Kempten - "Our current economic and social system is not sustainable", says Prof. Dr.
Henning Austmann in his lecture.
If we imagine the 4.6 billion years of planet Earth's history as a string 4.6 meters long, the 200,000 years of human history roughly correspond to the tip of a ballpoint pen. For the sake of simplicity, let's assume that the majority of people in the western world have been convinced for about 200 years that exponential economic growth is almost natural, we are in a period of time that is equal to a thousandth of the tip of the ballpoint pen. Nevertheless, in this relatively short period of time, a lifestyle has become a matter of course that has destroyed the natural foundations of life and brought us to the brink of collapse.
In his lecture on a sustainable way of life, the Hanoverian business economist Prof. Dr.
Henning Austmann said "very, very painful" things to his listeners.
But the family man and former development worker is convinced that the confrontation with “our failure” will “push ahead” the urgently needed “change”.
On the other hand, there are also many positive examples, initiatives that show on site how sustainability can be achieved.
For example, the Friends of Kempten and Urban Climate Protection Management together with the University of Kempten invited him to open the lecture series "Sustainability and Ethics" in the Audimax and online this evening.
»Krass« unfounded sense of normalcy
In the past 30 to 70 years, not only has the world's population grown explosively, but also numerous other powerful factors such as global economic production, water consumption, the use of fertilizers and the number of flights. It is "madness how much we perceive the historically completely extraordinary" of the last decades "as normal", so Austmann. A few generations ago, people in the northern hemisphere would have lived in harmony with the limited natural resources.
Today “the question arises whether the species remains human”. Numerous scientists came to the unanimous conclusion that “the next step” in the ecologically devastating development will be irreversible. Climate change is not our only existence-threatening problem; rather, land use, soil consumption and the destruction of biodiversity are also heading towards a tipping point.
Responsible for the fact that the cornerstones of the planetary livelihoods threaten to collapse is not the population growth in the southern hemisphere, but the level of prosperity and the understanding of consumption in the industrialized nations. Undoubtedly, many countries would have made remarkable progress in areas such as democracy and equality, but "the equation does not work": "Our current economic and social system is not sustainable" because it is not sustainable. If it were sustainable, it would realize “a good life for all living beings within the framework of the planetary limits”.
But although there is an urgent need for action and we are not lacking in knowledge, a kind of “paralysis” seems to prevail.
Politics and society predominantly stuck to the basic economic assumption that “more growth, more technology and more globalization are always good”.
Technology euphoria obscures the view
Even apparently alternative concepts, such as a “Green New Deal”, rely on “growth as a panacea”.
But a steady increase in production necessarily leads to a continued increase in the destruction of nature.
This “core problem” cannot be solved with technological innovations alone; rather, technical innovations through rebound effects often lead to an even higher consumption of resources, explained Austmann.
“What we need is a holistic view” of all aspects of our way of life and a new idea of quality of life and “prosperity independent of growth”.
Whether nutrition, mobility, production or consumption - we should secure our essential needs locally in the region if possible.
We should greatly reduce wage working hours and resource consumption and ask ourselves the fundamental question: "Where is the point of enough?"
This profound cultural change will come - either “by design”, by actively shaping it, or “by disaster”, when the impending ecological collapse forces us.
The changes would have to come “from below”, tried out, implemented and exemplified in civil society.
If at least ten percent of the population showed that a sustainable lifestyle on the "reduction path" significantly improves the quality of life, increases the sense of meaning and leads to greater resistance to crises, then politicians will also dare to question the "addiction" for growth and make change choices close.
Less stress, more independence
For many committed people, whether in solidarity agriculture or in the repair café, “the principles of lifestyle from earlier years” are a helpful inspiration for their search for a sustainable way of life.
When the multi-generational project, in which Austmann lives with his family in Lower Saxony, received funding from the state as an innovative project, his "grandmother" asked him: "What is innovative about it?" In her childhood it was a matter of course, as was regional organic - Vegetables and renewable energies - even if nobody would have called them that at the time.
Also read: How Much Change Does Climate Rescue Need?