Thursday, February 14, 2019

The Green New Deal: Join the “National Conversation”


14 February 2019 / Valentine’s Day
  
By Bill Asti
Economist /Architect /Author

A “National Conversation” has arisen over the past few weeks due to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (AOC) “Green New Deal”. It has once again brought to our minds this realization:

We as humans have a vital obligation to leave our progeny a world that will support them now and long into the future.

Seeing that today is Valentine’s Day . . . Rep. Ocasio-Cortez . . . Be my Valentine!
I learned in Elementary School to ask that of everyone with whom I wanted to be friends, and to whom I wanted to talk. Let’s see if I get a response.

Over 42 years ago I created the first private foundation in the United States (maybe in the world) to educate about our then-coming post-industrial economy, and how to assure and sustain our transition to the “new economy”. A few years later, when Alvin and Heidi Toffler brilliantly articulated the concept of the Third Wave (Post Industrial Economy), I designed the first in history third-wave city of the future. All this was codified by accolades both then and in my book nearly a decade ago. My book’s title: The Chicken Came First: A Primer for Renewing and Sustaining Our Communities.


I discuss in my book the global trends that help us understand our collective futures, and the direction we should take to alter the trajectory of our civil society: A trajectory to sustain ourselves and assure our species’ survival.

I emphasize at my book’s very beginning why we should work together to solve problems. And throughout the body of my book I give examples of how to work together.

My book is not a simple dozen-page manifesto based on well-intentioned ambition, but a 300+ page manuscript that helps to guide outcomes. It is a more robust democratic capitalistic version of what Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has postulated and proposed. I discuss the “New World Order” as it has emerged; much different than what AOC hopes for and suggests. My book is a discussion based on education, experience and reality.

One example in my book -- relevant to the current dialogue about Ms. Ocasio-Cortez in the media -- is the use of airplanes and the claims that the "Green New Deal" would eliminate air travel. This claim epitomizes the media’s single-mindedness in dealing with issues. I show how at times an airplane can use less fossil fuel transiting the country than does a car. This type of example can act as a springboard for additional, far-reaching, and substantive discussions … if we can get past the polarization of all discussions in America today.

In my book I show how this polarization process -- this “Crossfire Syndrome” -- stifles debate and how politicians and the press (media) use this process to manipulate us. I would hope that we, the populace, could temporarily take advantage of this polarization process by injecting more of our reality and our ideas into this National Conversation.

The Senate will be bringing this “Green New Deal” to the Senate floor for a vote: a way to get lawmakers to take sides, go to their respective corners, and polarize this very serious debate. The good part of this impending Senate vote -- this political polarization process -- will be to exacerbate the debate’s intensity in the public square for the next month or two. After that, the debate will likely weaken in intensity but will stay in the public arena through 2020 -- a way for the political parties to further define their campaign issues. During this time period I hope that we, the people, can bring a different, more robust perspective to the sustainability debate; one that will prolong the discussion and hopefully bring some sanity to the table.

The “Green New Deal” has sparked a huge reaction; a reaction of conflicting views. If we keep these views in proper perspective, the creative differences represented by AOC’s manifesto on the one hand and my book on the other can offer a vital and powerful debate -- one which can help educate the tens of millions of people who have joined the debate. I would surmise that there has never been a time in recent history where these ideas -- including my book -- could play a pivotal role in a life-sustaining national dialogue.

Because this discussion affects you, your family, friends, and community, I hope that many of you take the time to read my book and express your opinion to every media outlet and politician. I also hope each of you demand of your elected officials to read AOC’s manifesto and contrast it to my book.

Our civilization’s future depends on sustaining our economy along with our built and natural environment. The many voices demanding clarity and guidance within this debate will determine the future of our nation, and the future of all nations.



Information on W.H. Asti’s Book

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