But for environmental scientist author, public speaker and filmmaker, David Wann, this is one of many indicators that leadership for our nation is going down the wrong road.
He noted that climate change is a scientific fact and for our current presidential administration to dismiss it says that for some, petro-profits are more compelling than life itself – namely, the resilience of Earth’s biological systems. Reuters reported that staff at the EPA told Reuters that if the pages on climate change are taken down, years of painstaking research will be lost.
Wann, age 68, used to work with EPA so the recent news about a presidential “executive order” against the EPA was disheartening.
This reporter talked with Wann from his home in Colorado. “In agencies like the EPA, science often gets damaged by politics,” Wann said. “In the Obama administration, climate change was considered a documented, peer-reviewed fact, but in the Trump administration, it remains conveniently ‘unclear’ how much of an impact humans are having.” He hopes the rational voices of science and sane voices will grow stronger; that greater minds will prevail.
We mostly talked about his book, “Simple Prosperity – Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle.” “The book was published almost 10 years ago, but its message is timeless, he said. It is quite possible (and necessary, on a crowded planet) to meet human needs more directly than we currently do in the U.S., expending less time, money, energy, and stress. This has been a central message in the books I’ve written and the documentaries I’ve produced in the past 30 or so years of my life.”
– Cover design by Pete Garceau and DataCraft/Getty Images.
“Simple Prosperity” while applauded, got mixed reviews. Many on GoodReads.com felt the book was a bit sweeping and at times preachy. And, others like Colorado freelance writer and small business owner Celeste Murphy found the book to be very helpful. She noted at her blog. “Simple Prosperity does not pretend to teach a simple way to become financially wealthy. I knew that before picking it up, she said. And so, I was not disappointed in that way. The book is an attempt to prove that living a simplified life will bring you the greatest wealth: health, happiness, community, friendship and maybe even love.”
Others who like the book’s concept like Tent Hamm, a contributor to the online publication The Simple Dollar, outlined the book. In his review, he condensed it into six main points. Hamm believes that Wann is only presenting the argument between simplicity and materialism — “That better (with simplicity) is actually more personal fulfillment.” Hamm also praised the book Wann co-authored. He described ‘Afluenza’ as “The Excellent…” Hamm invites people to “dig in” and investigate Wann’s perspective.
Wann admitted to me in our chat by phone that ‘Simple Prosperity’ is rather sweeping. “But I did a lot of research and put a lot of time into that book,” he said.
Born in the Midwest, Wann’s father was a businessman and moved the family to the suburbs of New York City when Wann was in the third grade. Though his family life was secure and formative, Wann and his father were sometimes at odds about social goals. “He was the businessman and I was the ‘counter-culture’ environmentalist.”
Wann was then quick to say, “I wasn’t a hippie, exactly. When I say ‘counter-cultural’ I am speaking in terms of materialism and its extremes. I instinctively knew I was ‘counter-cultural’ to a lifestyle that was becoming less sustainable with every passing year.” In Simple Prosperity, Wann wrote, “When I was a teenager in the 1960s, I felt queasiness lurking in the post-War euphoria of the American lifestyle. Gandhi once said, ‘Speed is irrelevant if you’re traveling in the wrong direction,’ and it was obvious to me that the accelerating pace of life in the U.S. didn’t have a real direction.”
The co-author of the 2001 best-seller “Affluenza: The All-consuming Epidemic” (with a 3rd edition, published in 2014) Wann believes that materialism and all its trappings will be deemphasized in this 21st Century. And, that will happen either by design or by default. Instead, noted Wann, a cultural richness, ecological design and biological restoration will bring forth needed change.
‘Afluenza’ is now in e-book format and a Kindle version can be purchased through Amazon.com
‘Afluenza’ made such an impact that PBS did a documentary series on it.
While Wann can see the digital revolution and the good things technology can do as a marvel, he warns, “the impact this current digital culture and its explosion can take us away from our basic human values. What is missing in our culture is cohesion and a social capital.”
He explained further, “When a society, a culture — has lots of social cohesion that is part of its social capital. Just as banks, financiers and stock brokers talk of financial capital, it is time to speak in terms of our nation’s social capital. There is much more to a people, to a society than how much money they have in the bank,” he said.
In his 2007 book “Simple Prosperity” he covers many areas to illustrate a point. “I did a lot of research for that book,” he said. But his objective was to get the point across that if our nation, our planet, is to survive to the next century, our culture must focus on a new paradigm. “Our nation needs to redefine its cultural identity. If we worked to create a functioning model of a culture rich in many important things and not just what goes on at Wall Street we might survive.”
Unlike the attitudes of Wall Street, Wann believes in terms of social capital, “the more you spend of your social capital, the more you have.” He firmly believes that if leaders where to shift the focus from dollars and ledgers to promoting ideas on building social capital, the richness of our nation would not only grow, it would thrive.
“‘Social Capital,’ he said, “meets needs and provides a security among people that is more than money. The digital revolution is a marvel. But let’s face it, it has flaws; mainly that what we are using our technology for more materialism.”
Take TV for example, Wann noted that as a mass communication device it is amazing. The ability to broadcast and communicate in sound and pictures live is revolutionary. But TV as Wann sees it has become a way of “mass distraction… instead of getting ideas and important news out, it is all about advertising. Even the news itself has become like an ad or a product brand,” he said. “The important information and news just isn’t there. It is always about ratings and how much ad time is given. How does that serve the greater good, the common good?”
As Wann sees it, right now it is about who or what holds and controls our national vision. This is why he sees the effort to in effect “shut down” the EPA website as dangerous. No matter what the current presidential administration believes or wants the people to believe, “climate change is a scientific fact, said Wann, the tangible evidence is right there, no question.”
Amid the increasing poverty line, the tremendous misuse of resources and the stress in people’s lives, Wann believes there is a way. “We can simplify a goal of success that has resiliency, and is gratifying, sustaining beyond materialism.” He believes that “we can clearly define a sense of success in ‘being alive.’ I think the world is ready for it,” he said.
Currently working on a novel, ‘Waiting for Q,’ Wann said “after I finish this novel I hope to release a third edition of ‘Simple Prosperity,’ condense it, make it more concise.” Authenticity is what he says is most important. “I strive for the type of writing that jumps off the page, to wake people up.” He emphasized he is not seeking to ‘go back’ (like to a simpler time in history). No! He asks only for people to ‘go deeper.’ “We need to create and protect a viable, sustainable alternative to what we are living in now. We need a resilient vision that is logical, practical, and equitable.” To learn more about David Wann and his vision visit his web site.
