REPORT OF WORKING GROUP CULTIVATING RESOURCES

The electric light bulb was invented in 1884, and in 1969 man set foot on the moon. In historical perspective, this cannot be described as merely technological progress but should be viewed as a quantum jump or almost instantaneous change. What is happening now is new in the annals of human history. We are in the midst of an experience qualitatively different from anything that has happened before to the human race. Even more disturbing, this particular experience will probably not happen again. Thus, we as a race have one and only one opportunity to make the choices that lead to survival. In our age, a production economy is needed to sustain the standard of living we have all come to expect, but production causes waste and pollution. We are rapidly depleting the earth’s resources and polluting its environment. At the same time, we cannot turn back from the technological revolution. Knowledge exists in the mind of man, and if a catastrophe were to destroy all our physical constructions and tangible evidence of technology, we could rebuild within a few generations. Further, we have come to expect a high degree of individual freedom as well as the material benefits that technology permits. The basic problem thus becomes: HOW can we preserve the resources of the physical environment and at the same time preserve individual man and his aspirations? Although we are still in the midst of a period of high technological change, trend-curve analysis suggests that the revolution of physical science and technology may approach an asymptote by the turn of the century. By that time, our goal should be the achievement of some kind of steady-state solution in which population, technology, and resources come into balance. Between now and the end of this century the current revolution of physical science and technology will most probably have run its course. Today, new revolutions based on the biological and social sciences are under way and must be factors in our planning for the future.