civics

Systems Engineering is a poorly-named field -- it's not so much an engineering discipline as a structured process for producing a design. Just as we can design a homestead , we can apply the Systems Engineering process to develop lasting documents.

The experiment I propose is this: can we apply the elements of the Systems Engineering process to create a constitution that ensures a sustainable and open community?

The fact that Al Gore consumes a great deal while advocating reduced consumption is hypocritical. But so am I -- while I’m working toward improving my environmentally damaging lifestyle, I’m still relying on coal-produced power, the city water system, and a sewage treatment plant. It takes time and resources to transition to a sustainable lifestyle and both Gore and myself (and hopefully all of you!) are working toward the same goal. Yes, he still uses far more electricity than the typical resident, but he’s also installed far more renewable electricity sources than most residents. He is among the most affluent people in the world, which just means he has farther to fall and it could take him longer than the rest of us to transform the way he lives his life.

I take a certain satisfaction when I notice that our house is the only one on the street without a garbage can out on garbage pick-up days because I know that we are by far the greenest family in the neighborhood. Yet it also saddens me a bit because I know that since even we are a long ways from reaching sustainability, there is little hope of getting the rest of our neighbors to reach the same goal.

LiveScience published another interesting article on the human mind's interaction with money. From the article:

Research has shown that people become emotionally distressed when confronted with inequality. The privileged minority is particularly affected, and they are likely to have a nagging worry that their cash and prizes are undeserved.

To keep a clean conscience and legitimize privilege, individuals often alter their perceptions of the status quo.

The details of how that mental distortion provides the relief, however, remained a mystery until now.

and

“We assume that people care about justice, at least to some degree, and are bothered by potential departures from fairness,” the scientists wrote in a report of their work published in the current issue of the journal Psychological Science. “In order to maintain their perceptions of the world as just, however, people do not necessarily strive to make changes that will increase the overall amount of fairness and equality in the system.”

So it appears that even the most altruistic among those with wealth might not have the ability to feel compassion for those without. In the case of the environment or Peak Oil, this research could shed some light on why it is so difficult for many people to grasp the idea that their actions are unfairly hurting future generations -- even their own progeny. If wealth blinds us to seeing the damage we cause to the less fortunate (in this case our own children), how can we tailor our message on these issues to elicit a more positive response?

For that matter, how do we establish an economic or social system within a community to get around this human tendency?