Despite a healthy amount of rhetoric – I still fail to find any commentators willing to address the actual nature of this crisis – financial or environemental…
In the years leading up to this global financial crisis (GFC) many good steps were taken to address the imbalance of social, economic and environmental issues we faced. Indeed the most progress was probably made in the environmental sphere, with some issues temporarily eclipsing all others. However, with our backs against the wall – it is now clear what we are really made of – and it seems no one is really willing to talk about it.
Our government and our leaders are right now in the process of undoing all the good work that has been done in the last decade – as everyone rushes to stabilize the economy and put it right back to where it was at the beginning of the last bubble. Could the connection between unlimited economic growth and non-sustainability be any more obvious?
Many great minds are working hard on ways of decoupling economic growth from environemntal destruction. Theoretically, there is no reason why this coudn’t be achieved at some point. However, right now – it seems a long way off…
Therefore, I find it strange that at the first sign of a downturn – we drop everything and throw more money than has ever been thrown in the history of money – towards getting us back to where we were at the peak of environmental destruction.
I don’t want people to suffer and I don’t want people losing their jobs. However, the facts are that we have been on a very unsustainable path. In recent years, all our leaders – government and business leaders have aspoused the benefits of sustainability and committed their organizations and departments to achieving this. Low and behold – an event occurs that is transformational – the GFC – and offers an opportunity that even Milton Friedman would have recognized as a path to significant change. And yet – provided with this fork in the road it seems that the only thing we can think of to do is hurtle back in the direction from whence we came… and not even allow the alternative to be put up for discussion.
I accept the roots of this problem are very deep and provide a reflection that many of us find it too difficult to face. It involves a range of reformations that tackle some of the most sacred institutions to have been built up in the last 2000 years – but most notably since perhaps the 17th century. Normally I wouldn’t expect anyone to face these head on – I’m not surprised that voices of leadership are quiet. But, if we let the next five years go by focused on returning to business as usual – only to face the same stinging issues once we get there and then have to start again – this period of time right now – will go down in history as one of the most regrettable opportunities ever to be missed.
One way or another nature achieves balance. Rest assured that a sustainable future is ahead whether we want it or not. The only difference is what humanity looks like in the picture of sustainability – are we there or not? I am confident that we are. However, I am also confident that in that picture we are not pursuing infinite economic growth of a materialistic lifestyle on a planet of finite resources… They are not compatible and everyone knows this.
One day humanity will live within these limits whether we choose to or not – there is no tother way. Amazingly, living within these limits will not stop us from doing anything we want. We can still have a space program, we can still have an incredibly diverse technological society. We just can’t have the waste….
Inevitably there will come a time when we need to control the Earth’s atmosphere and reach what Michio Kaku describes as a Stage One civilisation. The question is really – how many times must our society collapse before we get there. If we can survive long enough – we have no choice but to geo engineer our way out of Ice-Ages and natural warming of many degrees above we face now… but for this to happen – we need smooth transitions and a continual stream of information throughput. This necessarily requires sustainbility because we need future generations to have access to the same degree of complexity as we do – in order to make each new breakthrough. However, on our current path – the pursuit of economic material growth above all else – we will maintain a cycle of boom and bust – growth and then collapse – that will make it hard, if not impossible to ever find the sustainability balance that we need.
Follow the Money is an attempt to at least provide a forum in which anyone can start a discussion on ways in which we can decouple economic growth from environmental and social destruction – a no holes barred, all ideas considered radio show.
Please continue to visit this page for regular updates on all things sustainable economics as Follow the Money brings you interviews with all sorts of people from all sorts of areas of expertise, with one goal. To start a serious conversation about tackling our unbridled lust for material economic growth…
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