Capitalism as if the World Matters 

Jonathan Porritt

“At the start of the 21st Century our lives are bounded by two very different and potentially irreconcilable imperatives.  The first is a biological imperative to learn to live sustainably on this planet.  This is an absolute imperative, in that it is determined by the laws of nature and, hence, is non-negotiable – this side of extinction, it permits no choice.  The second is a political imperative: to aspire to improve our material standard of living each year.  This is a relative imperative in that it is politically determined, with a number of alternative economic paradigms available to us.  These imperatives are therefore very different in both kind and degree.” 
 
  “With respect to those who assert the so-called primacy of key social and economic goals (such as the elimination of poverty or the attainment of universal human rights), it must be said loud and clear that these are secondary goals; all else is conditional upon learning to live sustainably within the Earth’s systems and limits.” 

“If we don’t learn to live sustainably within the natural systems and limits that provide the foundations for all life forms, then we will go the same way as every other life form that failed to adapt to those changing systems and limits. Deep down in our collective psyche, after hundreds of years of industrialization that systematically suppressed a proper understanding of our continuing and total dependency upon the natural world, that atavistic reality is beginning to resurface.”

Quotations from the book Capitalism as if the World Matters by Jonathan Porritt, Earthscan Publications Ltd, 2005.