The never-ending drive to grow the overall U.S. economy is ruining the environment; it fuels a ruthless international search for energy and other resources; it fails at generating the needed jobs; it hollows out communities; and it rests on a manufactured consumerism that is not meeting the deepest human needs. Americans are substituting growth and consumption for dealing with the real issues — for doing things that would truly make us and the country better off.Of course, everything that this author states is correct. He is arguing from a rational point of view, but it appears that he naively believes that public policies are rationally determined.
He doesn't seem to understand that the present irrational system of capitalism is run by a relatively small segment of people who benefit hugely from their ownership of most of the world's economy. They are essentially a cult whose faith based, addiction-like commitment to economic growth must be promoted in order to continue the system which provides them with so much wealth and dominant status in the world. They are armed to the teeth, they have established sophisticated systems of surveillance (see the latest effort), they have an iron grip on the political system that has enabled them to establish a legal framework to stifle dissent (Patriot Acts), and have set-up an elaborate prison system to deal with political dissidents. In short, they are determined to maintain their system. The writer ignores all this.
Can he really be this naive? Or, is he merely engaging in green rhetoric to enhance his academic status while believing that nothing will come of his remarks? Or, is he fully aware, and in order to avoid repercussions from capitalist agents, he can go no further than stating a rational argument, but must avoid looking at the implications of the argument for political action?
