I guess it’s true that humans are materialistic by nature, but are we on the path of producing too much, owning a lot more than we need, creating excessive waste and leaving behind all that pile on this planet where we are supposedly just a temporary resident?
I did some study and found that there were already some schools of thought in this regard. I am not promoting any particular one, but just think that “circular economy” and “the future of ownership” seem to be interesting subjects for our meeting discussion.
Circular Economy (A short video: 3.5 minutes)
https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.or ... ew/concept
Rethinking Ownership: Making the Shift from Consumer to User
http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_a ... sumer_user
Following are some excerpts from a BBC Radio podcast and a documentary film, for your reference only:
- “Is personal ownership on its way out? Today we own more stuff than ever before, but will the future be one where we hire everything we need?
Our goods could be supplied to us by big companies as a service – and taken away again or replaced almost before we know they need to be fixed.
That's just one part of the idea of the circular economy - a new way for businesses to think about how they make use of the world's finite resources.
Quoted from “The End of Ownership?” (BBC News: iPlayer Radio)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04tz7zx
“We are not nature’s boss. Nature is at the center of existence. What’s not there, isn’t there and what we waste, we lose permanently. In a closed system (the Earth), nothing ever comes back.
What remains is the matter of ownership. How will we organize this in the future? There must always be someone who becomes the owner of something. Being the owner doesn’t mean having something, but taking the responsibility for something. You must want to be the steward of something.
If we are the guests on the Earth, the most important quality is the attitude we take towards the fact that Earth makes life possible, so it’s all about that attitude, and this attitude starts with us. And how fundamentally those things could change if we change perspective….”
“If you remove ownership, yes, you lose your status, and some people will have a problem unless they define their identity not on the basis of what they have, but on the basis of who they are.”
“We can never move outside of the context of nature. If we don’t like gravity, we can’t say let’s just cancel that. That’s impossible. And let’s do away with the sun as well, impossible. So, our actions are framed by all the existing (natural) laws. What’s not there, isn’t there. In principle, that’s what nature is.”
“What do you mean by nature?”, asked the interviewer.
“Nature is everything that makes life possible on the Earth. That also makes our existence possible. And if we follow that line of thought, everything (including the materials) has to have rights as well to make life possible.”
“I think materials have rights and that, not human kind, but nature is at the center of everything. If that’s the case, we are at the historical turning point where we have to redefine our relationship with Earth as humanity and that we are not at the verge of the umpteenth industrial revolution but we are on the eve of an existential revolution. Everything will be different and the economy will become the symbol of the relationship between humanity and Earth and in that relationship, everything should be balanced, reciprocal and respectful.”
Quoted from “The End of Ownership” (A Documentary)
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/end-ownersh
Questions for Discussion
Session I:
Q1: Do you think you own more “stuff/things” than you need? If any of them could be “rented” or “paid by service”, what are the things you can (or you wish your spouse could) easily give up the ownership of and just pay the fees for its “access/use”?
Q2: Do you think if you lose the ownership of certain things, you lose your status? (For example, if Steve did not wear his Rolex, instead he just rented a watch, would you still think he is a “golden boy”?) Do you agree that “the things we own have a tendency to own us”? Why? Could the “Diderot Effect” be one of the reasons?
Q3: Do you think “the End of Ownership” is a prevailing trend, a trend that we will be owning less and less physical possessions and moving towards a world that we own more disposable stuff or have things we just rent? Do you like to see a “possessionless world”? Why or why not?
- (The possible arguments:
- It is the human nature that we are attached to our physical belongings; the nostalgia for our collected ephemera.
- In the grand scheme of things, personal sentiment is trivial. We should think more about how we are monopolizing and mistreating our planet.
Which side of these arguments are you on?)
Q4: What is your opinion on the following statements/concepts? What are our rights and obligations to the Earth?
- “Being the owner doesn’t mean having something, but taking responsibility for something.”
“If we are the guests on the Earth, the most important quality is the attitude that we take towards the fact that Earth makes life possible.”
Q6: Traditional businesses or manufacturing companies don’t want you to buy a single product that can last throughout your lifetime; they just want you to buy many products over the course of your life. What do these businesses need to change to adopt the “circular economy” business model? Is the new mentality better for the humans for the long run? Why or why not?
- (Notes: A circular economy is restorative and regenerative by design, and aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times. What are the negative sides of it?)
- - Are we overreacting to the environmental issues?
- Is addressing people's immediate basic needs a more sensible and more moral priority than the long term environmental issues?
Agenda:
6:45 ~ 7:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
7:00 ~ 7:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
7:10 ~ 7:50pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
7:50 ~ 8:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
8:10 ~ 8:25pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
8:25 ~ 9:05pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
9:05 ~ 9:25pm Summarization (20 mins)
9:25 ~ 9:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements ********************************************************************************************************************************************
聚會日期:列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間:當天請準時於 6:45 pm 到達 ~ 約 9:30 pm 左右結束
星期二聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站:板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法:出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後,沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘,到了濟南路口,左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
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注意事項:
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給新朋友的話:
1. 請事先準備 1~3 分鐘的英語自我介紹;會議結束前可能會請你發表 1~2 分鐘的感想。
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