The Theory of Enough, Part III

Recently a former professor of mine wrote to the Free Press to reiterate his long held view that Global Warming was not happening, or at least there was no evidence of it. Later the paper published a strong rebuke co-written by professors representing Manitoba’s three major universities. All this made me realize that as much faith as we place in science, it is still, above all, faith.

Science has answered many questions since it left the realm of hocus-pocus alchemy and entered the Age of Reason. But in the end there are no absolutes, and the fact that something like Global Warming can, on the one hand be strongly argued as fact, and on the other hand, easily dismissed, leads me to the idea that there must be another reason to stop polluting the atmosphere.

The Kyoto Accords goals, to the average, under-informed citizen like myself seem pretty damn reasonable. The main target is to reduce “Green-house Emissions” to pre-1990 levels. Canada says it is unable to do this without serious economic backlash; the United States was never even interested in attempting such a policy. It is because we are consumed with consuming and obsessed with the continued growth of our domestic economies.

Canada’s population is on the decline, and it seems reasonable to assume that our need for wealth should be similarly scaled back. Why do we need more? Aside from the prestige that membership in the G7 brings, what are the long term benefits of scouring our environment and paying people poverty-level wages to ensure that our nation remains “competitive” on the global stage?

Obviously I am no economist, and I was never really all that clear on why competitiveness is such a cornerstone of our civilization. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a good hockey game, or even the occasional boxing match, but I’m seriously at odds with the idea that our lives should be a game about who can acquire the nicest cars and the biggest manor home for their 1.2 kids. I don’t know, I think we should be more worried about the kind of world we leave for these kids. Whether our obsession with unlimited growth leaves the Earth untenably hot is almost beside the point. Consider the carcinogens our lifestyle emits daily, consider the cost of having children and old people taken care of by virtually the poorest paid segment of society—people’s who’s care-giving instincts are taken advantage of by those who had the brains and/or luck to “succeed” in our winner-take-all society.

Who made these rules, and why do we follow them so blindly? When someone makes a reasonable request for halting destructive patterns of “development” why do we instantly recoil from the difficult challenge and say, “Oh no, that will cost too much?” This country, abundant in land and some of the most enviable of resources, does not need to play the stupid game of who can afford the most breast implants per capita, or who has the biggest set of brass balls. Money is a tool, not an end. It’s time we challenge ourselves to focus on what really matters, rather than bowing to the shallow “realities” that have been foisted upon us by our unimaginative leaders.