more Uproar

From an op-ed in the BBC News, entitled Economic growth cannot buy the planet more time – “The latest set of accounts for humanity’s ecological footprint reveal that, conservatively, it takes the Earth nearly 18 months to produce the ecological services that humanity uses in one year. The negative cash flow is getting worse.”

And the Op-ed’s conclusion? “Now, the burden of proof lies on those who promise endless growth to demonstrate how it will be possible. In the meantime, the pressing task for everyone else is to work out how all of us on the planet can have good lives while living within its means.”

Of course, that’s the old, quaint, eco-philosophical spin. The one that hasn’t worked, isn’t working, and isn’t going to work. Because, as sharp students of primatology understand: monkeys are acquisitive animals – they eat bananas; they don’t manage banana trees.

And, as always, there’s the small problem of enforcement. Who, exactly, is going to compel 7 billion monkeys to “live within their means”? What are those means? Who defines the parameters? Are we talking The Green Police?

Let’s hope not. Life is weird enough without more police.

Instead, we’re right back to square – population as a function of carrying capacity. A few monkeys tend to have full bellies more of the time; too many monkeys means scarcity, hunger, and eventually, aggression.

Sound familiar?

posted by Mudd