DorS

Democracy or Survival: governance & the biosphere crisis 
2nd edition published March 2012 by the authorISBN 978-0-9532990-8-9

paperback; 200 x 127 x 19 mm

352 pages

(Out of print)

 DorS cover the political challenge before the human race is […] to ensure that the interests of all creatures & all generations are taken into account in the political process   William Ophuls, Plato’s RevengeWhat was required was not liberty, whatever that might be, but good government   Gertrude Himmelfarb, On Liberty & Liberalism

there is no adequate substitute for […] better leadership at all levels, including those who are engaged in the conduct of public business, which is to say politics   David Orr, Down to the Wire

the entire US electorate needs […] to stop behaving like a febrile & easily influenced admass   Will Self, New Statesman, 14.x.16

It is […] hurtful that the constitution of the country should declare ignorance to be entitled to as much political power as knowledge   John Stuart Mill, Rep.Government

Is large-scale democracy possible at all […]?    Dahl, Democracy & its Critics

All environmental problems become harder – and ultimately impossible – to solve with ever more people   David Attenborough

Cooperation is difficult […] –  but it’s the only wayout […] It takes real maturity to do cooperation  Gwynne Dyer, Climate Wars

We have a long history of in-group cooperation for out-group conflict   James Garvey, Ethics of Climate Change

All people like us are We, and everyone else is They   Rudyard Kipling, We & They

If a thing is not good for the hive, it is not good for the bee   Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I worry that American democracy is exhibiting fatal symptoms […] rooted in the deline of a public ethic, legalized & institutionalized corruption, a poorly educated & attention-deficit-driven electorate, and a ‘gotcha’ press {…] Graham Allison Destined for War
                               CONTENTS   Preface                                                                   1

   Introduction                                                           7

                I  Problems: the Biosphere Crisis

  I.1   Climate                                                          14

  I.2   Population                                                     35

  I.3   Natural Capital & Optimum Population       49

  I.4   Conflict                                                         61

  I.5   The Biosphere Crisis & Governance            77

                                II  Causes

  II.1   The Individual and Society                         84

  II.2   Individualism & Anglo-american Mode1 110

  1I.3   Institutionalized Irrationality                    120

  II.4   Problems with ‘Democracy’                       144

  II.5   Problems with Democracy                        166

  II.6   The Challenge Facing Us                          184

                                III  Solutions

  III.1   The Biosphere                                          193

  III.2   A New Myth                                            214

  III.3   New Values                                              226

  III.4   Education                                                 247

  III.5   Replacing Democracy                              259

  III.6   Supra-state Governance                           275

  III.7   Managing Population                              290

  III.8   The End of History?                                303

  Appendix: Human disasters                              314

  References                                                         319

  Index                                                                 332
The front and rear covers depict graphs of atmospheric-carbon-dioxide concentration and global population respectively against time, to show that they are increasing relentlessly, with no obvious effects of political action (where it exists) to restrain them. This is bad news for future people.The book argues that in the ‘West’ we suffer from poor governance, particularly in the form of market democracy, and that this poor goverance is incapable of solving long-term environmental problems that will cause unimaginable suffering for future people.

There is a danger that ‘western’ governments will collapse, or degenerate into authoritarian regimes, when they fail to cope with environment-related and population-related crises, such as famine, destruction of coastal cities, or mass migration stimulated by over-population and/or unacceptable inequalities in standard of living between countries.

Unless democracy is replaced by more efficient forms of governance, civilization as we know it may disappear.

The book proposes changes to democracy in order to create an improved form of representative governance, in the interests of both living and future people. In particular it is recommended – following John Stuart Mill – that representative bodies should be elected by a qualified electorate from among qualified candidates. Among the unqualified would be the seriously ignorant & irrational, as well as the morally compromised (e.g exceptionally wealthy people, who are likely to be out of touch with the needs of normal people).

Such a society cannot exist with an unregulated free market, since a much higher degree of equality between citizens will be needed than has developed in recent decades in most market democracies. So the proposals imply profound changes in not only governance but also the economy and attitudes in general. The ethical basis of such a revolution is treated in Biosphere Crisis.