After our last column about a Steady State Economy, I heard
from David Dawson who lives at La Broquerie. David agreed with the column, but
thought the language got a little too complex at places.
Here is how he put it: I am just an ordinary guy – certainly
not an economist. Here are just common sense thoughts from an amateur. Mind
you, I believe the economy as a whole is so complex that no one really
understands it completely. Experts build computer ‘models’ but how accurate are
they.
David thinks it must be obvious to any thinking person that
perpetual growth of anything, anything at all, including population and economy
is unsustainable. Eventually something will have to give – probably with
dramatic effect. Nevertheless, if our
economy isn’t expanding we are told something is wrong. We call it a recession
or even depression. Unemployment soars
and company revenues fall, leading to a drop in government revenue. We fear
another depression similar to the 1930s.
Obviously, if we can’t go on growing the economy for ever, David
says, there has to be a point where growth stops and we end up in a state of
permanent recession/depression or at best stagnation. Currently our lifestyle is based on continual
growth, so we are, without doubt, eventually destined for a major shake-up with
huge social adjustments. Are we possibly
seeing the very beginnings of this process at the present time? The USA is
having great difficulty creating jobs and getting out of the last recessionary period.
There are obscenely high pay levels in the financial sector which are creating
a totally unbalanced sharing of the wealth of the nation with poverty rife
everywhere. Is this partly responsible for the present situation? The demonstrators all over the world seem to
think so.
According to David, when we are in a period of recession our
government borrows money to boost the economy to keep employment artificially
high. By borrowing, government creates
or maintains a standard of living unsupportable by the economy. The government hopes it will be able to pay
back the loans when the economy returns to growth, but as you can see growth
must eventually stop. We may end up in a
situation where we can never pay back the loans, with a crippled economy paying
interest only on the money it has borrowed. These payments take much needed
resources out of our economy. I wonder if we are in a time of human existence
when we are close to, or are actually in, a period of permanent
recession/depression. If that is the case,
what are we going to do about the money we have borrowed, whether it is private,
individual borrowing, or government borrowing? If this is the time we are in, now
is the time to change the way we do things.
David’s solution is to learn how to cook instead of buying
pre-packaged, pre-cooked, boxed meals.
Dig up that useless lawn and plant vegetables. Learn how to make jam, preserve and freeze
your produce. Compost the waste.
You might also join us Thursday for a presentation on the
Steady State Economy. October 27, 7:00PM at the Eastman Education Centre on
Loewen Bld. More information at
southeasttransition.com.
Eric Rempel
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