouraged a new dimension of sustainable thinking, a way of thinking that would be valuable to an international leader in a period when we are facing global issues like peak oil, climate change, the food crisis and an increasing demand for freshwater. Out there, miles away from any form of civilization, I realized how little we need to be happy in life. The significance of this insight was that, when it comes to conserving our natural resources, we are capable of so much more. As we propose sustainable policies, let us not forget that we can preserve these finite resources by tapping the most valuable resource of them all: the human intellect.

The problems we face today are the effects of a failed paradigm.

The Nation