Abstract
We have the power to solve the greatest challenges of our time: issues like hunger and poverty, war, and catastrophic climate change. As a microcosm, the essay examines an organization called Save the Mountain in Hadley, Massachusetts. Save the Mountain was founded to protect the Mount Holyoke Range, then under threat of a large housing development. While experts had abandoned hope of blocking the project, STM went out and organized a movement—and won a near-total victory in just 13 months. Not only did the group save the land, but it changed the entire relationships of the town's citizens to its government. The next step is changing the mindset of society as a whole. We have to show people that we have the systems and technologies and innovation to address these enormous problems. As with Save the Mountain, we must change the mindset from "impossible" to "which way will work best?" And second, we can use resources as a lever to accomplish change. Inequitable allocation of resources such as water, energy, food, timber, etc. is at the heart of all four of these major categories. To accomplish these goals, we will use these seven tools: Throw away our assumptions Work backward from the goal Count ALL the costs Focus on achieving abundance, instead of managing scarcity Eliminate the friction points Design for multiple uses Use nature as a model/close the loops As examples: if we work backward from a goal that every person has enough to eat, we create systems that advance that goal. If we stop externalizing costs of nuclear power, it becomes obvious that clean energy sources such as solar are far superior. If we look systemically, we can cut resource use up to 86 percent.
Shel Horowitz