THIS WEEK’S MUSE
PAUL HAWKEN
“This planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Civilization needs a new operating system.”
Paul Hawken is an American environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, economist, and activist. He is also co-founder and executive director of Project Drawdown, a non-profit organization that outlines how global warming, through our actions as individuals, can be reversed.
Hawken was born in San Mateo, California, a small coastal town a few miles south of San Francisco. He attended UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University. To date, Hawken has written eight books – published in 30 languages in 50 countries. He still lives close to where he grew up, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
His 2021 book Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in a Generation looks at how we relate to the natural world and to each other. “The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces,” he wrote, “or at least not try to defy them.” He argues that by extracting all values from every aspect of our world—be it from the earth, seas, forests, or from cultural, social, or economic—we are inevitably perpetuating and exasperating the problem we think we are addressing. “Any time we take life,” wrote Hawken, “whether it be the life of a community, soil, oceans, species, insects, cultures, forests or human rights, it is degenerative.”
To Hawken, the solution is clear, and it is laid out by nature before us. The planet, Hawken argues, is telling us what to do, what it needs, and how to proceed. “We’re being homeschooled by the planet,” he says. By cooperating with nature, understanding its needs, and cooperating with one another to take action, change can be effected.
He believes the solution ultimately lies with us—through our action and behavior—and he sees science as the tool we can use. While science methodology and experimental findings can seem contrary and not necessarily what we want to hear—or what we are prepared to accept, according to our education, politics, or culture—he ultimately sees science as the key to change.
“If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse.”
Global warming, Hawken believes, need not be understood negatively – the position we seem to naturally take. Rather, he sees it as a positive spark. As an invitation to build, innovate, and affect change. And he adds the caveat that this is not a liberal or conservative agenda, but a human agenda. And it’s up to us.
“The greater part of action is making change on the ground, in our communities, across our regions, in our companies, within our schools, at our homes, closets and kitchens.”
Revolutions are never as fast as their name suggests. They start with the individual making a point or taking a stand, and they slowly gather momentum. We are all individuals, and we have started the revolution. It will take time, but we are moving in the right direction.
HAPPENING
Saturday, June 18
20th Annual 5k Run/Walk for the Arts
9am for Walk, 9:30am for Run
Join us for our 20th annual Run/Walk for the Arts! The whole family can be a part of this event in the scenic Bass River village of S. Yarmouth. Enjoy the unbeatable scenery and a flat, manageable course that begins and ends at the Cultural Center. Participants will receive a commemorative Run/Walk for the Arts T-shirt if registered before June 1. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place per age division and gender. Teams are encouraged and a special award will also be given for the largest team.
We hope you’ll join us!
This year’s event benefits our youth programs.
Register before June 17.
$25C
DETAILS & REGISTRATION