Saturday 14 July 2012

The religion-shaped hole

I've just been to see AC Grayling talk about Humanism at the Lewes Speakers Festival. It's reminded me of a point I've been thinking about for a while. As religion becomes less of a central force in people's lives (in the UK at least) there is, for many people, a 'religion-shaped hole' in their lives. Not that they miss religion, but that, for many people there are very few other places in modern society where they can get opportunities to think about the meaning of their lives, their values or have the chance to reflect generally. As the founder of Life Squared I naturally think these things are very important, but so far nothing (apart from consumer capitalism) has really come in to fill this religion-shaped hole for most people, and I think the movement best suited to filling it it humanism. It is not yet however in a position where it can assume this position, as it is still on the defensive - seeking to argue against religion and protect the secular state from religious excess. It needs to move into a position where it is also taking a more constructive role - helping people to think about these bigger questions and supporting them in this journey - as there is a great need for this role now, and it would be of benefit to millions of people.

Tuesday 10 July 2012

One planet living?

I'm in the process of writing a booklet for our forthcoming 'Story of Energy' project at Life Squared, and my suspicions are proving correct - it's almost impossible to find a simple description of what a real 1 planet lifestyle would look like for the ordinary individual. Fill in a footprint calculator (like Bioregional's) and even if you give answers that show the minimum level of impact, it still tells you you're using over 2 planets' resources. This may well be true (given the resource-hungry infrastructure around our lives) but even so, we need to know what a real one-planet lifestyle would look like. Otherwise how can anyone know what the green movement is aiming for? I get hugely frustrated with the good-intentioned but vague and fluffy resources and advice coming from even the biggest and best environmental organisations. Enjoinders to fly less and grow your own veg are fine, but until we build a more detailed and meaningful picture of what each person would need to do in order to live within their share of the planet, even the people with the best intentions are going to be living 2 planet lifestyles - and why bother doing this if you're not going to do it properly? It really is time to define our goals and vision better as a movement - even if the reality of what we're suggesting (a real one planet lifestyle) isn't palatable to some people. We need to get real. And this might even encourage people to take more action now while we can.