If the amount of money going into the war economy were invested in landscape restoration, we would be in a far more positive position. It may get a little dire before we pull together, but I think when the prosperous nations, and in particular the U.S., realize they're wrecking their own kids' lives, there will be a mass change in value.
Interpretation
Investing in environmental restoration is more beneficial than spending on war, and a realization of this can lead to significant societal change.
This quote emphasizes the potential for a positive transformation in society if resources currently allocated to warfare are redirected towards ecological recovery. It suggests that as nations, particularly the U.S., begin to understand the detrimental impact of their decisions on future generations, there could be a collective shift in values that prioritizes sustainability over conflict.
In practice
In a TED Talk about environmental awareness, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of prioritizing environmental restoration over military spending.
Economics was like psychology, a pseudoscience trying to hide that fact with intense theoretical hyperelaboration. And gross domestic product was one of those unfortunate measurement concepts, like inches or the British thermal unit, that ought to have been retired long before.
That's one of the ironies of our time: Right when we're on the edge of serious improvements in health care, we're also cooking the planet.
Women have been trained to speak softly and carry a lipstick. Those days are over.
You can change all things for the better when you change yourself for the better.
Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.
In our lives, change is unavoidable, loss is unavoidable. In the adaptability and ease with which we experience change, lies our happiness and freedom.
What we know from lab studies is that it's never too late to break a habit. Habits are malleable throughout your entire life. But we also know that the best way to change a habit is to understand its structure - that once you tell people about the cue and the reward and you force them to recognize what those factors are in a behavior, it becomes much, much easier to change.
We do not succeed in changing things according to our desire, but gradually our desire changes.
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