"Natural Capitalism" by Paul Hawken
Questions & Review
LINK: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1997/03/natural-capitalism?page=1
One of the most interesting articles by far! The only logical thing to do is gather the successful aspects of the first industrial revolution and divert away from the rest of the system that is damaging our society.
Due to my lack of knowledge, ignorance rather, on the economic system, I need more emphasis on the following:
1. Is a green collar economy a sector of natural capitalism? Or does it define natural capitalism?
2. Hawkin states, “ Our current industrial system is based on accounting principles that would bankrupt any company.” – At the Energy symposium, I was speaking with a student from Columbia University SIPA program who was talking about the finance profession. He mentioned accounting only has one formula, we don’t know why it’s there, but we follow.it. After reading Hawkins Capitalism, he’s proving that Americans are creating a system that is inhibiting society for progressive growth. How do you change the accounting system to suit natural capitalism?? I'm confused.
3."The lesson of Biosphere II is that there are no man-made substitutes for essential natural services." A terrifying fact, but allows us to be even more hopeful for a sustainable future.
4. “We have not come up with an economical way..” Who is responsible for this? I could debate against the government’s responsibility. The green agenda is a social movement, hence, I believe it is up to the masses.
5. "The exclusion of natural capital from balance sheets was an understandable omission. There was so much of it, it didn't seem worth counting. Not any longer." Can someone reiterate this please?? Again, I have NIL hindsight on finance, business, and everything else that relates to it. What does Hawken mean by "So much?"
6. "Natural Capital as a Limiting Factor- The new limits to prosperity are natural systems -- not boats, but fisheries; not sawmills, but forests." Understandably so, though, this would require so much space/land.
7. "Economist Herman E. Daly cautions that we are facing a historic juncture in which, for the first time, the limits to increased prosperity are not the lack of man-made capital but the lack of natural capital." I'm not a history major and so I wouldn't know this-- In what way is the economy system different in our modern society than the previous generations before us?
8.” Nearly one-third of the world's workers sense that they have no value in the present economic scheme.” – What is the main goal for the ‘present economic scheme” anyway?
10. “To create a policy that supports resource productivity will require a shift away from taxing the social "good" of labor, toward taxing the social "bads" of resource exploitation, pollution, fossil fuels, and waste.” Does this also relate to taxing carbon (referring to corporation mostly)?
11. “Of course, a tax shift alone will not change the way business operates; a broad array of policy changes on issues of global trade, education, economic development, econometrics (including measures of growth and well-being), and scientific research must accompany it.” Rightfully so, though as I have mentioned, the green agenda is a social movement. Implementing climate change policies in the government must be pushed by the masses (the US has yet to pass a bill with relation to Climate Change). The responsibility relies on the critical mass as they are the ones that reciprocate with the governments’ policies. It is not just about a small percentage of the population contributing in the green agenda, it is more effective if masses contributed at a larger scale. A people power revolution perhaps?
HIGHLIGHTS:
“For those willing to embrace the challenges of a new era, however, it presents an enormous opportunity.”
“We cannot heal the country's social wounds or "save" the environment as long as we cling to the outdated industrial assumptions that the summum bonum of commercial enterprise is to use more stuff and fewer people. Our thinking is backward: We shouldn't use more of what we have less of (natural capital) to use less of what we have more of (people).”
“Our pursuit of increased labor productivity at all costs not only depletes the environment, it also depletes labor. Just as overproduction can exhaust topsoil, overproductivity can exhaust a workforce.”
“Nearly one-third of the world's workers sense that they have no value in the present economic scheme. Clearly, when 1 billion willing workers can't find a decent job or any employment at all, we need to make fundamental changes.”
“Waste is too expensive; it's cheaper to do the right thing.”
“For example, cars are barely 1 percent efficient in the sense that, for every 100 gallons of gasoline, only one gallon actually moves the passengers.”
“Overall, America's material and energy efficiency is no more than 1 or 2 percent. In other words, American industry uses as much as 100 times more material and energy than theoretically required to deliver consumer services.”
“People want the service that energy provides.”- Lovins
“According to Robert Ayres, a leader in studying industrial metabolism, about 94 percent of the materials extracted for use in manufacturing durable products become waste before the product is even manufactured. More waste is generated in production, and most of that is lost unless the product is reused or recycled. Overall, America's material and energy efficiency is no more than 1 or 2 percent. In other words, American industry uses as much as 100 times more material and energy than theoretically required to deliver consumer services.”
“Specifically, we subsidize carbon-based energy production, particularly oil and coal; we massively subsidize a transportation system that has led to suburban sprawl and urban decay;”
“The purpose of this tax shift would be to change what is taxed, not who is taxed.”
“If economic alternatives are attractive, why aren't we doing them now?”
“An economy that uses progressively less material and energy each year and where the quality of consumer services continues to improve; an economy where environmental deterioration stops and gets reversed as we invest in increasing our natural capital; and, finally, a society where we have more useful and worthy work available than people to do it.”
“if economic "growth" does save us, it will be anything but conventional.”
“Natural capitalism may not guarantee particular outcomes, but it will ensure that economic systems more closely mimic biological systems, which have successfully adapted to dynamic changes over millennia.”
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