|
Written by Richard Douthwaite
|
|
Tuesday, 30 November 2004 |
Feasta seeks to establish the principles on which sustainable economic systems will have to be run
Is there anyone who believes that humanity can go on causing extinctions on a
massive scale and polluting the planet so much that it’s causing the climate
to change without having to face rather nasty consequences somewhere along the
line? But if we all know it’s wrong, why do we behave this way? There are
two schools of thought. One is that our greed is responsible – we are never
content and always want more.
The other school thinks that many of the world’s problems are caused by
an economic system which needs to grow continually if it is not to collapse into
a serious depression. It would be great if this were so because an economic system
can be changed fairly quickly whereas, if human nature is the cause, there’s
not a lot we can do about that. The world’s religions have been trying unsuccessfully
to change us for years.
With a few honourable exceptions, the economics profession has not thought it
necessary to investigate why depressions develop if the economy fails to expand.
The profession has also failed to identify the characteristics an economic system
would have to possess to be truly sustainable - that is, capable of being continued
unchanged for hundreds of years without causing environmental or social deterioration.
‘Capable’ is the key word here, of course. A sustainable economy can
be expected to change over the years but no system can be regarded as sustainable
if at some time in the future it will be compelled to make substantial alterations
the way it operates to prevent serious crises such as climate change or the loss
of biodiversity.
Feasta was established in Dublin in 1998 to fill the gap left by the economists
and now has members around the world. Its aim is to promote and popularise research
which identifies the reasons for the economic system’s destructive characteristics.
It also seeks to establish the principles on which sustainable economic systems
will have to be run. "Once we have done this we will be able to see what
needs to be changed in our own society and explore the means by which the required
changes can be brought about" one of the founder members, eco-architect Emer
O’Siochru, says.
Feasta is particularly interested in exploring what sustainability means in practical
terms. It believes that instead of the world’s human populations living
in much the same way wherever they are - and consequently competing for the same
narrow range of resources - a sustainable world will consist of a vast number
of micro-cultures within which people have found ways of living quite differently
in order to make optimal use of their local resources.
As a result, Feasta involves itself in many topics which fall outside the scope
of conventional economics. The topics discussed at its seminars and conferences
have included interest-free banking, site value taxation, the protection of fish
stocks, the transition to renewable energy, local and regional currency systems,
oil and gas depletion, the behaviour of complex systems, climate change, participatory
democracy, localisation versus globalisation, world monetary reform and much more.
This autumn, Feasta is launching a study course designed for groups of four or
five friends prepared to meet once a week in each others’ homes. You can
find out a lot more about the organisation by visiting its website at www.feasta.org
and signing up for its free e-mail newsletter.
|
