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OLA Sustainable Innovation

Two Themes:-Ecological Footprint

-Herbert Marcuse’s Critique of Consumer Society

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"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed"

Mahatma Gandhi

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What is the ecological footprint?

• Idea of equality of all human beings-> How many earths would we need?

Calculation method: global hectareAvailable: 1,8 haIndian: 0,8 haAmericans: 9,6 haEuropeans: 5 haFor Europeans we need about 2,7 planets

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Let’s have a look at your own results of the calculation!

What surprised you?

What did you find helpful (or not)?

First: related to specific fields:

• Housing

• Nutrition

• Mobility

• Consuming

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On the ecological footprint in general

• What are its limitations:– As to what it can measure?– As to what impact it can have?

• What are its benefits?

- How could it influence personal behavior?

- How can it help you designing/marketing (etc.) in the ‘green’ field?

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Associations?

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Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979)

• Marcuse’s criticism of consumer society

• Influence of two authors:– Karl Marx– Sigmund Freud

- Summary of this lecture will be available at the internet

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Why Philosophy?

• Socrates (400 bc): keep asking irritating questions• Try to have a look at themes from a completely different

angle• You do not need to agree, but you need to get ‘under

their skin’ first, in order to make adequate judgments

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Student revolts May ‘68

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Marcuse: “What is important in life?”

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Criticism of consumer society

• 20th century: Rat Race: working harder, in order to earn more, in order to buy more

• Do we really do those things we find most important in life?

• And if not: why not?

-> The “system” determines our desires and our priorities!

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The Creation of needs

• The system needs economic growth

• In order to achieve that it needs constant innovation

• In order to innovate it needs insatiable customers to whom it can sell

• Therefore it creates needs

• We all want the newest, fastest, most trendy…you name it!

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Brainwash!

• We are made to believe that we cannot do without … the newest mobile phone, flat screen, etc.

• And the worst thing is: we believe it is our own inmost desire

• “Human Technik”: with the help of neurological, psychological and marketing insights we are being “programmed”

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One-Dimensional Man

• We all want the same; all noses point in the same direction

• Everyone who thinks different is– Reintegrated into the system– Excluded from the system

But if we live in this “Brave New World”, why don’t we resist? Why don’t we revolt?

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Karl Marx (1818-1883)

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Misery in the 19th century

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Revolution!

• Proletariat: “Verelendung”– They experience every day that they are

being enslaved. Their anger grows

• Capitalists: Get richer and richer

• Result: “revolutionary potential” grows

-> spontaneous revolution

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Situation in the 20th century

– The system has got much more smart– The working class has been ‘ecapsulated’ into

the system: “Happy consciousness”

->They want their own (mental) slavery!– Repressive tolerance: two examples

1) Demonstrations allowed

2) Pornography legalized

-> Result: revolutionary potential is effectively channeled and discharged

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Radical contradictory society

• We believe that we are free, but mentally we are even more unfree than the proletariat of the 19th century

• We have the means to feed the whole world, but there have never been more poor people

• The system actively keeps us “deaf” and “blind” – What is a freedom fighter, what a terrorist?– What is a “surgical” operation at war time?– Why all this attention for “external enemies”?

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Hope for the future?

• The outcasts are not yet completely in grip of the system

• Who are they?– The voluntary outcasts (intellectuals, artists, etc.)– The involuntary outcasts (handicapped, poor, etc.)

They are being “pathologised” by the system.

Marcuse: dare to believe the “impossible”, dare to search for “Utopia”, dare to live for those things that are really important

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“Happy conscience”

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Discussion

Central concepts as fuel for the discussion:

“What is most important in life?”“Paradigm of economic growth”“Creation of needs”“Happy consciousness”“Human Technik”“Repressive tolerance”