Expanding opportunity in the Anthropocene

The journal Ethics, Policy & Environment has a somewhat innovative format by which they publish a number of peer commentaries in response to a specific “target” article. In the next issue (20:3), the target article is based on a book by Randall Curran and Ellen Metzger called “Living well now and in the future: Why sustainability matters”. Reading the book, I could not resist the temptation to write such a 1,500 words commentary to point out that one can think very differently about the future and our obligations to posterity.

As often, my writing was interrupted, or perhaps I should rather say inspired, by some Lego space adventures. It is striking that one can write a whole book about the future and so completely ignore what may really be at stake in these debates. At least, it is my hope that the title “Expanding opportunity in the Anthropocene” will spark some interest in hearing the other side of the story.