Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
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80 S politics and governance<br />
Box 2.2. (continued)<br />
lovers can buy a marvel <strong>of</strong> advanced technology: “The 24/7 selfcleaning,<br />
scoopfree litter box!” Technology-oriented catalogues<br />
regularly <strong>of</strong>fer dozens, nay, hundreds <strong>of</strong> devices that digitally amaze,<br />
ease, simplify, gratify, sort, s<strong>to</strong>re, scratch, waken, warn, multiply, compute,<br />
freshen, check, sanitize, and personalize. It may be possible,<br />
one day, <strong>to</strong> live in a digital, stainless steel nirvana <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sort George<br />
Orwell once said would “make <strong>the</strong> world safe for little fat men.”<br />
There are, however, many problems with an economy so<br />
dependent on ephemeralities. It is a cheat because it cannot satisfy<br />
<strong>the</strong> desires that it arouses. It is a lie because it purports <strong>to</strong> solve<br />
by trivial consumption what can only be solved by better human<br />
relations. It is immoral because it takes scarce resources from those<br />
who still lack <strong>the</strong> basics and gives <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> those with everything<br />
who are merely bored. It is unsustainable because it creates waste<br />
that destroys climatic stability and ecosystems. It is unintelligent<br />
because it redirects <strong>the</strong> mental energies <strong>of</strong> producers and consumers<br />
alike <strong>to</strong> illusion, not reality, which makes us stupid. And<br />
because <strong>of</strong> such things an economy organized <strong>to</strong> promote fantasy<br />
will eventually <strong>collapse</strong> <strong>of</strong> its own weight.<br />
In The Memory <strong>of</strong> Old Jack, Wendell Berry describes <strong>the</strong> main<br />
character as “troubled and angered in his mind <strong>to</strong> think that people<br />
would aspire <strong>to</strong> do as little as possible, no better than <strong>the</strong>y are<br />
made <strong>to</strong> do it, for more pay than <strong>the</strong>y are worth.” The masters <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> recently imploded fi nancial universe who made millions while<br />
destroying much <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> economy, including <strong>the</strong> chief executive <strong>of</strong>fi -<br />
cers <strong>of</strong> any number <strong>of</strong> corporations from Enron <strong>to</strong> General Mo<strong>to</strong>rs,<br />
would have appropriately aroused Old Jack’s fury, as it should ours.<br />
I have a second suggestion, which is simply that we ought <strong>to</strong><br />
build a slower economy. It is also an old idea, embodied in aphorisms<br />
such as “<strong>the</strong> race is not <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> swift” and “haste makes waste.” In <strong>the</strong><br />
age <strong>of</strong> hustle, cell phones, and instant everything, we are inclined<br />
<strong>to</strong> forget that lots <strong>of</strong> worthwhile things can only be done slowly.<br />
It takes time for all <strong>of</strong> us, economists included, <strong>to</strong> think clearly. It<br />
takes time <strong>to</strong> be a good parent or friend. It takes time <strong>to</strong> create