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 A Plan for the Future “We can build an economy that does not destroy its natural support systems; a global community where the basic needs of all the earth’s people are satisfied and a world that will allow us to think of ourselves as civilized,” said Lester Brown, author of Plan B: Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. The Plan includes a massive mobilization, a worldwide effort at wartime speed to stabilize population and climate, and to raise water productivity. “Restructuring the world economy to achieve these goals is an enormous undertaking,” he says, “but the cost of not doing so is unacceptably high. “The challenge is not just to alleviate poverty, essential though this is, but to build an economy that is compatible with the earth’s natural systems – an eco-economy that can sustain progress.” Since the publication of Plan B, hundreds of enthusiastic readers have purchased additional copies for distribution to friends, colleagues and opinion leaders. Reah Janise Kauffman, Vice President of the Earth Policy Institute, says: “We have designated those who bought five or more copies members of our Plan B Team. Like me, these readers sense that our modern civilization is in trouble and they want to do something about it.” Leading the Plan B Team is Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, who has bought and distributed more than 3,500 copies. Altogether over 400 individuals have purchased five copies or more, distributing them to friends, colleagues and political representatives. “This economic restructuring depends on tax restructuring, on getting the market to be ecologically honest. It is easy to spend hundreds of billions in response to terrorist threats,” says Lester Brown, “but the reality is that the resources needed to disrupt a modern economy are small, and a Department of Homeland Security, however heavily funded, provides only minimal protection from suicidal terrorists. The challenge is not just to provide a high tech military response to terrorism, but also to build a global society that is environmentally sustainable, socially equitable and democratically based – one where there is hope for everyone. This would more effectively undermine the spread of terrorism than a doubling of military expenditures. “Given the wealth that exists in the world today, we can satisfy the basic needs of people everywhere. Indeed, we cannot afford not to do so. It isn’t a hand-out, it’s an investment in our future.” Gianfranco Bologna of the World Wildlife Fund Italy said: “Plan B is a clear and remarkable summation of a new plan for society.”
(Source: Positive News: http://www.positivenews.org.uk/index.php)
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