“Side by side with the miseries of underdevelopment...we find ourselves up against a form of superdevelopment, equally inadmissable. This superdevelopment consists in an excessive availability of material goods for the benefit of certain social groups and makes people slaves of "possession" and immediate gratification, with no other horizon than the multiplication or continual replacement of the things already owned with others still better. This is the civilization of consumption, or "consumerism," which involves so much throwing away and waste.” PeopleStillsFormCertainSocialSidesGroupsMaterialsCivilizationWasteBenefitsMiserySlavePossessionGoodsHorizonThrowingConsumptionConsumerismGratificationOverconsumptionReplacementsAvailabilityMultiplicationThrowing AwaySocial GroupsImmediate GratificationUnderdevelopment Author:Pope John Paul II
“I'm sure civilizations will still evolve through play, or rather as play, since that seems to be a fundamental mechanism of our humanity.” StillsPlaySeemsHumanityCivilizationFundamentalsEvolveMechanism Book:Deep Play Source: Deep Play
“Most of us still believe in the intrinsic value of nature, but I think the first century of the environmental/conservation movement demonstrated pretty clearly that this value cannot compel a civilization-wide shift toward sustainable behavior and enterprise when stacked up against the urgent economic and social needs of 7 billion people, most of whom are struggling to get out of poverty.” PeopleThinkingNeedsFirstsBelieveStillsValuesSocialPovertyStruggleEconomicCenturyMovementCivilizationBehaviorEnvironmentalWideBillionsEnterpriseConservationUrgentIntrinsic Value Author:Edward Norton
“In point of fact there are a certain number of values and of forces which are of decisive importance in our world civilization: the primacy of production, the continual growth of the power of the State and the formation of the National State, the autonomous development of technics, etc. These, among others - far more than the ownership of the means of production or any totalitarian doctrine - are the constitutive elements of the modern world. So long as these elements continue to be taken for granted, the world is standing still.” WorldMeanLongStillsStatesFactsCertainValuesForceGrowthNumbersTakenModernDevelopmentCivilizationElementsStandingImportanceProductionsDoctrineGrantedEtcOur WorldOwnershipModern WorldFormationTaken For GrantedAutonomousStanding StillPrimacyContinual Growth Author:Jacques Ellul