William E. Rees

What If...

18 June, 2009 | William E. Rees

LET'S FACE IT – the really inconvenient truth is that the age of unconstrained exuberance is over. Techno-industrial society has broken faith with Gaia and is now wrestling its twin demons of hubris and greed. It is illusory to think that anything can ever be the same. Nevertheless, not a single candidate in the recent Canadian and American federal election campaigns fully acknowledged the global ecological crisis or recognized the transformative possibilities inherent in today’s economic downturn.

Deluding Ourselves

27 May, 2009 | William E. Rees

Doubtless, people are optimistic that sustainability is possible. Pessimism is enervating and deflating. However, both optimism and pessimism are merely states of mind that have little connection with reality. What we really need is a good dose of realism, and from this perspective much of what we take to be progress is delusional. It creates a false – or at least inflated – sense of achievement, and thus relieves the psychological and political pressure needed for real change. ...

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