Deep Value Transformation

What have Peter Brabeck-Letmathe and the baby boomer generation including myself in common? We are all concerned about climate and environmental change, and how it will affect energy, food and water security, in the Global North and in particular the Global South. We all know today, that great and deep transformation is needed and we are all concerned about which energy to use to make the transformation happen. The good news, energy sources are still available, the bad news, 80% are fossil fuel based and the produced greenhouse gases can have a long lasting and catastrophic impact on our climate and planet Earth.

Mr. Brabeck-Letmathe as a charismatic leader and myself, as a former materialist consumer, we were not aware of how in developing markets, businesses and jobs globally, we adopt values, which have such an enormous and dangerous global impact on our planet, strongly affecting the most vulnerable and poor people who suffer most from climate change.

But we must ask ourselves, are the bottled water and capsuled coffee business sustainable? How it will affect the base of the pyramid 4 billion people? How long can these resources, some of which are non-renewable, be depleted on our planet? Is it reasonable to develop businesses rapidly to keep shareholders happy at the cost of the planet’s environment, resources and our civilization? We all know the answer.

Let’s imagine a balance (scale, libra, Waage) on which we weigh and compare resources. What are the resources needed for a product and its entire life-cycle, its exploration, extraction, supply, production, distribution, dumping, recycling? Mr. Brabeck-Letmathe would for example compare

- water from the tap and bottled water

- coffee from the bag and coffee from the capsule

These comparisons are not trivial, and for Mr. Brabeck-Letmathe, opting for one or the other, would mean deep business transformation. With regards to coffee he might ask me, do we still need to drink coffee anyway? My answer would be: “oh please, yes, I can’t make a day without coffee”.

Let me list some of the industries which, in my opinion, need to be transformed or started up as fast as possible, to which I subjectively attribute positive or negative “energies”:

Positive energies or “slow” industries

- clean and renewable energy

- organic food and public water “industry”

- healthy locomotion & travel

- “industries” of happiness (I leave it up to you what makes you happy and what ideas and industries you would imagine)

Negative energies industries

- fossil & nuclear fuel industries

- polluting industries

- alcohol and tobacco industries

- gmo food & other genetics industries

- illegal drugs

- sexual pornography (internet)

- human trafficking and child abuse

- violence pornography (internet, gaming, movie industry)

- weapons and defense industries

- casino money gambling and financial casino speculation & investing

- industries favoring corruption, money laundering, authoritarian regimes

Positive energy “industries” are still a few only, and there is huge potential for development. I let you imagine your own industries which procure you, your family, your friends, your community strength, health, love and happiness.

Let me help you. Let’s play a game. The games consist in answering the following questions, in comparing

1. the industrialized western human being
2. the blue-green nature and eco-friendly human being
3. nature
4. the poorest and most vulnerable human being, mostly children and women

Here is an example

1. What do we human beings in the industrialized western world prefer?

e.g. driving a luxury Mercedes, a cool Porsche or being escorted in a stretched limo

2. What does the “blue-green” nature-friendly human being prefer?

e.g. walk, ride a bike, an e-bike, go by public transportation

3. What does nature prefer?

that we walk or bike, live and work locally, go on a hike in our nearby forest, hills and mountains for our leisure and vacation, and that we respect and take care of nature and natural ecosystems

4. What do the 4 billion most vulnerable and poor human beings prefer?

build a livelihood locally in an area, where they can find safe shelter and health, enough safe food and nutrition, safe drinking water, not being forced to become climate refugees because of drought, flooding, other natural catastrophes, violence and civil war, caused by climate change, not to be forced to migrate, to be able to live in an area safe, also for women and children

Play the game with your friends, with your family and develop new ideas which bring love, health and happiness to each and everyone on our planet.

So what are the values, you think will bring you love, health, happiness? Let me give you mine

- love

- empathy

- expression of feelings

- words of healing

- altruism, help and volunteering, giving without asking a return favor

- respect and care for nature, plants and animals

- appreciate and enjoy the treasuries of nature, its flora and fauna

- respect and empathy for every human being

- sharing happiness

- socialize and share time together, in moments of grief, in moments of happiness