I was speaking with a green building intern today about how green building has a different set of priorities than say a normal corporation.
In fact from a green building perspective the priorities of a normal corporation are criminal, suicidal and simply bad business in the long run.
I see it as a perspective thing. A person could just be looking out for themselves. Or they could look out for themselves, their family and their friends. Each time their perspective broadens to include a larger set of criteria.
I drew together a quick layering of perspectives here:
Different groups have different arrangements of priorities. For example in the list above I have family as more important than friends. But a very religious person may put religion above their family. It just depends on each person’s set of priorities.
For the point I’m making lets say the list above is the arrangement of priorities. As you move out in perspective from the middle ring your perspective broadens to include more criteria in your decision making process.
For example, somebody who sees their National identity as the broadest aspect of their perspective will consider all the priorities within the national circle (Cultural, Political, Religious and so on…) to make a decision. But they will ignore the Global, Universal and God in their decision making process since it is outside of what they consider important.
Typically a corporation has a very narrow perspective. They definitely will consider their own share holder profit. If they are a “good” corporation they will also consider the well being of their workers. But if you look at the graph above you will see a typical corporation does not consider the well being of nations, tribes, religions, and the global planet. That is outside the scope of what they care for when making decisions. And yet they can still be completely legal!
A green builder on the other hand has a much broader perspective that encompasses a much larger set of priorities. Your typical green builder usually looks at things from the Global perspective. We are very planet earth centered. We don’t particularly care about things beyond our own blue orb like other planets or esoteric things. True earthlings, so to speak.
As individuals we may be Universally or Cosmically focused. But for me a green builder is one who trully understands the mantra, “Before enlightenment, fetch water, chop wood. After enlightenment, fetch water, chop wood.”
Our path in life is to work with the earth on a physical level, not to philosophize it intellectually. We are here to improve the ecosphere physically.
And in all our decisions that is the broadest perspective. Yes we look out for self, family, friends, corporations, countries, religions and so on because that is within the scope of Global. But most importantly if it does not also benefit the global planet then it is a no go. Find another way. The planet well being is the point from where we look at everything.
Likewise, what’s going on in the rest of the universe….well it doesn’t really effect our focus.
A green builder has a lot more considerations than your typical corporation. Things are more complex and more things need to be balanced. But we are also much broader in vision. In the long run typical corporations will kill themselves because they can’t see the bigger picture.
Green builders, in their higher wisdom, ultimately have a much easier time of things since they can see more options.