3
1.2.1 The Pursuit of Happiness
Written into the first sentence of the Preamble to the US Declaration of Independence,
“the Pursuit of Happiness” is an aspirational and beguiling principle that has propelled the American Way of Life ever since it was penned. It promises every citizen
the possibility of attaining security, comfort, and prosperity. What has followed,
since the founding fathers codified the powerful open-ended notion in the summer
of 1776, is an unrelenting pursuit that continues to manifest as consequences and
byproducts.
“The Pursuit of Happiness” as a key principle is most compelling perhaps
because it does not consider any external effects or limits. It says nothing of means
or costs to be considered in the pursuit. It was written at a time when the world
seemed limitless and foresaw only benefits to both the individual and the growing
community through the development of new enterprises. A steady increase in negative ecological impacts, however, closely correlates with the burgeoning wealth that
was created from the end of the eighteenth through the start of the twenty-first
century.
1.3 No Going Back: Impossible to Do Nothing
Many blame modern political, social, and economic structures for all woes and suffering on the planet. Some advocate for a complete “reset” through various means,
implemented either gradually or suddenly. It is, however, impossible to stop or
move backward to “a simpler time.” Even if every one of the nearly eight billion
people alive today were to agree to simply stop, to abandon the chase altogether in
order to reduce our collective impact on the planet to zero, we must realize that it is
impossible to actually do nothing.
To be requires the human body to ceaselessly do something. Even before we are
born, we are each, already, doing something. From soon after conception until we
take our last breath, we take oxygen and nutrients into our bodies and expel waste.
Sitting perfectly still, even sleeping, the body must consume energy and resources
to live. All human beings alive on the planet today take in and give back each second
of each day we are alive and beyond. Only death can stop our ceaseless consuming
and release the stored biochemical energy in our bodies to dissipate back into the
larger ecosphere over time. An incalculable number of other organisms, large and
small, inhabiting the land, sea, and sky, also take in and give back. It is what defines
being alive and part of the earth’s ecosphere.
1.3 No Going Back: Impossible to Do Nothing
1.2.1 The Pursuit of Happiness
Written into the first sentence of the Preamble to the US Declaration of Independence,
“the Pursuit of Happiness” is an aspirational and beguiling principle that has propelled the American Way of Life ever since it was penned. It promises every citizen
the possibility of attaining security, comfort, and prosperity. What has followed,
since the founding fathers codified the powerful open-ended notion in the summer
of 1776, is an unrelenting pursuit that continues to manifest as consequences and
byproducts.
“The Pursuit of Happiness” as a key principle is most compelling perhaps
because it does not consider any external effects or limits. It says nothing of means
or costs to be considered in the pursuit. It was written at a time when the world
seemed limitless and foresaw only benefits to both the individual and the growing
community through the development of new enterprises. A steady increase in negative ecological impacts, however, closely correlates with the burgeoning wealth that
was created from the end of the eighteenth through the start of the twenty-first
century.
1.3 No Going Back: Impossible to Do Nothing
Many blame modern political, social, and economic structures for all woes and suffering on the planet. Some advocate for a complete “reset” through various means,
implemented either gradually or suddenly. It is, however, impossible to stop or
move backward to “a simpler time.” Even if every one of the nearly eight billion
people alive today were to agree to simply stop, to abandon the chase altogether in
order to reduce our collective impact on the planet to zero, we must realize that it is
impossible to actually do nothing.
To be requires the human body to ceaselessly do something. Even before we are
born, we are each, already, doing something. From soon after conception until we
take our last breath, we take oxygen and nutrients into our bodies and expel waste.
Sitting perfectly still, even sleeping, the body must consume energy and resources
to live. All human beings alive on the planet today take in and give back each second
of each day we are alive and beyond. Only death can stop our ceaseless consuming
and release the stored biochemical energy in our bodies to dissipate back into the
larger ecosphere over time. An incalculable number of other organisms, large and
small, inhabiting the land, sea, and sky, also take in and give back. It is what defines
being alive and part of the earth’s ecosphere.
1.3 No Going Back: Impossible to Do Nothing