Ifblog

 
Many trees have lifespans longer than a human life span. 
 
With a lifespan of more than 1000 years, the yew is one of the longest lived trees.
 
After more than sixty years living on earth, I am starting to identify with the yew tree. Like the yew, I have had time to observe that the more things change, the more they stay the same and that experience can be a valuable teacher.
 
The yew symbolizes endurance and cycles with relatively long periods that correspond more closely to human civilizations than to individual human lifetimes. The yew is indigenous to the regions where I have lived. However, it has become rare due to overexploitation and perceived negative economic value. Having been born into, grown up in, and now trying to live a satisfying life in a civilization that continues to focus on the current situation and the short-term gain while convinced that it is eternal, I have become fascinated by the yew and have come to believe that focusing my attention on it positively influences my life. Developing a personal vision that extends to the lifespan of the yew leads to constructive actions and to serenity.
 

Is the unsustainable financial model the root cause of ecologically unsustainable existence?

In 2020, the combined GDP of the 38 OECD member countries was 61.3 trillion US dollars (source : https://data.oecd.org/gdp/gross-domestic-product-gdp.htm). Since 2007, the outstanding central government debt in the OECD countries has steadily increased from 22.6 to 61 trillion dollars (source: https://www.oecd.org/finance/financial-markets/oecdsovereignborrowingoutlook.htm). This implies that during the past 15 years, approximately 2,6 trillion dollars year of the productive output of the OECD was created out of thin air. In recent years the creation of money out of thin air has become one of the most important contributors to economic growth in the rich countries. This economic growth makes it possible to buy more, build more, travel more, eat more than ever before. A magic money tree has sprouted, economic growth is perpetual, and humanity is free from the limits of nature. The natural limits on material and energy flows are irrelevant because money can buy whatever we want. Who would question this magnificent financial model?

Seen through the environmental engineering filter, the current financial model will lead to collapse. The environment is a system that functions at a dynamic equilibrium with no net growth. There are sub-systems and the internal interactions are complex. The quantity of energy and material exiting the system is equal to the quantity entering the system. Too much growth would lead to imbalance of the material and energy flows. All the inhabitants of this system thrive in their respective niche and the system is robust and stable. In contrast, limitless growth is an essential component of the current financial model and the mantra of almost all inhabitants of the rich countries. Moreover, the vast majority of the inhabitants live under an illusion of material, energy and time scarcity that has visibly led to an increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of a very small minority.

Would humans live better if they accepted the sustainable environmental model? I believe that adhering to truly sustainable living would lead to greater happiness. That the self-proclaimed experts continue to advocate perpetual economic growth as being necessary to happiness, leads me to believe that they are collectively blind to the reality of the environment that provides humanity with a model that assures life nurturing conditions.

 

 

 

All questions, comments and text for blog posts should be sent to yew@markmccormick.ch.

 

I believe that free speech and open discussion lead to optimal living conditions. Nevertheless, I will select posts based on my personal preferences for optimal living

 

By the way, «l’If» is «Yew» in French. Since I have been living in «Romandie» for twenty five years and since the Yew was a common tree in the region five hundred years ago, I decided to call this the «If-blog». Of course «If» and "Yew" make an interesting play on words between English and French. More information about the Yew can be found here https://www.waldwissen.net/fr/habitat-forestier/arbres-et-arbustes/resineux/lif-en-suisse.

 

Although rare, I have found some wild Yew trees and even groves like the one in the photo.

 

Citations

 

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell." - Edward Abbey

 

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.”  - Philip K. Dick

 

"When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer.

Superstition ain't the way." - Stevie Wonder