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The
striving for ongoing economic growth is frequently portrayed as a perverse,
greed-driven inclination, a dangerous human propensity for excess.
I
would argue, however, that the growth of human capabilities corresponds to a
necessary condition enabling our species to keep a balance with non-human
nature.
Human
beings adapt to their environment by experiencing and satisfying desires/needs.
The greater the variety, variability, and degree of differentiation of a
specie’s ability to perceive and satisfy needs/desires, the greater its ability
to fit successfully with the wider environment. Man’s adroitness at renewing,
extending, and growing this ability is key to survival and advancement.
Now,
what is wealth?
Wealth
consists of objects and practices that enable man to satisfy his desires/needs.
Hence, if an open-ended, forward-pressing process of approaching such
desiderata is an anthropological sine qua non and the key to successful
adaptation to a continually changing environment, then just as momentous is
ipso facto the capability of incessantly growing wealth.
If
man’s ability to adapt to and advance in his environment is damaged and
curtailed, he suffers impoverishment (relative to the unhampered presence of
this ability), even to a degree that may well lead to misery, poverty, and
death.
Truncating,
inhibiting or fully precluding man’s ability to develop and satisfy ever more
desires/needs and hence to build up more and more wealth is quite simply
inhumane. Not to mention that resource-intensive ambitions like comprehensive
environmental protection cannot be fulfilled unless a high level of wealth is
achieved and maintained.
In
a sequel post — The Limits of Human Destructiveness — I shall explain why man
is unlikely to be a net destroyer of his environment.
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