LIMITS TO GROWTH? Of course! Nothing grows forever on this planet...

Breve apresentação de Projecto para o Curso INTRODUCTION TO SUSTAINABILITY da Universidade de Illinois através de Coursera:
"I was a little child when I heard an economist state for the first time that "economy must grow" - this sounded like a dissonant note to me. As time went by and I grew more and more interested in many different areas of Life (which end up being linked - "we are all one" is not just a beautiful spiritual idea but a reality if you observe life on Earth) I managed to put that initial dislike towards the economist's statement into words, which is NOTHING GROWS FOREVER ON THIS PLANET. Ms Economy should also consider start dieting!

Life is more than numbers and when we resort to statistics humanity is lost. 

My intuition has been telling me for some time that we have to go back to basics: go back to human dimension/size. And it is not only my intuition that whispers this into my soul: British anthropologist Robin Dunbar also got to the conclusion that there are limits to a sustainable human group. A study of African and American tribes, and societies like the Amish, reaches the same conclusion: a population of around 150 elements is the optimum amount. Size counts - any teacher knows this, it is one thing to teach a small group and another different thing trying to teach a large group of kids... unsustainable! Even chicken know this: if they are free they are healthy, if in a cramped battery farm, they go down with flu. We humans are no exception: we need a space ("Space of Love" like Anastacia, of The Ringing Cedars of Russia, calls it - http://www.ringingcedars.com/) and there is a mathematics to it, yes, in the shape of a formula that must take into consideration the amount of natural space a human being needs. Many studies point at 1 acre (or hectare) per family where the food the family needs can grow with little effort (following Permacultural ideas or Masanobu Fukuoka's as just one example - http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/start-a-1-acre-self-sufficient-homestead/). 

Obviously we must avoid fear-patterned reasonings and pessimistic ideas because why should we be afraid or pessimistic? We humans are not the creators of the world we see around and everything functions pretty well-oiled and will continue to function after we depart, so we should concentrate on doing what we know best, that is, create something positive. "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:16) 

This planet is a complex structure and we humans are just but one more tenant on it. Some have called it Mother Earth, others Spaceship Earth... She deserves to live well as well. Going back to small communities would help: they would cover our planet, with commercial and educational exchanges among them. There is enough for everybody's needs not for everybody's greed (Mahatma Ghandi)
However, we must also take into consideration that there is a minority group leading the present banking and economic system that will not accept changes - they profit out of this present-day chaotic system: we are brain-washed from birth with wrong ideas about ourselves which makes the whole situation even more delicate to disentangle (mind you: the system is very well based on human psyque to prevent disentanglement, but we have to try anyway!)... Once again, the situation on our planet is very complex with subtleties that we humans do not dream of. 

The best we can do for a healthy sustainable life for our planet, for us and our descendants is go back to small communities. Ms Economy will be on diet and our Gross National Happiness will rise!"
Alicia Kon