Economy based on community, not growth, may sustain humanity after peak oil, global warming, McKibben says

By Bill Densmore
GreylockNews.com

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The world economy after "peak oil" should be more focused on building community and human contacts rather than the efficient output of goods and services, says writer and environmentalist Bill McKibben. The result, he said, could be that Americans will begin for the first time in 50 years to have an increased sense of satisfaction with their lives.

"It's no longer clear that greater consumption is the thing that we need," McKibben told an audience in Williamstown on Friday. It may be time to trade economic growth for security, durability, companionship, and "communities that work," he added. "It's not easy to get there and it will not be all that familiar when we do." Maybe its time to label food as "certified neighborly" rather than "certified organic," McKibben said. The technologies that contribute to community "are at least as important" as technologies, which increase economic efficiency, he said.

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