Right Relationship Building a Whole Earth Economy - Peter G Brown Geoffrey Garver (2009).pdf

Written by Peter G Brown (Author), Geoffrey Garver (Author), Thomas E Lovejoy Ph.D. (Foreword), Keith Helmuth (Contributor), Robert Howell (Contributor), Steve Szeghi (Contributor)
Format(s): PDF
Language: English

Publication Date: February 9, 2009
Our current economic system is unsustainable. Its fundamental elementsunlimited growth and endless wealth accumulationfly in the face of the fact that the Earths resources are clearly finite. The destructive effects of this denial of reality are wreaking havoc on our ecological and social systems. But what is the alternative? We need to go beyond simply fixing problems as they arise, or even as we anticipate them, and offer a comprehensive new economic model. It is a moral imperative.

From the Publisher
Praise for Right Relationship

"We truly need to reinvent our man-made world if we hope to sustain flourishing human and natural communities. Starting from first principles, this wonderful book provides a much-needed, innovative blueprint for this rebuilding."
--Gus Speth, Dean, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University; cofounder of the Natural Resources Defense Council; and author of The Bridge at the Edge of the World

"Right Relationship provides a compelling account of the inclusive ethical framework required to address the interrelated environmental, economic and social challenges of the 21st century. Its proposals for economic reform and global governance describe clearly the kind of radical change needed to secure a promising future for the human family and larger community of life on earth."
--Steven Rockefeller, Co-chair, Earth Charter International Council

"This remarkable book asks appropriate and fundamental questions about the kind of world in which we want to live and proposes an ethical and systemic approach to designing the future."
--Elizabeth Dowdeswell, former Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme, and founder and former CEO, Nuclear Waste Management Organization, Canada

From the Back Cover
A Bold New Vision for a Just and Flourishing Earth

Our current economic system--which assumes endless growth and limitless potential wealth--flies in the face of the fact that the earth's life support capacity is finite. The result is increasing destruction of the natural world and growing, sometimes lethal, tension between rich and poor.

Peter G. Brown and Geoffrey Garver use the core Quaker principle of "right relationship"--respecting the integrity, resilience, and beauty of human and natural communities--as the foundation for a new economic model. Right Relationship poses five basic questions: What is an economy for? How does it work? How big is too big? What's fair? And how can it best be governed? Brown and Garver expose the antiquated, shortsighted, and downright dangerous assumptions that underlie our current answers to these questions, as well as the shortcomings of many reform efforts. They propose new answers that combine an acute awareness of ecological limits with a fundamental focus on fairness and a concern with the spiritual, as well as material, well-being of the human race. And they outline what each of us can do to enable life's commonwealth.


Product Details
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1 edition (February 9, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1576757625
ISBN-13: 978-1576757628