Erik Assadourian
Erik has been a Senior Fellow with the Worldwatch Institute.
Erik has been a Senior Fellow with the Worldwatch Institute.
By Erik Assadourian, Gaianism
It’s obvious that being filthy rich is in direct conflict with a sustainable future. And not just because of how the wealthy consume, though that’s an enormous issue.
By Erik Assadourian, Gaianism
The future will be a series of shifting baselines, where perhaps the gift of a spare bedroom will be an incredible act of generosity. But without members of a community working together, supporting one another, future wellbeing will collapse like a poorly made bridge.
By Erik Assadourian, Gaianism
Though as legitimate as sending money (or non-fungible tokens) to the Ukrainian government or charities, is bringing Russians and Ukrainians together; is supporting local businesses by both; is using less oil so the Russian petrostate (and all other dictatorial resource-cursed nations) are weakened, and we move to a more ecocentric, less unsustainable civilization.
By Erik Assadourian, Gaianism
Indeed, this is where Jesus’ and Christianity’s teachings are so relevant: living simple lives—one might dare say “impoverished” lives at least when compared to the aspirational American lifestyle—in service to others and to Creation (i.e. Gaia) is an essential part of this transition.
By Erik Assadourian, Gaianism
Humanity, with its competing interests, its cultural myopia, its dominant economic philosophy that puts growth above all, will be hard to redirect from self-destruction—hopefully not in the case of a simple asteroid strike, but certainly in a multi-faceted slow acting, status-quo-disrupting crisis like ecological overshoot.
By Erik Assadourian, Gaianism
Perhaps the question that demands living with simply requires me (and others who feel a sacred bond with Gaia) to keep living with it and trying to share it with the world—and encouraging others in the Gaian community to do the same.
By Erik Assadourian, Gaianism
Never can it be ok, let alone sustainable, for 26 individuals to hold more wealth than 3.6 billion people. It is our responsibility to fight that, as few billionaires, or others, can resist the dulcet whispers of the precious coin of power.
By Erik Assadourian, Gaianism
Some thrive at the local, others the global, others at the regional, and others, still, do great bouncing from one to the other to the other. But I think there is value in considering this honestly, and better understanding at what level you want to enact change, and then focusing there.