42. One Dimension We Do Not Like

One Dimension We Do Not Like
Bob Komives
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The more that science comes to know,
the more that we come to share it,
delegate it,
distribute it,
organize it,
teach it,
learn it,
build it,
keep it,
the better and the deeper
we develop our community.

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Since we extract from nature the wood, food, fiber, space and energy to support our culture, we may see irreconcilable conflicts between our wish to increase wealth and the biosphere's need to flourish. Greater extraction by us means less biosphere for itself. That conclusion seems reasonable, but it is wrong. Increase in human wealth does not necessarily, or even usually, require that we rob the biosphere.

If we were a one-dimensional species that could increase wealth only by adding to our breadth, economic development and extraction would be bound tightly. We could capture one more unit of economic growth only if we add one more extracting unit to the perimeter of our broad field of extractors --facing into the biosphere and grabbing what we can. But this image does not fit reality. To be truly one-dimensional we could only increase wealth by increasing population. New families in the population would have to be just like all others, and independent of them. They would work at our perimeter just as older families do at our middle.

If we were but broad, one-dimension extractors,
we could have no specialized crafts,
no division of labor,
(for they require organization in depth)
no government,
no clan, nation, or fraternity.
This is not economic development as we see it.

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We would not enjoy one-dimensional economic development. We would never feel better off. Our species might become wealthier as it gains survival insurance --a chance flood or disease would be less likely to destroy us all. However

We would be no more wealthy than our grandparents,
no less wealthy than our grandchildren.
A lifetime of hard work would bring
neither greater reward to ourselves
nor greater security for our children.
This is not economic development as we like it.

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:: Bob Komives, Fort Collins © 2006 :: Plum Local IV :: 42. One Dimension We Do Not Like ::
With attribution these words may be freely shared, but permission
is required if quoted in an item for sale or rent

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