Un Sustainable Over Development

Agamedes takes advantage of another person's well-written words, in support of Functional Stability.

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The following is reprinted -- with permission -- from an occasional enewsletter from Keith Lethbridge, a Councillor with the City of Armadale. I support his views. Keith keeps his focus on the local impact of unsustainable development...

G'day folks.

Before the dust has settled on our most recent "infill" program, before the Armadale Redevelopment Authority has rolled its swag & departed, before the necessary infrastructure, the jobs, the health, education & policing services are in place ... look out, here comes the next wave of development.

According to the Minister for Local Government, this could be lawfully thrust upon the unsuspecting Percy Public, but he knows we'll cooperate, because the benefits are clear & obvious. Without growth, business stagnates & we run into a heap of problems.

According to that logic, growth must always continue. Perpetual growth, forever! In Armadale, in Australia, in America, in Bangladesh & in China! Of course we're talking about the growth of human population. Human beings: the only creatures on this little green planet that can't survive without perpetual growth. The only boofheads never to achieve Functional Stability.

The Minister's message is actually two-fold: On the one hand, we'll achieve that much-loved dynamic, vibrant, forward-thrusting economic status, the apparent dream of every upwardly mobile politician. On the other hand, we have no choice, because people from all those other dynamic, vibrant & forward-thrusting countries are currently experiencing a most unfortunate run of bad management & require somewhere to live & something to eat.

Whatever the spin may be, it appears obvious that perpetual growth has us spinning towards disaster. Environmentalists agree. They say we have to change our ways; learn to live on less, to utilise our resources more effectively. That's true. And every 45 years as population doubles, we'll have to become twice as efficient, in every way. We'll have to use half as much water, produce twice as much food & cram twice as many people into the same space ... every 45 years. Come on folks, we can do it!

Scientists tell us that the population will level off in the future, as people (especially women) become better educated, want less children & demand a higher standard of living. (With their better education, wouldn't they agree with the economists that perpetual growth is the only way to achieve, or even maintain a high standard of living? Wouldn't they fear the stagnation & recession that we are told goes hand in hand with Functional Stability?)

Looking at India, Mexico, Africa & Indonesia, it would seem that we have a long way to go before that levelling-off occurs.

Functional Stability was achieved in Australia for many thousands of years with very little technology. Modern Australians have shown, through Permaculture & other innovative methods, that Functional Stability can be achieved along with a much higher standard of living, using appropriate technology. Australian Permaculturalists have shown the way in many struggling countries. As appropriate technology develops, so we can all live in greater comfort, without the need for growth.

The perpetual growth economic theory would be quite comical if it wasn't so dangerous. We all know it's a bad idea, so why not have the courage to say so? We all know, for just one example, that reduction in total carbon emissions can never be achieved if we continue to double our population every 45 years (in Armadale, read "every 15 years"). It would eventually be necessary for everyone to stop breathing out! We love trees because they "breath out" oxygen, but that stuff we breath out is called carbon-dioxide, as everyone well knows.

But enough of the "bleeding obvious". While we may or may not think globally, the very least we should do is to act locally. We can do this in a small & totally harmless way by having the City of Armadale adopt the simple Population Policy I have suggested. It would be a start & would allow & encourage us to monitor the situation. In doing that, we might just become less likely to fall into the spin cycle of perpetual growth that currently threatens our beautiful home town.

Best wishes.

Keith Lethbridge

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