46 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
46 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
**Barry Commoner** (1917 - 2012) was a [cellular
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biologist](Science "wikilink"), [medical researcher](Health "wikilink"),
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[university](university "wikilink") professor, soldier,
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[economist](Economics "wikilink"), [radical
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ecologist](Environmentalism "wikilink") and [libertarian
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socialist](Libertarian_Socialism "wikilink").
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## Life
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## Ideas
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Most of his work was focused on how we can redesign the economy to be
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more in line with natural ecosystems and reduce our impact on the
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biosphere.
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### Four Laws of Ecology
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In 1971, he argued that the economy should be restructured around the
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unbending laws of ecology which are as follows:
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1. Everything is connected to everything else. There is one ecosphere
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for all living organisms and what affects one, affects all.
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2. Everything must go somewhere. There is no "waste" in nature and
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there is no "away" to which things can be thrown.
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3. Nature knows best. Humankind has fashioned technology to improve
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upon nature, but such change in a natural system is likely to be
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detrimental to that [system](Systems_Theory "wikilink").
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4. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Exploitation of nature will
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inevitably involve the conversion of resources from useful to
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useless forms.
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### Three E's
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In 1976, he argued that the three main ills plaguing our society were
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the environment, energy and the economy. These were all interconnected
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issues, the industries that use the most energy have the most negative
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impact on the environment, and the use of scarce [fossil
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fuels](Fossil_Fuel "wikilink") means that prices will be pushed up as
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more energy is used, hurting the economy.
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## Quotes
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"Everything is connected to everything else.""
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Environmental pollution is an incurable disease. It can only be
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prevented. |