Jim Brumm: Long-Term Thinking for a Short-Sighted World

“Future considerations should dwarf the present—the same way unborn humans vastly outnumber the living, the same way the accumulative never-born of an endangered species should loom over the debate over its protection.” Stewart Brand,  The Long Now Foundation.

Welcome to longtermthinking.net, a site dedicated to encouraging long-term thinking in our nation’s politics, energy policies, agriculture, businesses, and personal lives. It has become apparent that many of the problems we face today, including global warming, the economic meltdown, healthcare costs, environmental degradation, political turmoil, the ongoing energy crisis, and so much more, share one common theme: a lack of foresight. Despite the obvious reasons for changing this, we continue to pursue short-term gains at the expense of our long-term well being. We do this in our national policies, and in our personal lives.

Expanding our consciousness

We are consuming more than our planet can sustain. In order for us to create a truly sustainable lifestyle, we need to make a drastic change in our worldview—the way we perceive life, the world and our place in it, the way we relate to each other, what we prioritize, and how we go about meeting our basic needs. We need to expand our vision drastically regarding the way we approach just about everything. We need to expand our vision of who we are to embrace all of humanity, not just our tribe, or our race, or our country. We need to expand our vision enough that we can intelligently and thoughtfully project the consequences of our actions far into the future, using our best thinkers and our collective and individual wisdom and experience to anticipate problems and take measures to head them off.

We live in one of the most exciting times in all of human history. Together, all of us who share this fragile globe are poised on the edge of the biggest shift in consciousness ever. Around the world grass-roots groups are forming every day to pool talent and energy and resources with an eye toward healing our environment and improving lives. These groups, while their stated goals may differ, share some common themes, foremost among them a belief in justice for all people and respect for our planet. They are not just groups of granola-soaked hippies carrying signs, getting high, and resisting authority. They are comprised of concerned people from all walks of life, mothers, fathers, business owners, children and old people. They are white, black, Asian, Latino, and American Indian. They are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and atheist. They have great concern and great hope for our future; they are full of enthusiasm and ideas.

Realigning our priorities

The realization that bigger, or more, is not always better is spreading throughout the world. There is a growing awareness that allowing greed and profit to steer the global economy causes great harm to the environment, indigenous cultures, and our personal lives. We have reached a point of diminishing returns. We in the western world—the “advanced” world—surrounded as we are by amazing technology and access to just about everything we ever thought we could want, are realizing that all that stuff and all those great gadgets aren’t making us happy. Bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger salaries, and bigger debts have left many with a sense of emptiness and a longing for a return to a simpler, kinder, life.

The current economic meltdown and its ripple effects along with the bad news about global climate change have caused millions of people question the ways we’ve been doing things, both personally and on a global level. There is a great yearning for a return to those things we can count on in the long run, and a rejection of short-term thinking and short-term actions for short-term profits. Peoples’ thoughts and consciousness are expanding to encompass the big picture—the long term. Because of this, a loving, hopeful, and positive groundswell is rising throughout our society and the world, and I invite you to be a part of it. Everybody’s welcome; everybody counts. We are truly all in this together. The more ideas and action the better. I will post regular updates on the subject of long-term thinking, and look at some alternatives that arise in the journey. I invite you to add your own observations and comments to the mix. If you're interested in this subject, and would like to contact me, you may email me at jimbrumm@comcast.net. If you wish, you can leave comments on my blogs by clicking the button labeled "add new comment" at the bottom of the page.