Much has been written, published and said on what is popularly known as the “Green” debate. For the purposes of clarity and navigation, we have set out our own definitions, as they apply to Citizen Renaissance.
Climate Change is a threat of a global apocalypse of mankind’s own making. But it is only the canary in the coalmine and one of many symptoms of an underlying set of problems, the cause of which is our ecologically blind way of life. The Perfect Storm to which we refer speaks to more than the increase in global temperatures and the melting of ice-caps; it covers multiple and associated ills – not least the alarming increase in levels of scarcity from foods to fuels, and the growing inequalities which are leading not just to injustice but also to local, regional and, potentially, global conflict. At the same time, Climate Change has awoken the suppressed conscience of the people. We have finally recognised that – as individuals, in families and in communities – we now have the ability ourselves as Citizens, Consumers and voters to effect genuine change. “Solutions” are no longer merely political abstracts. The future of our planet is in our hands – and we can do something about it.
With the Global North in particular struck by Affluenza, Less is increasingly becoming More. There is no proof that increased consumption has led to greater personal or collective happiness or fulfilment – and our contention is that only a society that tunes into the Wellbeing Imperative and pursues its Needs and not its Wants (this distinction is examined in Chapter Seven) can help save the planet and boost happiness levels. We see this as both a positive coincidence and a double dividend for us all. What is required now is for active Citizenship to supplant an unquestioning and avaricious Consumerism that has dominated both the political and economic system for the best part of nearly a century. Our focus is on the high consumption of the developed world (the Global North), not developing world issues. We now know just how small our global cake is. So we have to share that cake out far more fairly. There is no evidence, nor likelihood, of decoupling growth from resource use and environmental damage. If developing economies are going to grow and spread access to Wellbeing, then developed world economies will surely be the ones which need to contract.
Finally, the Digital Revolution – about which so much has already been written – has ushered in a new age of democracy. Others have described how we are witnessing the democratisation of everything and the death of deference. The truth is that, in today’s world, a “person like me” has just as much, if not more, ability to be heard as any so-called expert or influencer. We are more accountable, more transparent and, in the power of the collective, more influential than ever before. Traditional hierarchies can no longer apply and traditional authority figures are no longer in control. The power rests with the people.
Together, the three seismic shifts of Climate Change, the Wellbeing Imperative and Digital Democracy are fuelling a resurgent and active Citizenship, where people, companies and governments will have to work to higher, more responsible and more far-seeing ethical standards. Yet the Citizen is not a new concept. The civic virtues and pride that pursue the common good are centuries old. They have, perhaps, merely been disrupted by half a century or so of runaway Consumerism. Today’s Citizens increasingly have no patience with corporate grandstanding, spin or green-wash. They demand that we join them in challenging both Governments and Businesses, seeking to make everybody collectively responsible for theirs and their planet’s futures.
