 | The Bullroarer - Friday 8 February 2008 | The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand | Climate Code Red: The Case for a Sustainability Emergency |  |
60 comments on The dangers of short-termism
Comments can no longer be added to this story.
| Show without comments | PDF version
60 comments on The dangers of short-termism
Comments can no longer be added to this story.
| Show without comments | PDF version
User login
Contact
- anz at theoildrum dot com
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Archives
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
GAIA Host Collective
I would have to agree with Dave on this point. I think human behavior (at least in modern history) would point to most of our leaders going for short term gain without too much thought at the long implications of their actions. However, with 6.5 billion (and rising) people on this planet, the failure of our society to think in the long term has consequences for our planet and our civilization (such as it is) that we have not had to deal with previously, at least not on such a monunmental scale. If our climate is changing as rapidly as I fear, and our access to cheap energy is no longer something to be taken for granted, we are a uniquely dangerous point in our history...far too dangerous to ingore the long term implications any longer. Individually, I think human beings are fine, but when you get a bunch of them together...well, there goes the neigborhood.
SubKommander Dred
The problem:
If you don't come out on top in the short term, your plans for the long term are wasted.
And conversely ... if you don't leave behind a survivable environment for your offspring, all your child rearing efforts were for naught.
(Note how much energy we humans invest into having children, providing them with a good education, good jobs, etc.)
Many are stuck in a short term niche that they may or may not be aware that they are contributing to a non-sustainable economy.
If they can't feed, house, and clothe the kids today, what difference does it mean that such children and future generations of children will have nothing left?
It would be understandable if these Americans were living simply, but the consumer mentality, the acquisition of things and status symbols has flourished, despite the anti-materialism that seemed to be popular in the 60's.
Even if these sell-out boomers come back to earth in their values they are stuck with their SUVs, the big screen TVs, the plethora of eletronic gadgets,a killer mortgage, etc.
People develop the over acquisitive mode, maximizing their standard of living, because their niche in the economic status quo has rendered their lives meaningless.
It may be too late to resurrect the quality of life vs. standard of living argument as it may be too late to try to reconcile the short term vs. the long term. But we must proceed thus anyway. W