Good News From China? The Wake Up Call is Ringing

By | December 16th, 2005 2 Comments

great_wall.jpgWBCSD, which incidentally is one of my favorite sources for news, has a great article today about the slowly growing awareness of environmental costs in China. Despite the obvious damage that has been done to health and ecology as a result of breakneck economic growth, not to mention a less-than-cooperative governement that tends to cover things up, the articles talks about slowly improving transparency and a slowly growing awarenss of renewable energy. It’s not much, but it’s a start.

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  • dorothyblueeyes

    Probably not going to affect change with the Chinese govt.Why?Cause,basically,they are in the court with”Easter-Islanders”.They would rather cut down the last tree on the island,than change their self-destructive course,and save themselves. It comes down to their cultural and governmental psyches. That is really what determines what a human group does,than “thinking” or
    “logic.” Cultural and societal programming determines what a society does,rather than even the logic of saving their race from self-destruction.
    That is what determines most of the things that human societies and nations do;look at some of the other examples around the world. (Go ahead,you can find many.) Rather than going by their logic,and realizing that certain courses would destroy them,they go against their logic,and follow societal and cultural programming,because human beings and societys,and nations,are creatures of programming.
    Yes,that pertains to races and nations,as well as individuals. Many of us,on the individual level,constantly do self-destructive things,and cannot stop ourselves. We even KNOW that we are doing it,and still cannot stop ourselves,yet we cannot change our programming that makes us do it!!
    This applies to races and nations,or rather,societies because societies run on “programming” and culture,rather than “thinking” and “logic.” I suppose the Easter-Islanders are the ultimate example.
    I do not believe that the Chinsese are going to stop their self-destructive course. I know human beings,and their societies,and the past,too well,to bet any money on them changing now. Face it,human beings,though they have large brains,do not depend on them to make their ultimate decisions.They depend on their cultures,and their societal programming.Not logic or thinking.

  • Ken Chung

    I can think of more examples along the same lines … cultural causes led to the complete destruction of bison in North America, the shutdown of fisheries in the Grand Banks, and oh yes the same causes will lead to removing all (one year’s worth of consumption) natural gas in the Arctic Nat’l Wildlife Refuge.
    You may be taking Jared Diamond’s conclusions in Collapse a little too far.