Mike Nickerson, author of Life, Money & Illusion; Living on Earth as if we want to stay, will be speaking in Colorado Springs on July 8 (details below). You are invited to hear him and participate in the discussion.

It’s impossible to escape climate change headlines these days. Awareness and concern about climate change has risen to the point that even George W. Bush can no longer deny it. It must be showing up in his pop-up books. :) In fact, Vanity Fair magazine has astutely declared green the new black. That’s a positive change for our modern world, but to keep moving forward we need to separate the meaningless or even dangerous trendy shades of green from the real thing.

As I’ve delved deeper and deeper into the sustainability issue researching my documentary, Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity, I’ve discovered climate change is but a symptom of a larger problem: we are overwhelming the Earth's ability to provide for our needs. The growth phase of the human story is drawing to a close. Continuing efforts to expand the material economy will only make matters worse. Leading thinkers who are not constrained by the box of what we’ve known – the short history of rapid growth and technological change that has allowed us to prosper has also entrenched an irrational worship of growth everlasting.

Is it proper, now that our biggest problems result from our size, to hold growth as a goal? Would it be better to focus on meeting everyone’s basic needs within the carrying capacity of the Earth?

Mike Nickerson has been researching and writing about this subject for years. Co-director of the Institute for the Study of Cultural Evolution in the 1970s, Mike was a founding member of the Green Party of Canada in 1983, and ran under its banner for a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in 1984. In 1993 his second book, Planning for Seven Generations, was published in paperback. Mike coordinates the Sustainability Project and an initiative to establish a genuine progress Index for Canada. When I heard Mike would be traveling across the western U.S. this summer I insisted he stop in Colorado and share his message. Selfishly we intend to film an interview for our documentary while he’s here.

For a discussion about how we can change society's underlying goals, come hear Mike Nickerson speak and engage us in a constructive dialogue. He’ll have copies of his latest book Life, Money & Illusion; Living on Earth as if we want to stay.

I’ve also promised to sneak-preview a brief trailer for my documentary (still in production), Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity at this meeting.

Date: July 8, 2008
Time: 7 - 9 p.m.
Location: Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado
315 East Costilla Street
Colorado Springs CO 80903

Bring your own cup or reusable water bottle. Water and lemonade will be available, but we won’t be using any disposable cups.

Hosted by: Growthbusters, producers of the documentary Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity

and

Pikes Peak Group of Sierra Club

For more information on Mike Nickerson, see: http://www.SustainWellBeing.net/LMI/Welcome.html