A growing number of US citizens raise their voices “demanding a new social contract” as the multiple world crises are increasing “poverty and income inequality at historic levels.” This unprecedented movement nurtures hope in a change of policies and behaviors “geared toward the well-being of Americans and the rest of the human race,” according to the US national contribution to the Social Watch Report 2012, launched last week.
The national report suggests that Occupy Wall Street and other grassroots campaigns should lead to “the consensus that current economic priorities and unsustainable consumption patterns […] compromise the human rights and well-being of future generations” on the national and global level.
That would be a remarkable transition, since “the United States is home to 5% of the world’s population, yet it consumes 25% of the world’s energy and is responsible for 22 % of the world’s industrial carbon dioxide emissions, a leading cause of global warming.”
“Changing American consumption patterns is the key to achieve sustainable development and addressing the devastating impacts of climate change,” says the report.