Jeremy Rifkin argues that the current geopolitical framework is inadequate for addressing global challenges like climate change. He proposes a shift towards "aquapolitics," emphasizing the planet's nature as a water-based system and advocating for a new economic and political approach centered on managing water and ecological processes.
Jeremy Rifkin suggests we should change our perception of the planet by recognizing it as a "water planet" or "blue planet" rather than a "land planet" or "Mother Earth." He uses the iconic image of Earth taken from space by astronauts in 1972 as evidence. This photograph revealed that the planet is predominantly blue, with only a small amount of green, fundamentally altering humanity's perspective and highlighting the vastness and importance of water. He also uses the analogy of two small fish in the ocean not realizing the presence of water to illustrate how humans often take their life-sustaining environment for granted.
According to Rifkin, the current economic system is based on exploitation and short-term gains, which he argues is unsustainable and fundamentally flawed. He states that economists often focus solely on "winning, appropriating, and making a product," selling it, and considering the transaction complete.
However, Rifkin emphasizes that the "aftermath" of this process is far greater than the value generated by the product itself and that these consequences are never truly gone. He highlights that the use of fossil fuels, for example, has fundamentally altered the planet. He contrasts this with the laws of thermodynamics, stating that all elements remain, but not in their original form, implying that the byproducts of economic activity have lasting and often detrimental effects. This focus on production through exploitation and centralization, he argues, has led to the destruction of a large part of the planet.
"Aquapolitics," or as Rifkin also terms it, "bioregional management," is an approach that shifts focus from national boundaries (geopolitics) to the management of interconnected ecosystems, particularly water systems.
Rifkin advocates for this approach over traditional geopolitics because he believes that climate change and environmental issues transcend political borders. Natiestaten (nation-states) are not dynamic ecological forms. He argues that the current geopolitical struggles are a symptom of an outdated economic and political framework that is failing.
Instead, he proposes that governments should expand their authority to encompass bioregions, which are defined by shared ecosystems. In these bioregions, various states and provinces would collaborate to manage their ecosystems collectively, ensuring their sustainability and addressing the severe consequences of climate-related disasters. He points to the example of the Great Lakes region, managed by eight US states and two Canadian provinces, as a model for this collaborative, bioregional approach. This shift, he contends, is crucial for the survival of civilization.
New technologies like additive manufacturing and renewable energy are central to Rifkin's proposed shift in systems.
Together, these technologies facilitate a move towards a more sustainable, distributed, and ecologically sound way of living and producing, bypassing the limitations and destructive tendencies of the old industrial and geopolitical paradigms.
Rifkin argues that the economic concept of "growth" is not aligned with natural systems because, in nature, there is no such thing as continuous growth. Instead, natural systems "flourish or they don't flourish." This is in direct contrast to the economic imperative of perpetual growth, which is unsustainable in a finite system. He also points out that "efficiency," another key economic concept, doesn't exist in nature; nature operates on adaptation.
