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Redefine 'progress' before we die of Affluenza By
Matthew Flitton "Business is business! And business must grow regardless of crummies in tummies, you know. I went right on biggering...selling more Thneeds. And I biggered my money, which everyone needs." -- Dr. Seuss This excerpt from The Lorax illustrates in simple verse the philosophy behind the U.S. economy. The same story illustrates the dangers of such a philosophy. In it, the Once-ler comes to a pristine land and uses the tuft of the truffula tree to make a thneed, "which everyone needs." When he chops down his first tree, the Lorax, a small creature with a big mustache, appears to "speak for the trees." Despite protests from the Lorax, the Once-ler's factory grows bigger, uses more trees and pollutes the air and the water. Like the Once-ler, our economy is based on sustained growth. If the Dow Jones Industrial average fails to make new records, we worry and Alan Greenspan cuts interest rates. Cutting interest rates is a nice tactic. By making money easier to borrow, we'll continue to buy high-priced items such as homes or cars. The plan is obviously working because personal savings rates have spent the last few years hovering around zero. In the middle of the longest sustained economic boom, people weren't saving anything. There were even some periods where the rate was negative; we were spending more than we were earning, getting deeper into debt. As a result of that consumption, we Americans use incredible amounts of natural resources. According to Affluenza, a 1997 PBS documentary, Americans have used more of the earth's resources since 1950 than everyone who has ever lived. According to William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel in the book "Ecological Footprint," if the entire planet were divided up, each individual would have 3.7 acres to provide the natural resources for all their needs. Americans use 12.6 acres each. If the country were evenly divided, we would have only about 6.2 acres each. The rest of the resources needed are borrowed from other nations, in much the same manner that a bully "borrows" lunch money. Economists tell us that growth is good for the economy. When it starts to falter, we need to get out and buy. That's the message President Bush is sending when he encourages America to get about its business. Constant growth in the body is cancer. The same is true for any closed system. Our planet, believe it or not, is a closed system. If growth continues unchecked, it will harm us all. An examination of our society will show the first tumors of our demise. Americans work more than 40 hours per week on a regular basis. The gap between rich and poor is largest in this country. The effects of global warming are becoming so apparent that even conservatives such as John Leo, of US News and World Report, recognize them. Because our economy only measures growth, it says that many bad things are good. To the Gross National Product, which is our progress indicator, measures only money spent, not why it was spent. According to it, the money spent on medical bills, funeral expenses and new cars after an accident is just as positive as the home built for newlyweds. A better measure would be the Genuine Progress Indicator. A group called Redefining Progress created this measure in 1995. Like the GNP, it measures cash outlays, but subtracts the costs of crime, pollution and family breakdown. By that measure, we were highest in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We've been on a gradual decline since. Herman Daly, an economist with the World Bank said our economy needs to develop, not grow. To explain the idea, he compared the economy to a library. Some get larger; others stay the same size, but replace obsolete and worn-out books with new ones. The latter library develops without growing. The former grows, but may or may not develop. We need to redefine progress, not as growth, but as a rising in the quality of living for all of us. Otherwise the few rich once-lers will continue to get rich at the expense of the rest of the community: From outside in the fields came a sickening smack of an axe on a tree. Then we heard the tree fall. The very last Truffula Tree of them all! No more trees. No more Thneeds. No more work to be done. So, in no time, my uncles and aunts, every one, all waved me good-bye. They jumped into my cars and drove away under the smoke-smuggered stars. Now all that was left 'neath the bad-smelling sky was my big empty factory, the Lorax... and I.
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