Beyond Sustainability
July 26, 2006 6:31 AM Subscribe
Designing the Next
Industrial Revolution [google video], an inspiring talk by William McDonough on design and ecology, beyond sustainability. Starts a little slow, but builds a powerful vision of a possible future. [transcript, via, see also]
I found some of his ideas quite inspiring, but McDonough himself comes across with an odd mixture of arrogance and naiivete. He bashes the first Industrial Revolution for all its unintended consequences (that somehow James Watt et al should have known about), yet he seems to believe his work will have none.
Then there are statements such as perceiving the state as "the Guardian". You can tell Dubya hadn't been in office long when this talk was given.
posted by String at 1:36 AM on July 27, 2006
Then there are statements such as perceiving the state as "the Guardian". You can tell Dubya hadn't been in office long when this talk was given.
posted by String at 1:36 AM on July 27, 2006
He bashes the first Industrial Revolution for all its unintended consequences (that somehow James Watt et al should have known about), yet he seems to believe his work will have none.
True, but he considers the possibility, so he is trying to minimize the effect his designs have on future generations. Quite unlike Ford et al. I think he wasn't trying to blame the (already) dead generations for not taking an action. He was blaming us, the current population that really should know better.
His guardian model seems utopian. But in a way we already have that guardian in place, the nation state. The main problem in a global market economy is that regulations on a national scale are uneffective; they only shift pollution, they don't prevent it thus effectively making the competitive field grossly uneven for responsible companies.
And it seems that this unnfortunate state of business isn't very close to changing any time soon. Kyoto anyone?
posted by hoskala at 10:19 AM on July 27, 2006
True, but he considers the possibility, so he is trying to minimize the effect his designs have on future generations. Quite unlike Ford et al. I think he wasn't trying to blame the (already) dead generations for not taking an action. He was blaming us, the current population that really should know better.
His guardian model seems utopian. But in a way we already have that guardian in place, the nation state. The main problem in a global market economy is that regulations on a national scale are uneffective; they only shift pollution, they don't prevent it thus effectively making the competitive field grossly uneven for responsible companies.
And it seems that this unnfortunate state of business isn't very close to changing any time soon. Kyoto anyone?
posted by hoskala at 10:19 AM on July 27, 2006
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posted by MetaMonkey at 10:57 AM on July 26, 2006