Isn't the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn't it our responsibility to bring this about?
Interpretation
The quote suggests that the collapse of industrialized civilizations may be necessary for the hope of a better planet, urging us to take responsibility for this change.
Maurice Strong's quote reflects a critical view of industrialization's impact on the environment, positing that the current civilization's structure may be detrimental to the planet's health. It challenges us to rethink our role in society and the ecological crisis, implying that we might need to take drastic actions to ensure a sustainable future for the Earth. The quote provokes thought about our collective responsibilities toward environmental issues and the potential necessity of radical change to attain a healthier planet.
In practice
During a conference on climate change, this quote can be used to provoke thought about our current trajectory and the need for drastic measures.
The concept of national sovereignty has been an immutable, indeed sacred, principle of international relations. It is a principle which will yield only slowly and reluctantly to the new imperatives of global environmental cooperation. It is simply not feasible for sovereignty to be exercised unilaterally by individual nation states, however powerful. The global community must be assured of environmental security.
After all, sustainability means running the global environment - Earth Inc. - like a corporation: with depreciation, amortization and maintenance accounts. In other words, keeping the asset whole, rather than undermining your natural capital.
A citizen of an advanced industrialized nation consumes in six months the energy and raw materials that have to last the citizen of a developing country his entire lifetime.
Insisting on living in your past will kill your future. Let it go.
The best way to help Africans today is to help them to stand on their own feet. And the best way to do that is by helping create jobs.
The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese.
When I stepped away two springs ago, I just really wanted to shift my priorities to be able to be more available and present to show up for things that I felt were mattering more than being a professional athlete.
I have seen for the first time in 100 years of conflict, the two peoples - the Israeli people and the Palestinian people - are ahead of their leaderships.
Anarchists know that a long period of education must precede any great fundamental change in society, hence they do not believe in vote begging, nor political campaigns, but rather in the development of self-thinking individuals.
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