Essentials of Economic Sustainability
* Book: John Ikerd. The Essentials of Economic Sustainability.
Description
"In his new book The Essentials of Economic Sustainability, John Ikerd addresses the basic principles and concepts essential to economic sustainability. Some of these concepts are capitalist, some are socialistic, and others are general principles validated by philosophy or common sense. What results is a synthesis: something that is neither capitalist nor socialist but fundamentally different." (http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/752-economic-sustainability-ultimately-about-energy)
Excerpts
- Part 1: Ethics & The Challenge of Economic Sustainability [1]
- Part 2: The Hierarchy of Economic Sustainability: Getting The Principles Right [2]
- Part 3: The Three Ecological Principles of Economic Sustainability [3]
- Part 4: From Utilitarianism To Ethics: The Social Principles of Economic Sustainability [4]
- Part 5: The Three Economic Principles of Sustainability [5]
- Part 6: The Essential Characteristics of Economies -- And How They [Could] Drive Sustainability [6]
- Part 7: Economic Sustainability: Ultimately about Energy [7]
The Three Ecological Principles that should rule the economy
John Ickerd:
Holism – and The Perils of Ignoring It
"The first principle of ecological sustainability is holism – meaning everything is interconnected.
The principle of holism can be summarized by the simple statement, “a whole is more than the sum of its parts.” The essence of the whole of living systems – biological or social – is not fully embodied in their individual parts or members. Wholes have properties that emerge only when the parts come together to form a coherent organism, organization, or whole. Parts have properties when they are connected within the whole that disappear when they are separated or isolated from the whole. The relationships among the parts of wholes matter; when the relationships change, the whole is changed.
Where interconnections are weak or simple – as in mechanical, chemical, and electrical systems – ignoring holism doesn’t appear to be a critical concern. Mechanistic paradigms seem to work very well in matters related to physics, chemistry, engineering, and the industrial arts. The greatest advances during the modern era of science and industry have been in these areas.
Where relationships are strong and systems are complex – as in ecological, social, or economic systems – ignoring holism has critical consequences. In these areas of application, mechanical paradigms have often created more problems than they have solved. The most important challenges of economic sustainability are not mechanical or industrial, but instead are ecological, social, and economic, where relationships matter.
Diversity: Foundation of Resilience
A second essential principle of ecological sustainability is diversity. The whole of a thing is said to be diverse if it has a variety of different or dissimilar elements or parts.
Nature is inherently diverse, as can be readily observable.
If nature were not diverse, it would not be capable of sustaining life. Entropy can be defined as the process of degrading or using up the usefulness of energy and matter. The ultimate state of entropy is characterized by inert uniformity of component elements; the absence of form, pattern, structure, or differentiation. Barren deserts receive an abundance of solar energy but are capable of supporting relatively little life because they are lacking in ecological diversity. Ecosystems completely lacking in diversity are incapable of supporting life.
Diversity gives living systems their capacities to renew and regenerate – to live, grow, mature, produce, reproduce, and evolve. Diversity provides the resilience needed to endure and recover from unexpected threats to health or life, such as physical attacks and diseases. Diversity allows living systems to adapt and evolve to accommodate their ever changing environment. Even if the specific nature of a threat is not fully understood, people can readily understand that loss of diversity in general represents a growing threat to the future of human life on earth.
Interdependence: The Win-Win Principle
A third essential ecological principle of sustainability is interdependence. Dependent relationships are exploitative, independence is limiting, but interdependent relationships are mutually beneficial; there are no losers.
Interdependence is the reward or payoff for respecting the principles of holism and diversity.
Within interdependent systems, the output of one process becomes input for others. The wastes of one species provide resources for other species. For example, each species in a diverse natural ecosystem provides the food or energy needed by other species. Interdependence allows the control of natural ecosystems to be decentralized or dispersed rather than centralized or consolidated.
The mutually-beneficial nature of interdependent relationships makes the whole of diverse living systems something more than the sums of their parts, rather than something less.
Interdependent relationships involving humans are matters of choice rather than necessity. People have a choice between continuing to exploit and extract from nature or instead renewing and regenerating nature – working in harmony with nature.
Throughout most of human history, humans were far more dependent on nature than was nature on humans. Nature often seemed to deny humans their basic necessities of life. The dominant society of today – the modern industrial society – has been very “successful” in winning its battles with nature. We have dammed streams, irrigated fields, poisoned pests, and vaccinated against plagues. But nature has always fought back with bigger floods, longer droughts, more resistant pests, and more complex plagues.
If our society and economy are to be sustainable, we must choose interdependent relationships with nature." (http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/713-the-three-ecological-principles-of-economic-sustainability)