: G-8 ... what's it gonna take?

... I don't know what you think, well ... I don't know what I think about the recent G-8 Summit, distracted as the leaders were from climate and other issues by more political things, but sometimes the sheer scale of global challenges simply overwhelms me, not to despair, but to a numbness, a weird paralysis ... me beating a mental retreat to doing some little thing here on my privileged corner of Vancouver Island.

What was it Vaden said recently at thePlace? ... "if you are on Income Assistance in Canada, congratulations! you are in the top 5% economically in the world" ... sheesh.

Anyhow, when I think about this stuff I almost always go back to Thomas Homer-Dixon's 2 most recent books, The Ingenuity Gap and The Upside of Down. Kudos to Coop for his ongoing efforts to get the word out about TH-D ... ironically, a Victoria/Saanich kid who went to UVic, then MIT, and has taught at UofT the last decade or so. This summer he is moving over to a lead role at UWaterloo's brand new Centre for International Governance Innovation ( CIGI is funded by the co-CEOs of RiM. Wonder what he will do, as a Mac guy, with his iPhone in a CrackBerry world? :)

TH-D is one of those unique academics who sees the need to cross the lines of pure academia into some way of popularizing the deep research and writing he has done. He gets some flack from other academics for this once in a while, but I don't think he really cares, either that, or he has decided the stakes are too high for him not to tackle this challenge.

His first popular book, Ingenuity Gap, basically asks if we really have what it will take to address the growing chasm between the increasing number and scale of issues facing the world. He claims we do, if we get it together and get on with solutions.

His second book, The Upside of Down, uses the idea of pre-earthquake movements in the ocean's floor, and identifies 5 'tectonic shifts' coming at us globally ( and by extension, nationally, regionally, provincially, locally, and individually/personally ). Again, he suggests that addressing and applying ingenuity to these massive ongoing potential crises is possible, and necessary, if we're going to have a world to hand off to the next generations ( he has a 3 year old son ).

All that to say, when I semi-identify with the first graphic above, seeing the G-8 leaders as comic ( or tragic? ) figures, almost a bobblehead mentality, it frustrates me to no end. As in frustrates me personally to no end. What am I, should I, do I need to do about this? I find myself mulling the realities and possibilities of the incredible advantage being a homeowner in Victoria 1999-2008 has been ... since our house has doubled in value ( ha! value? ). Do I cash in, sell and rent, downsize, move away and be mortgage free somewhere else? Then it creeps up again and hits me ... there are people living in cars, shacks, on the street, in institutions ... and I'm somehow fantasizing about being mortgage free?

So, back to TH-D's tectonic shifts ... how ( on earth ) will these things be addressed? what would you do about ...

* Population stress arising from differences in the population growth rates between rich and poor societies, and from the spiraling growth of megacities in poor countries;
* Energy stress - above all from the increasing scarcity of conventional oil;
* Environmental stress from worsening damage to our land, water, forests and fisheries;
* Climate stress from changes in the makeup of our atmosphere;
* Economic stress resulting from instabilities in the global economic system and ever-widening income gaps between rich and poor people.

Homer-Dixon tackled this in many ways ... research, writing, travelling, speaking ... but also by taking a risk. He said the opportunity at UW was simply to challenging to pass up ( even a higher profile US college offer ). So he is taking on a big new assignment, leading a movement towards intentionality and excellence in global governance. Whew!

There's a summary of Upside of Down here, over at Global Dashboard titled Summer Reading ( Summer 2007, but it is never too late ). If you scroll all the way down to the end of the summary there's a 3 page Globe&Mail article by Homer-Dixon that captures the jist of the argument as well ( or ask me to send it to you, or tell me if you can attach documents in Blogger? ). Wander over and take a look.

dlc