David Wann - The New Normal: An Agenda for Responsible Living

Introduction:
Once Upon a Paradigm, When Growth Was King

This book could never have been written without the thorough, self-directed work of people who are truly champions of change and guardians of the future. In particular, I drew on the research of the Earth Policy Institute and the Worldwatch Institute for data that reveal where we are as a civilization and where we need to go. My sincerest thanks to Lester Brown, Christopher Flavin, and their colleagues for clearheaded, tireless reporting and advocacy. I also relied heavily on stories in Yes! magazine, Ode magazine, the New York Times, and Time magazine, and on 60 Minutes and National Public Radio. Online resources like Daily Grist, the Environmental News Network, and Worldchanging are incredible sources, too.

There are many other visionaries whose lives and work have especially inspired me over the years. Wendell Berry, Dana Meadows, Amory Lovins, Paul Hawken, Bill McKibben, Hazel Henderson, and David Korten are a few of this generations superheroeslantern bearers whose work has long been powered by generosity, hope, and a tenacious belief in humanitys talents and instincts. I encourage readers to peruse my short list of recommended readings at the end of this book, but of course what converts ideas to reality is the hands-on work of activists and practitioners: human rights, peace, and environmental activists; biologists and bioneers; green engineers and entrepreneurs; policy makers, teachers, spiritual mentors, artists, and web weavers in all walks of life.

Thank you!

The cultural framework we live inour way of thinkingwill either save the day or drop the fragile egg that rightfully belongs to the future. We usually assume that huge challenges can only be finessed with technical, political, and economic fixes, but we forget that all three are programmed by human culture, and it is there that we can leverage change most quickly and effectively. What do we really mean by this fuzzy term culture? Its not just paintings and music, not just opinions, values, and styles; its nothing less than the lens through which we perceive realitythe customs, traditions, symbols, norms, motivators, and direction that constitute a way of life. Right now, our culture is confused, trapped between the old paradigmin which economic growth is kingand a new paradigm that correctly perceives limits to growth and acknowledges its potentially catastrophic social and environmental costs. We are looking for a new identitya new normal that is more secure, stable, and sensible.

Our most influential institutionsschools, family, government, business, and the mediainstruct and insist that the shortest route to meaning, happiness, and equality is through the marketplace: a bustling, bumbling universe of production, transaction, and consumption. Centuries ago, economies of the developed world geared up to produce more than we need to be happy, and we obediently bent our way of life out of shape to keep up with overproduction. Although this worn-out paradigm continues to accelerate, we ask ourselves, nervously, Where is this sports car taking us? Does it have dependable brakes?

A primary source of cultural dissonance is the disparity between institutions and intuitions. A harnessed, institutional mind-set says, Full speed aheadlook what weve created! But our intuitionwith the full force of evolution behind itcautions, Slow downlook what we are destroying! This duality is very familiar to those who study nature. Successful living systems (including humans) typically progress from being highly productive yet wasteful to being highly protective and efficient. In their most mature, climax stages, biological systems have learned how to optimize diversity, resourcefulness, and resilience, weaving partnerships among species to make use of each scrap of resource, and to survive threats from outside the system (such as climate changes). This book maps a pathway to cultural maturity, a natural and achievable destination.

The overall theme of nature is not bloodthirsty competition, but functional, celebratory interdependence and cooperation. Ecosystemsand civilizationssucceed by building on the accomplishments of preceding systems. For example, shade-loving Douglas fir trees take root in the shadow of Ponderosa pines, which in turn get their start in soil built by grass roots and microbes. A mature civilization does not violate natural realities and laws; however, there is more than enough evidence to charge our civilization with planet-slaughter. To clear our name, our generations pivotal assignment is to design a systemically more mature way of fitting in. Our intuition tells us that its not higher profits and faster transactions we crave but greater value. If we get more use out of each electron and each cubic foot of soil, if we learn to meet our needs squarely for health, food, social connection, and shelter, then we wont need or want as much moneyindividually or collectively. At that point, our way of life can be less expensive, less destructiveand more satisfying. It isnt sacrifice, and it isnt threatening, if everyone does it togetherif rich and poor (people and nations) meet somewhere in the middle, in terms of material wealth. Rather than enduring lives of debt, doubt, fear, and stress, we can create a lifestyle and culture filled with the affluence of time, health, and stimulation. But first we have to come out of denial, acknowledging that our excessive, wasteful way of life cant and wont continue. Game over. Like participants in a 12-step program, we need to confess that our way of life isnt working. Only then can we make appropriate course corrections in policies, technologies, and everyday habitsall contained within the rich matrix we call culture.