Humankind has come to a crossroads, societies of mass consumption have drove the climate to the brink of collapse and humans must reconstruct the way we perceive the current globalized economy. In this paper I will argue that the economic transformation proposed by Thomas Homer-Dixon is essential to the cultivation of long term utility in a globalized world.
Homer-Dixon explores the correlation between wealth and environmental damage, determining that in modern economies the increase of wealth is always accompanied with the linear increase of carbon dioxide emission (Homer-Dixon, p.516-517). The increase of wealth and environmental damage causes investments into new technologies to deal with the visible effects of the environmental degradation, …show more content…
Solvency and freedom can only be of concern in a society that is focused upon gaining happiness and peace through the accumulation wealth. If one wanted to cultivate happiness through growth in wealth, freedom and debt would be barriers in the way of this pursuit, not the ultimate goals of the pursuit. I believe that these internalizations are complementary to happiness and peace; humankind’s perception of these internalizations does not need to be reconstructed because they will automatically change if we change the way we perceive growth and wealth are connected with happiness and peace. I do not necessarily disagree with Homer-Dixon’s claims of solvency and freedom being connected to our obsession with economic growth, I just believe that they are unnecessary because of their reliance on the pursuit of happiness and peace to be …show more content…
We pay money to experience intellectual growth, in order to hopefully achieve a higher paying job in the future. We fantasize about achieving high paying positions as doctors, lawyers, scientists, professors, and CEOs, because we attribute these positions with high incomes and ultimately happy lifestyles. This view must change, humankind must derive happiness from a new source if it is to circumvent climate change. From a utilitarian perspective, the pursuit of wealth for happiness, or the ‘American dream’ is not the most effective way to cultivate happiness. The proof of the ineffectiveness of the system is very evident, a very small percentage of the world enjoys a vast majority of wealth, leaving the majority of people unhappy in this situation, unless find happiness from a source that is not wealth. Ultimately the perception of wealth being central to the cultivation of happiness must be exchanged for survivability, or resilience as stated by Homer-Dixon, because the latter is to allow climate change to advance to a point of human destruction (p.
Homer-Dixon explores the correlation between wealth and environmental damage, determining that in modern economies the increase of wealth is always accompanied with the linear increase of carbon dioxide emission (Homer-Dixon, p.516-517). The increase of wealth and environmental damage causes investments into new technologies to deal with the visible effects of the environmental degradation, …show more content…
Solvency and freedom can only be of concern in a society that is focused upon gaining happiness and peace through the accumulation wealth. If one wanted to cultivate happiness through growth in wealth, freedom and debt would be barriers in the way of this pursuit, not the ultimate goals of the pursuit. I believe that these internalizations are complementary to happiness and peace; humankind’s perception of these internalizations does not need to be reconstructed because they will automatically change if we change the way we perceive growth and wealth are connected with happiness and peace. I do not necessarily disagree with Homer-Dixon’s claims of solvency and freedom being connected to our obsession with economic growth, I just believe that they are unnecessary because of their reliance on the pursuit of happiness and peace to be …show more content…
We pay money to experience intellectual growth, in order to hopefully achieve a higher paying job in the future. We fantasize about achieving high paying positions as doctors, lawyers, scientists, professors, and CEOs, because we attribute these positions with high incomes and ultimately happy lifestyles. This view must change, humankind must derive happiness from a new source if it is to circumvent climate change. From a utilitarian perspective, the pursuit of wealth for happiness, or the ‘American dream’ is not the most effective way to cultivate happiness. The proof of the ineffectiveness of the system is very evident, a very small percentage of the world enjoys a vast majority of wealth, leaving the majority of people unhappy in this situation, unless find happiness from a source that is not wealth. Ultimately the perception of wealth being central to the cultivation of happiness must be exchanged for survivability, or resilience as stated by Homer-Dixon, because the latter is to allow climate change to advance to a point of human destruction (p.