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Van Jones on Interdependence

ladyinwhite's picture

“We are not separate from this planet”

 “The idea that you've got disposable people, a disposable planet”

 “…bringing together a concern about the environment and a concern about social justice.”

 “combatting global warming is a good way to lift people out of poverty”

 “Let us connect the people who most need work with the work that most needs to be done.”

 “Can a remedy serve for both global warming and poverty?”

 These various phrases pulled from Van Jones’s various speeches are encompassing of the concept of interdependence, specifically of the economic and the environmental crises – as told by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway in “The Collapse of Civilization: A View from the Future”. While the use of the term environment differs in this article that in the context of “The Collapse of Civilization”, Jones does discuss the relationship of humans to the environment, and the connection between the two is seen as symbiotic. Jones offers a way to become active and make a change in policy, which is essential to our survival on earth.