André Francisco Pilon

The Bubbles or the Boiling Water?

The initiative within the framework of knowledge transfer and cooperation between concerned people and institutions about many of the problems of difficult settlement in today’s world encompasses crucial questions regarding the Anthropocene and the present cultural, political, economic and environmental crises worldwide. The focus should not be on the “bubbles” of the surface (problems on their own), but on the configurations deep inside the “boiling pot” where the problems emerge. Instead of dealing with the bubbles (segmented, reduced issues) and trying to solve isolated and localized problems without addressing the general phenomenon, problems should be defined and dealt with deep inside the “boiling pot”, encompassing the current “world-system” with its boundaries, structures, techno-economic paradigms, support groups, rules of legitimization, and coherence. The ecosystem approach to communication, advocacy, public policies, research and teaching programs takes in account the general phenomenon in view of the transformation of the dominant paradigms of development, growth, wealth, power and freedom embedded at political, economic, educational and cultural levels. Pilon, A. F. (2023, 2024) enlightens that Earth’s regeneration and mankind’s regeneration, as faces of the same coin, should be addressed simultaneously, for their mutual support, in view of all dimensions of being in the world: intimate, interactive, social and biophysical.“The top global environmental problems are not biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change; the top global environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, we need a spiritual and cultural transformation, and scientists do not know how to do that" (Speth, J. G., 2013). Villagran, H. L. (2022) reminds that “all major responsibilities to, supposedly, solve those challenging disruptions, are given to the private sector as a savior to solve the myriad of problems created by itself, and are ready to convey science-based “fairy-tails”, wishful thinking futures, technology-based magic thinking, and explicit and implicit denialism”. O'Mahony, T. (2022) remonstrates that “the system is embedded and entrenched in the intertwined structures of power in society, in institutions, politics and mindsets; think tanks and lobbies for vested interests have engaged political and institutional structures, hiding problems and solutions”. Earth’s regeneration and mankind’s regeneration, as faces of the same coin, should be addressed simultaneously, for their mutual support. Goals and new paths to reach them should contemplate a set of values, norms and policies that prioritizes socio-ecological objectives, human well-being, natural and built environments, the aesthetic, ethical and cultural meaning of life.

References:  

O’MAHONY, T. (2022). Towards Sustainable Wellbeing: Advances in Contemporary Concepts. Frontiers in Sustainability. 3: 807984: https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2022.807984

PILON, A. F. (2023). Reframing Relationships between Humans and the Earth: The "Anthropocene", a New Ideology to Justify the Status Quo? MPRA Munich Personal RePEc Archive: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/119041/1/MPRA_paper_119041.pdf

PILON, A. F. (2024). "The Party of the Dead": a Tale that Repeats Itself, MPRA Munich Personal RePEc Archive:

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/121869/1/MPRA_paper_121869.pdf

PILON, A. F. (2024). The Bubbles or the Boiling Water? A Course on Environmental Capacity Building [ppt presentation] Researchgate:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381996602_The_Bubbles_or_the_Boiling_Water_A_Course_on_Environmental_Capacity_Building

SPETH, J. G. (2013). Shared Planet: Religion and Nature, BBC Radio 4 (1 Oct. 2013)

VILLAGRAN i, H. L. (2022) On the Private Sector Driven Outer Space Agenda, Open Letter to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs: https://www.academia.edu/92732048/UN_Office_for_Outer_Space_Affairs_On_the_Private_Sector_Driven_Outer_Space_Agenda_Pending_Critical_Questions_and_Actions_WSF2022_