Thought for the Day – Shooting Ourselves in the Foot
I think the irony to be found in the following quote will likely have been completely unnoticed by its author:
Australia’s economy is heavily reliant on exporting its natural resources. — BBC
It’s a statement nestled near the beginning of the article. The alarming thing is that we can be so fundamentally confused about our present economic trajectory that such a statement is considered perfectly normal and nothing at all to be worried about. Indeed, the only problem the article seems concerned about is that this exporting of natural resources has been slowed.
For those who are still dreamily content and feeling secure in the matrix of lies fed us by government promises and corporate and media distractions, I guess I should paraphrase the above quotation to ensure clarity:
The success of Australia’s economy is highly dependent on sending everything it has of value somewhere else.
Or:
The success of Australia’s economy is highly dependent on undermining its own viability.
We use the words ‘sustainability’ so often that I think we often fail to appreciate what it really means. Ultimately, something that cannot be sustained is something that will expire.
The quote reminds me of a video clip I found a while back. Perhaps you’ve seen it too? Aren’t we just like this dog — we can’t see our own craziness?
Craig
A simple point well made.
Unless we can replace resources with something of equal or higher value (not necessarily $$ value) then we are being un-sustainable.
BTW the Crazy Dog video that I presume you have added isn’t showing at the moment.
Hi Owyn. The video works for me. Are you using Firefox, and did you recently upgrade it to the latest version? If so, try this:
1. Type about:config in address bar.
2. Paste this in “Filter” bar: dom.ipc.plugins.enabled.npswf32.dll
3. Double click on the above item to change it from “False” to “True”.
4. Restart Firefox.
“GDP is a good measure of the throughput of resources in an economy, or more bluntly, the rate of converting natural resources into waste.” See: https://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2011-06-01/role-religious-congregations-promoting-steady-state-economy
I think I just found an even better quote:
In coming weeks, when he and his neighbors begin to plow thousands of acres of dry ground, “this whole country is going to be blowed away,” Farmer said.
https://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/22/nation/la-na-drought-texas-20110522
I take it you point jbob, apart from the humorous (no pun intended) language this farmer uses, is that at least we are trading our assets for Chinese made luxuries instead of watching them get blowed into the ocean?
Craig, the nation-state seems a glorified prison.
Monarch butterflies and mycellium don’t have border “security”.
In a video on YT (unsure it’s in Oyvind’s recent list), Vandayana Shiva has mentioned trade, but sustainable trade. If recalled, she mentions coffee and spices as examples– presumably, stuff that can’t be grown locally everywhere.
The free movement of capital and resources in a sustainable sense would seem to require the inclusion of people, anyone and everyone.
My quote over at The Oil Drum:
Hi Craig,
It’s kind of sad because it’s a one off win economically and once it’s gone there won’t be anymore wins. There’s little else to sell. People think it’s going to go on forever but that’s just not the case. Ideas and talk don’t put food on the table.
Regards
Chris
These things are so comical. “It would have been comic had it not been so tragic”.
I come to bury sustainability, not praise it – http://www.imaginal.com.au – a critical view of what sustainability has come to mean.