The Law Of Both Earth And Economics
...grow. Grow forever. Companies must get bigger. National economies need to swell by a certain percent each year. People should want more, make more, earn more, spend more, ever more.
The first commandment of the Earth is: enough. Just so much and no more. Just so much soil. Just so much water. Just so much sunshine. Everything born of the earth grows to its appropriate size and then stops. The planet does not get bigger, it gets better. Its creatures learn, mature, diversify, evolve, create amazing beauty and novelty and complexity, but live within absolute limits.
Now, when there's an inconsistency between human economics and the laws of planet Earth, which do you think is going to win?
Economics says: compete. Only by pitting yourself against a worthy opponent will you perform efficiently. The reward for successful competition will be growth. You will eat up your opponents, one by one, and as you do, you gain the resources to do it some more.
The Earth says: compete, yes, but keep your competition in bounds. Don't wage war. Take only what you need. Leave your competitor enough to live. Wherever possible, don't compete, cooperate. Pollinate each other, create shelter for each other, build firm structures that lift smaller species up to the light. Pass around the nutrients, share the territory.
Some kinds of excellence rise out of competition; other kinds rise out of cooperation. You're not in a war, you're in a community.
Which of those mandates makes a world worth living in?
Economics says: use it up fast. Don't bother with repair; the sooner something wears out, the sooner you'll buy another.
That makes the gross national product go round. Throw things out when you get tired of them. Throw them to a place where they become useless. Grab materials and energy...
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