What's Next For Earth

It is well known that an artist loses control over the interpretation of the piece because viewers bring their own readings but this time, it is me bringing new readings! My print was originally created as part of my “Climate Crisis” series. I was driven by a growing sense of anger and frustration that our obsession with “growth” and “profit” was leading to climate destruction and a wasteland society. The “Think Resilience” discussion has provided an interesting new lens in demonstrating the role of over-globalization in this process and why the apparent short-term benefits become dangers over time.

Here is an extract from Richard Heinberg’s talk: “Globalization is largely about the relentless pursuit of economic efficiency. And while there are benefits to efficiency (increasing profits, minimizing waste), as an economic strategy it has serious costs to community resilience. Wealthier countries lose jobs for higher-paid wage laborers, as well as the skill base and the infrastructure to produce goods and equipment. The offshoring of manufacturing to poorer nations reduces domestic pollution but increases pollution in the exporting nations (which often have less stringent regulations). Economic inequality increases, both within nations and between nations. And as regions specialize, there is an overall loss of local diversity in jobs.”

But as Heinberg points out “The point is not that all economic efficiency is bad, but that the pendulum has recently swung much too far in favor of globalization and centralization, and a rebalancing is in order”. Looking forward to seeing his suggestions for achieving that in the next chapter!