Ecology and freedom

• Main Author: Battersby, Mark E.
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/21228

The so-called ecological crisis consists of the twin problems of resource exhaustion and pollution. The problems are largely the result of high and increasing levels of consumption and production, and do not lend themselves to a technological solution. Extensive political controls must be imposed to protect the environment, but these controls promise curtailment of traditional freedoms of property and lifestyle. But Rousseau has suggested a solution to the problem of the social need for control and freedom: participatory democracy. Participatory democracy achieves freedom and control because decisions are arrived at collectively and through persuasion, minimizing the need for coercive control, and giving each participant a sense of identification with the decision making process. Participation also accords with our understanding of human nature once we free ourselves of the misleading psychologies of Hobbes and Adam Smith. Indeed Bishop Butler, famous for his refutation of Hobbes' egoism, has also suggested the alternative theory that people are socially motivated. John Adams extended this analysis to show the fundamental role that the human need for public esteem plays in political behavior. People need the experience of citizenship for their self esteem, and participation utilizes this need to encourage dedication to the public good. Environmental protection is a paradigm public good and should, therefore, receive adequate support in a society with extensive participation. In addition, participation and public work provide satisfying alternatives to private consumption. Widespread participation in industry is a practical possibility as has been shown by various experiments in industrial democracy and can also work at a nationwide level as has been demonstrated in Yugoslavia. In addition there are other models for widespread participation such as that of the Guild Socialists and Frederic Thayer. === Arts, Faculty of === Philosophy, Department of === Graduate