Beyond Discredited Economists....
Flower Child (nternet@c2i2.com)
Thu, 15 Oct 1998 12:46:29 -0700
To discredit economists take on their theories, show what is happening, and
offer differing theories. Here's mine:
The 'tide' of unbalanced, mindless and unnecessary economic
growth has risen to the point of causing alarm as islands of species
survivors (us included) are threatened by rising encroachments -- the
economy's need for energy, space, resources, people's time, its pollutions,
conflict with other countries, etc. The answer is not to try to raise all
boats or islands, nor to fund higher and higher flood protections around
whatever victims who can appeal pathetically enough, but to lower the
threatening seas. I have heard no interruption in the cheering for higher
gross national product levels from any U.S. Congressperson, although our
level is quite gross enough now and is most of the problem. Following our
use of resource processing not for life's needs, but for the increasingly
demanding investor classes, we have directed our diplomats, businesses and
militaries to guarantee the exporting out of other countries their cheap
resources and labor, and our importing to their markets. The concomitant
need to remold others' cultures from the outside we have supported also. It
is perhaps the need for others' resources that keeps the U.S. military in
over 150 other countries today and is a major source of friction. Fail
though it must as the limits of new populations and resource locations are
reached, the horses of the old ways are increasingly whipped to bring back
either good old days or what were our imaginations of good new days. While
the capitalistic system has been the best to fill what once was a huge need
for material supplies for our lives, that need was fulfilled quite some time
ago, in terms of the production vs. adequate minimums times the number of
persons alive. The real work now is enriching our lives with individual and
community quality, not more quantity of product. We need to go into a
steady state now, and with planning there is no need for a drastic loss in
the process of shedding the world's old first stage economic mechanism while
heading out for the long and fulfilling human journey with the steady state
propulsion of new, more balanced systems. Since a single personal computer
now can network the use of Earth resource, as well as resources of time and
energy for an entire, large community (see how at my website
http://www.c2i2.com/~nternet ), until we have made some of the basic
attitude changes, resource handling decisions, and have overseen giving the
'permission to live' to the young and ill- or unhoused, I do not believe we
need to look much further. We could legalize and even promote more simple
living for those desiring it and a lot of our problems would become history.
With the mind tools we have developed, and the resulting physical tools,
machines, assembly lines and now the computers to drive them, in a fair
system of labor each would surely have only to work a 4-hour day, and could
be home with their children, enriching them and building our communities,
saving and gaining optimum health, knowing more about our world and its
wonders. With legalizing and promoting 'microhouses' (and microhouse
cohousing), and new promotions of 'van villages' and such, as long as all
impacts are mitigated (sewage, energy use, traffic, health, law abiding,
safety, etc.) and with proper use of a computer in each community, our
decimation of the planet and its wilderness would diminish as we wish.
Charles Wilson (Flower Child)