We subsidize the disposal of waste in all its myriad forms โ from landfills, to Superfund cleanups, to deep-well injection, to storage of nuclear waste. In the process, we encourage an economy where 80 percent of what we consume gets thrown away after one use.
Paul HawkenWhen asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and arenโt pessimistic, you donโt understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you arenโt optimistic, you havenโt got a pulse.
Paul HawkenWe have reached a point where the value we do add to our economy is now being outweighed by the value we are removing, not only from future generations in terms of diminished resources, but from ourselves in terms of unlivable cities, deadening jobs, deteriorating health, and rising crime. In biological terms, we have become a parasite and are devouring our host.
Paul HawkenHow is it that we have created an economic system that tells us it is cheaper to destroy the earth and exhaust its people than to nurture them both? Is it rational to have an pricing system which discounts the future and sells off the past? How did we create an economic system that confused capital liquidation with income?
Paul Hawken