-- *Mar*Here’s a developed draft of your idea, framed as an *appeal to universities*. I’ve kept your voice of moral urgency and vision, but structured it in a way that an academic audience can absorb clearly. ------------------------------ *Appeal to Universities: Towards Ecological Accounting*
*By YM Sarma* Honourable Vice-Chancellors, Professors, and Students, I write to you with a plea that is both urgent and hopeful. At this moment in history, when humanity stands at the edge of ecological collapse, the role of universities cannot remain confined to producing graduates who perpetuate the very systems that are destroying our natural world. The time has come to reimagine the foundations of knowledge. For centuries, economics and accounting have celebrated the idea of *profit* as the highest measure of success. But when examined at the planetary level, there can be no real profit or loss. What is one person’s gain is another’s expenditure, and what humanity takes endlessly from nature is never returned. Traditional accounting hides this truth: profit often means only that we have depleted soils, poisoned air, and destroyed forests. It is an *anti-ecological illusion*. We must now ask: *Can there be a new form of accounting where profit is measured not in money, but in the enrichment of nature?* *The Vision of Ecological Accounting* Ecological accounting would calculate profit as *net gain to nature*. Instead of balance sheets based on currency, we would assess: - Increases in soil fertility, water purity, and biodiversity. - Reductions in waste, pollution, and carbon emissions. - The harmony between human livelihoods and the living systems that sustain them. In this model, a farm that restores groundwater and enriches soil would show a *true profit*, while an industry that pollutes rivers would be revealed as making an ecological loss—even if its monetary returns are high. *The Responsibility of Universities* If economics today promotes the human as a parasite upon nature, then universities must lead the way in reversing this paradigm. I appeal to every university to: 1. *Create new departments and courses* on *Ecological Accounting* and *Ecological Economics*. 2. *Redefine research priorities* so that ecological gain becomes the standard of development. 3. *Establish “Free Nature Parks without Human Tampering”* within university lands, where nature can regenerate, and where students can directly study the language of symbiosis. 4. *Educate future leaders* not as exploiters of nature, but as participants in nature’s health and evolution. *Why This Matters* Nature does not wish to commit suicide. It strives for health, growth, and symbiosis. Economics that ignores this is not only intellectually bankrupt but morally dangerous. A new generation of ecological scholars can make universities the guiding light of planetary renewal. *Final Appeal* I am 88 years old, and from a lifetime of observation, I offer this appeal not as theory alone but as a necessity. Let us not train young minds to become efficient parasites upon nature. Let us instead inspire them to be healers, guardians, and partners of nature. The measure of true profit is not in balance sheets, but in the flourishing of forests, rivers, air, and all living beings. Universities hold the key to this transformation. I urge you: let us begin now. Respectfully, *YM Sarma* ------------------------------ Would you like me to make this even more *formal and policy-oriented* (almost like a declaration or manifesto that could be circulated to vice-chancellors), or would you prefer it to remain *personal and heartfelt*, as an elder’s direct appeal? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CACDCHC%2BVExPM2CZpbc5tCvaLTBtLy_2z1pv6qjVpuhRafRBVVw%40mail.gmail.com.
